"Florida airport chief gets 9% raise"

Monday, August 11, 2003

Airport chief gets 9% raise 
Authority: Despite weak traffic, Johnson worth the increase 
By Scott Blake 
FLORIDA TODAY 


MELBOURNE -- It has been a year of challenges at Melbourne International
Airport, with passenger traffic at its lowest level since 1982. 

But that hasn't stopped airport Executive Director Jim Johnson from getting
a healthy pay raise. And Airport Authority board members said he's worth it.


The seven-member board unanimously voted to give Johnson a 9 percent pay
increase this year, boosting his annual salary to $121,449 and making him
the city'shighest-paid official. Johnson's raise, approved at the board's
last meeting, is retroactive to June 1. 

The board agreed Johnson deserved the raise because he didn't receive one
last year. They also noted , under his leadership, the city-owned airport
has increased the amount of federal and state grant money it wins, and
increased the revenue it gets from tenant leases. 

Johnson said he didn't ask for a raise last year because of the poor state
of the economy and the airline industry following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks. He said he's averaged about a 5 percent raise each year
since becoming the airport's executive director in 1996 -- about the same as
other city department leaders receive. 

"They haven't been giving me anything unusual," Johnson said. 

But not all city officials agree it was an opportune time to give Johnson a
9 percent pay increase. City Councilwoman Pat Poole, for one, said Johnson
should have gone without a raise again because the airport hasn't brought in
any new flights yet this year. 

Charter carrier Southeast Airlines is scheduled to begin flights from
Melbourne to Biloxi, Miss., in October, and The Wiggins Group, an
international airport owner, is expected to finalize an agreement this week
to start international charter and cargo flights into Melbourne next summer.


But Poole is skeptical about whether those programs will succeed, based on
past flight services that started in Melbourne but didn't pan out as planned
and eventually were canceled. 

"We've heard that story several times," she said. 

This year, Melbourne's airport has been on pace for its slowest year for
passenger traffic in 21 years. From January through June, the airport drew
196,030 passengers, down 6.8 percent from the same period last year,
according to latest airport statistics available. 

Despite that, in his latest annual job-performance evaluation, Johnson
received a score of 4 (commendable performance) 5 (distinguished
performance) from each of the board members. He was graded on a scale of 1
to 5, with 5 being the highest score. 

"It's certainly been a difficult time for airports in general, with all of
the changes in aviation in the past couple of years," said board member Alan
Doshier. "All things considered, I think Jim's performance has been quite
good." 

But it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Johnson lately. He and the board
have come under heavy criticism this summer from area residents upset about
the noise from F-16 fighter jets flying in and out of Melbourne's airport
for training exercises. 

Doshier said Johnson's latest pay increase brings his salary up to a
more-comparable level to those of directors of similar airports. For
example, the average salary for directors of 10 airports surveyed by the
Melbourne Airport Authority was $144,073. 

The 9 percent raise also puts Johnson's salary No. 1 among city officials.
His pay exceeds other top city officials, including City Manager Jack
Schluckebier ($118,000), City Attorney Paul Gougelman ($107,099), Assistant
City Manager Amy Elliott ($90,391) and Police Chief Donald Carey ($88,290),
according to the city's Personnel Department. 

Johnson's position is somewhat unusual: He technically is a city employee.
But, unlike the city manager and other city department heads, he reports to
the Airport Authority board, not the Melbourne City Council. His pay comes
out of the airport operating budget -- and not out of the Melbourne city
budget. 

In addition to his yearly salary, Johnson gets the use of an airport car.
But, unlike directors of some other airports, he receives no bonuses. 

Melbourne Mayor John Buckley, a member of the airport board, said Johnson
has been working to get new flights. He noted that Pan American Airways may
start flights from Melbourne to Baltimore and Portsmouth, N.H., late this
year. 

Johnson "didn't get anything last year, so it averages to 4.5 percent" for
the past two years, added Buckley, who is one of three members of the
Melbourne City Council who also are members of the airport board. 

Still, that's higher than pay raises are averaging in the private sector.
Two recent national surveys indicated that private companies have budgeted
pay increases averaging 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent this year and plan about
the same next year, the smallest raises for workers since at least the
mid-1970s.


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