"New Orleans' New Interim Director Wants Full Title"

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

New Orleans' New Interim Director Wants Full Title
By Jaime Guillet
The New Orleans (LA) City Business


Newly chosen interim director Sean Hunter says he plans to boost the city's
image by way of its front door at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International
Airport. 

Certainly I want to be on a parallel track with the city and the region,
ensuring that the image we present as the front door to the city, and the
last thing they see leaving New Orleans, is a good one,' Hunter said. 

Dan Packer, New Orleans Airport Board chairman, says the airport needs a
business-minded, innovative director with strong management skills. 

He has the job until we select someone else  and it may be him,' said
Packer. That means that he has all the full authority that comes with the
job. Our expectations are that he'll exercise that authority as if he were
aviation director.

Packer said the board is searching for a director who has no fear of the
unknown.' The unknown involves the uncertain New Orleans recovery and
hurricane threats. 

All of us in this region, we're all treading on brand new ground,' said
Packer. The aviation director really has to be someone who has the kind of
integrity and courage to move forward and is able to think long term and
plan long term.
 
The airport bears a crucial function for a city whose economic viability is
based in tourism, Hunter said. He is taking the place of Director Roy
Williams, whose resignation becomes effective May 31, one day before the
start of the 2006 hurricane season. Williams accepted a similar position for
an airport in Salt Lake City. 

Hunter, a Detroit native, has been deputy director of operations and
maintenance for six years. He is also acting deputy director of safety and
security and acting director of the airport's Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise office. 

The New Orleans Aviation Board appointed Hunter interim aviation director
until a national search is complete anywhere from six to 14 months from now.
With 20 years of aviation experience in the military and at Atlantic City
International, Hunter said he is prepared to lead the airport through any
possible crises. 

I've worked in air traffic control when you're basically controlling the
airplanes in the sky and now I'm working in airport management when you
control them on the ground,' said Hunter. The only difference between those
two jobs is the stress level.

Hunter, 40, said he prefers the chronic' stress of airport management versus
the acute' stress of air traffic control.
Williams said Hunter's role as head of operations, security and the DBE
program, especially during the last nine months, allowed him to showcase
good crisis management' skills and gain good exposure to financial and
administrative issues. Williams said a challenge will be to restore airport
passenger traffic now at 51 percent of pre-Katrina levels. March ridership
totaled 470,000 passengers versus 920,000 in March 2005. 

As passenger traffic continues to build, managing that growth is very
important,' said Williams. Also, making certain the airport and its
development fully supports the region's recovery.
Expansion goals 

Williams said the airport is adding an average of five flights per month and
he expects Armstrong to attain pre-Katrina flight levels by June 2007  a
feat he didn't expect nine months ago. His goal is to keep more passengers
coming through the airport and to spread the message that New Orleans is
strong, said Hunter. 

The airport has issues with its vendors, some failing financially,
especially those stuck in concourses not heavily traveled. Twenty-five out
of 36 vendors reopened in the first quarter but sales are only at 28 percent
of pre-Katrina levels. 

It is my goal to help out small businesses and to find some way to help
bring about some relief to our tenants,' said Hunter. We've done all we can
do, at least in the arena of keeping the airlines' cost down, but you're
operating at 50 percent of your traffic. Everybody's costs are not operating
at that same 50 percent. Your cost is fixed no matter if you move one person
through here or 10 million. 

I understand if the vendors are looking to the airport to help them out and
we will, said Hunter. 

With conventions returning, Hunter said he plans to work with the tourism
industry on restoring New Orleans' image. He began by sprucing up the
terminal with better lighting, new paint and carpet and restoring rest rooms
at a cost of $1.5 million. He will improve ground transportation by working
to provide larger shuttles at convention time and partnering with the New
Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau to sponsor a taxicab
appreciation day' so the New Orleans Taxicab Bureau can improve existing
cabs. 

Hunter in the running 

Regarding long-term plans, Packer said the interest in the possible
relocation of Armstrong to eastern New Orleans has cooled until the airport
can better pre-Katrina passenger levels. 

First things first, said Packer. To get to the point where we say we need to
do something with a new airport, we have to have a reason for doing it and
the largest reason for doing that is the number of (departing) passengers
and the amount of cargo that goes through here. We have to get that back to
more than pre-Katrina levels to make it viable.

Hunter said his most pressing issue is preparing Armstrong for hurricane
season. He is significantly increasing provisions such as food and water and
making sure staff member families are taken care of prior to a storm instead
of sheltering them at the airport. 

>From the state on down, the level of awareness, the level of cooperation,
the logistics of pulling things together between Orleans and Jefferson
(parishes)  all that synergy there is pretty familiar because we've had
eight months to try to work on it together,' said Hunter. My goal is
ensuring that the public is confident the airport has a plan and it's
prepared for natural disasters. We demonstrated that during Katrina and now
that we've learned from Katrina we will be in a better position to handle
the next.

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