LOCAL ANGLES: AMBITIOUS AIRPORT MANAGER GOES UP, UP AND AWAY

This was one flight I didn't expect Randy Holdman to take. And yet, maybe it wasn't such a surprise move after all.

I am talking about the Cape Girardeau airport manager's decision to resign his post, effective July 31, in favor of a more lucrative offer from Drury Southwest Inc. It seems Holdman will now be making a living in construction management and real estate development. He'll even get to fly the corporate plane as the company's official pilot. Sounds like somebody created a job for a guy too talented to leave the Ponderosa.

Holdman said he opted for Drury Southwest for "a career-broadening opportunity" and to remain in a city that fit snugly around his family's needs. Perhaps the best thing Holdman will get out of the deal, besides more money of course, is some peace of mind.

The city of Cape Girardeau and Cape Central Airways, the fixed base operator, are getting ready to climb into the legal ring. The city has asked Cape Central Airways to leave. Now it's telling the company with an official notice, the second of its kind. Cape Central Airways said the city is picking on a guy who looks and feels like Chuck Yeager.

Meanwhile, Holdman was sitting on unstable ground as he attempted to lure new clients into the fold. When Holdman sent out a questionaire asking potential clients to list what the wanted most from the Cape Girardeau airport, some said they wouldn't even consider doing business until there was a better fixed based operator to work with.

Surely, frustration began to eat away at Holdman's ambitious plans. There was a contradiction working here. Holdman was filling more and more seats on Trans World Express flights. And he was getting a healthy number of travel agents to send clients his way. Respect and riches were his for the taking.

But then this mess between the city and Cape Central Airways happens and people begin to wonder if the airport is even open. Holdman saw fit to call me one Sunday morning to ask if we could put a story in the paper telling people the airport was indeed open.

Through it all, however, Holdman, a native of Bonne Terre, Mo., and a graduate of the Air Force Academy, seemed determined to guide this airport to its destiny. He even planned on buying space on a billboard situated between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis on I-55.

Then reality began to creep into the picture. Holdman listened to the constant bickering between the city and Cape Central Airways and probably said, Who needs this?

A veteran of the Air Force, Holdman is used to doing things by the rules. But after looking at the way things were run, he found out there aren't many rules being followed.

He learned about this guy giving buzz cuts to the airport's landscape. To make matters worse, the Federal Aviation Administration is notified of some very strange behavior patterns that would draw red cards in any World Cup of the skies.

If he wants to look at Chuck Yeager, Holdman decides, he will buy the book.

Holdman wonders further: Is this really what he wanted potential clients to look at?

Certainly not. But Holdman probably figured that the work he was doing to rub the airport until it glistened like a regional gem was enough to keep the bad news from making the facility lose its luster.

The guy not only had a gift for getting people excited about his dreams, he had the vision and talent to make things happen in a hurry. Thirteen months ago, people probably would have thought some of the things Holdman has already accomplished would take years.

Drury Southwest's gain is a big loss for the city because if there weren't any legal battle, there would have been no holding back Holdman.

As it stands now, the only thing left for Holdman to do is follow the path of the 1994 Balloon Fest and go up, up and away.

~Bill Heitland is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.