"Ready for takeoff at Lambert Field"

Richard Hrabko walked the concourses as Lambert Field's interim director in late 2004 looking for the quick and, sometimes, obvious fixes — adding plants near baggage claim, ordering fresh paint in the parking garage and adding more metal detectors at the Concourse A checkpoint.

Hrabko returns to Lambert with the same determination on Monday, but this time as its permanent chief. He leaves the helm at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, where he's worked 43 years.

"I always told him that's his baby. He raised it," St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said, referring to Spirit, the day Hrabko's new job was announced.

At Lambert, Hrabko will oversee efforts to lure more air service to St. Louis and keep the airport on track financially. He also must carry out the $105 million Main Terminal renovation plan, seeded during his six months as interim director when a task force of business leaders demanded improvements.

"I really believe in this project," said Hrabko, referring to plans that involve adding retail and restaurant space, building pedestrian links from the garage to the ticketing lobby, and injecting the airport with flavor from the region.

"We want to give St. Louis a good image. We want to make sure passengers are comfortable and can get in and out of the airport."

Hrabko, 68, has served on Lambert's airport commission for six years. He's aware of the region's anxiety about the airport — and understands the pressures to fill empty gates.

The airport's newest runway — finished last April at a cost of $1.1 billion — is hardly used.

The number of scheduled departures dipped 5.5 percent in the 12 months ending in January, compared with the same period ending in January 2006, according to the Department of Transportation. Increasingly, larger airplanes are replacing regional jets at Lambert, airport officials say, resulting in less frequency.

The number of boardings rose by about 2 percent in that same 12-month period, ranking Lambert the 32nd busiest airport in the country in terms of passengers. In 2001, it was No. 11.

Hrabko says the empty gates and little-used runway puts Lambert in a strong position to attract carriers wanting to expand. AirTran, a low-cost carrier, begins service to St. Louis next month.

"Our time will come," Hrabko said. "It will come in the foreseeable future because of our wonderful — we don't want to have it, but we have it — extra capacity. We have to capitalize on that negative asset."

Hrabko replaces Kevin Dolliole, the former head of San Antonio International Airport who resigned as Lambert's chief last month. Dolliole's family is still in Texas and had resisted moving to St. Louis. The every-other-weekend commute was too much, he said. Upgrading Lambert was Dolliole's focus, and that should continue under Hrabko, Dolliole said. After all, Hrabko was a member of the committee that ultimately recommended Dolliole's hire to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.

"He has the same kind of priorities that I had," Dolliole said of his successor. On top of that, "He knows the airport really well. He knows what's going on here."

Hrabko says he regrets not competing for Lambert's top job in 2004. At the time, Hrabko wasn't crazy about the idea of running Lambert, he said, and had projects to finish at Spirit.

Last month, when the chief of staff for Slay approached Hrabko with a second shot, he didn't hesitate. "It sounds corny, but it's kind of like doing your civic duty," Hrabko said. "They needed somebody."

Hrabko began his career at Spirit in 1964 as an air traffic controller. He's run the airport since 1970.

For four decades, Hrabko's worked to please business clientele as dozens of corporations store their private jets at Spirit. The airport is certified as an air carrier airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, but it's used primarily for general aviation purposes. The airport and its industrial park have 3,000 employees — most of whom work at the 130 businesses there.

Hrabko also knows how to navigate the federal bureaucracy, said Jim Brown, who lobbies Congress for Lambert in Washington and has known Hrabko for decades.

"He's been through the federal wringer more times than you can count," Brown said.

Hrabko lacks a college degree. The St. Louis city code requires a degree or "equivalent practical training" to serve as airport director. Hrabko's leadership at Spirit, in addition to other accreditations, qualifies as the equivalent, said Ed Rhode, Slay's spokesman.

Hrabko also will be required to move to the city — leaving his house with a swimming pool in O'Fallon, Mo.

"It's part of the deal," he said.

As he prepares to start his new job, Hrabko waves off any thought of when he might retire. He plays guitar and sings for a local rock 'n' roll band called Last Resort. He loves golf. He isn't ready to make either his life.

Those who worked with Hrabko during his time as Lambert's interim director call him a motivator. He encouraged staff to look at the airport the way passengers would and keep an eye out for unclean restrooms and other sources of complaints.

"Dick has a way of energizing people," said Gerard Slay, who was hired at Lambert before his brother was elected mayor. "It's a combination of his knowledge of the industry and his personality."