Monday, December 15, 2014

Allegheny county to name new airport director Tuesday

A Boston aviation consultant appears to be in line to become the next executive director of the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

Christina Cassotis, who most recently worked as managing officer, airport services for ICF-SH&E, a Boston-based aviation consulting firm, is expected to be named to the post Tuesday by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.

The Allegheny County Airport Authority Board also is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon, presumably to ratify the hiring.

Mr. Fitzgerald had no comment when asked this evening whether Ms. Cassotis would be hired. Ms. Cassotis could not be reached for comment.

The authority has been searching for an executive director since March, when it dismissed Bradley Penrod, who served as executive director for six years before being reassigned to the position of president and chief strategy officer in 2013.

In May, the board hired national headhunter Krauthamer & Associates Inc. of Maryland to help find the new executive director. It was to be paid 30 percent of the new executive’s salary, which at the time was estimated at $250,000, plus reasonable expenses.

Ms. Cassotis would replace Jim Gill, who has been serving as acting executive director since Mr. Penrod left. She would be the first woman to serve as executive director of Pittsburgh International Airport. She also would be in charge of the Allegheny County Airport.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Ms. Cassotis served as a director at SH&E from 1998 to 2007, when she was promoted to managing director, airport services. In that job, she led a “global team of airport consultants in areas of competitiveness and business strategy for clients worldwide ­— airport operators, investors, governments.

She also has worked with clients on strategic planning, airport marketing and route and profitability analysis.

Before joining SH&E, which is now known as ICF International, she served as deputy director of communications for the Massachusetts Port Authority for nearly five years. She also was director of communications for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Communities and Development. She appears to have no experience as an airport executive.

Ms. Cassotis has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts and a MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

- Source:  https://www.post-gazette.com

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