Fresno Loses Transport Director to Florida

December 24, 2003

City Loses Transport Director to Florida 
The Fresno Bee, CA

 
Citing family issues, Fresno's transportation director is returning to Florida 
to become director of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Noah Lagos' new position puts him about 25 miles north of his former employer, 
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, where he served as chief operations 
officer, the No. 2 position.

"It is with a heavy heart I leave Fresno," he said Tuesday. "The people of 
Fresno have been very kind and gracious to me."

Lagos, 53, arrived in Fresno 14 months ago. He leaves to oversee an airport 
with eight airlines and 17 destinations, most of them in the Midwest, the East 
Coast and Canada. Fresno Yosemite International Airport has six airlines with 
about a dozen destinations.

"This is something I hadn't expected," Lagos said. "The airport is actually 
located very close to where my wife used to work, so this reunites her with her 
old job and allows me to be closer to my family and allows me a good 
opportunity at a growing airport."

Under Lagos' watch, the airport received $13 million in Federal Aviation 
Administration grants and a $1 million Small Community Air Service Program 
award and reached 1 million passengers in a year for the first time in seven 
years.

Lagos will be replaced on an interim basis by Severo Esquivel, a retired city 
of Fresno assistant city manager who has continued to work part-time for the 
city, overseeing airport construction issues and payments.

Esquivel, who lives in Clovis, served as interim director for six months before 
Lagos was hired.

"This time it's different for me," Esquivel said of the transportation 
director's position. "At that time, I was assistant city manager in charge of 
other things in addition to the airport. I am not saying this will be easy, but 
it's not layered with other departments."

Esquivel, 65, said his new stint as interim transportation director, which 
includes overseeing the Fresno Area Express transportation system, may last 
longer than the one in 2002.

"We are talking about not rushing it in terms of finding somebody," Esquivel 
said.

Among major projects he will oversee is attracting a low-fare air carrier. But 
several other plans also are in the works, he said, including a new airport 
master plan, an airport noise study, a new air cargo ramp project and changes 
in baggage claim, auto rental and ticketing areas.

During his three years before retirement in September, Esquivel became known as 
"Mr. Fix It" for tackling difficult city assignments.

He handled the Public Works Department on an interim basis and stepped in to 
oversee construction of the overdue $42 million airport concourse.

Two years ago, city officials asked Esquivel to make sure the $46 million 
downtown baseball stadium was completed by May 1, 2002. It was.

He will begin his new role after Lagos departs Jan. 23.

Lagos will begin work as the St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport director in 
February.

While in Sarasota, Lagos was second in command when the Sept. 11, 2001, terror 
attacks occurred. President Bush was in Sarasota at the time, and Lagos and his 
staff were responsible with overseeing the safe departure of Air Force One.

The St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport supplements air traffic from Tampa 
International Airport, about 10 miles north in neighboring Hillsborough County, 
said Keith Wicks, assistant county administrator for Pinellas County.

Wicks said Lagos was chosen during a nationwide search that attracted about 50 
applicants.

"He was hired because of his qualifications, on how he presented himself and 
intangibles, things you don't pick up off resumes," Wicks said. "It was mainly 
experience with an airport that is along the same lines and caliber of the 
airport we have."

With the highest passenger growth rate in Florida and third highest in the 
country, St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport will serve an estimated 1 million 
passengers in 2003. In addition to its eight passenger carriers, it is home to 
the world's busiest Coast Guard air station, an Army Blackhawk helicopter 
aviation regiment and numerous general aviation companies.

 
 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************