LITTLE ROCK -- Bryan Malinowski, executive director at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field, won a 3% merit raise Tuesday and, thanks to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a $25,000 bonus.
Malinowski, who held the top post since June 2019, will now draw an annual salary of $244,007, after the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission deliberated for more than an hour to evaluate his performance over the past year, which saw passenger travel plummet and airline service cut way back as a result of the pandemic.
The numbers have since rebounded, particularly in the past two months, but they haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Commission member Stacy Hurst made the motion to grant Malinowski the increased compensation. The motion was seconded by Bill Walker. No one on the seven-member commission was heard voting against the motion.
"As we all know, it's been a particularly difficult year in the travel business and we sincerely appreciate the great work of Mr. Malinowski and his team," Hurst said. "We recognize Mr. Malinowski's leadership and he has served the airport very well -- again, during a very difficult year."
The compensation included contributions equal to 5% of Malinowski's salary to his two retirement accounts.
"I appreciate it," Malinowski told the commission. "I just want to say I don't do it by myself. It's the staff here that makes me look good. I have a wonderful staff. Thank you."
Malinowski's last performance evaluation was six months ago. Under the agreement between Malinowski and the commission, the evaluations are supposed to take place every June, the anniversary month of his hiring. But the commission delayed last year's evaluation because of the pandemic.
Passenger traffic at Clinton National remains down from its pre-pandemic levels, as is airport income. Clinton National, although under city control, receives no funding from Little Rock's general revenue.
In May, Clinton National had 157,079 passengers departing or arriving. The total marked a 442% increase from the 28,982 passengers who went through the airport in May 2020, about two months after the official beginning of the pandemic in the United States.
But last month's total only represented 74.73% of the total passengers the airport had in May 2019 when 210,200 passengers went through the airport, according to Rachel Bader, the air service development manager for Clinton National.
For the year, 520,807 passengers have gone through Clinton National. The figure is 19.24% more than the 436,776 in the same five months in 2020.
Revenue has total $10.8 million through the first five months of 2020, almost $1 million less than the $11.7 million the airport received in the same period a year ago.