Every day I field calls about troubled airports: unenthusiastic management, bad business deals, inadequate local support, mis-use of airport funds, and efforts to close the field. But once in a while I hear about smart, engaged people making a difference. There is a new breed of airport managers who are kicking it up a notch. These include Lorraine Martinelli from Madras, Oregon (S33) who is a 600 hour private pilot with instrument, complex, high-performance, and taildragger ratings; Tyler Galetka, who manages the growing pains of Cedar City Regional (KCDC) in Utah, and F-15 pilot Heron Weidner who runs the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport (KJGG) in the tidewater region of Virginia. Their stories should inspire all of us.
