Airport manager Bruce Loy looks to fly high in retirement; 'you have to jump off sometime'

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Bruce Loy hopes to fly high in retirement.

After more than 22 years directing airport operations, the 66-year-old Loy has announced he will retire in late January.

Retirement will afford him the opportunity to fly more, he said. He is part owner of a four-seat Cessna, but his job as airport manager has kept him firmly grounded.

“I am trying to get going on flying again,” said Loy, who lives in Jackson.

Loy, who grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas, began flying at a young age. He was 17 when he obtained his pilot’s license.

His love of flying was sparked by his uncle, who was a crop duster.

“He took me flying quite a bit,” Loy recalled.

For two years, beginning with his senior year in high school, Loy participated in amateur rodeos, riding bucking horses and bulls.

In 2010, Loy told the Southeast Missourian, “it was a terrible experience.” He suffered a separated shoulder while participating in one rodeo.

“It is much safer to fly a plane,” he said last week while looking back on his career in aviation. “The landing is truly the hardest part about flying.”

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Bruce Loy poses for a portrait Thursday next to a Cessna 182 aircraft he co-owns at the airport.Jacob Wiegand

Taking off

Loy graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, where he majored in aerospace administration and minored in business.

His career in aviation has spanned more than three decades. Before coming to Cape Girardeau, he held airport administrative positions at several other airports, including in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Loy said he took a hiatus from airport management for several years while living in the Dallas area.

“I was selling children’s clothing,” he said.

But his love of aviation drew him back into airport management.

Loy was hired to run the Cape Girardeau airport after serving as airport manager at Yakima, Washington.

“It was closer to home than I had been in a long time,” he said of his decision to take the Cape Girardeau job in 1997.

Loy said he is “happy with the way things have gone.”

During his tenure, the airport added more hangars to meet the demand of pilots.

Jet set

Boardings at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport are on track to break the 10,000-passenger threshold this year for the first time in more than two decades. Loy views it as a major highlight of his career here.

“The biggest thing was getting the jet service, honestly,” he said.

Utah-based SkyWest Airlines, operating as United Express, began offering round-trip flights on 50-seat jets to Chicago on Dec. 1, 2017.

The commuter airline replaced Cape Air, which previously provided round trips to St. Louis on much smaller planes.

Commuter flights serving Cape Girardeau and other small airports are federally subsidized under the Essential Air Service program.

Loy said jet service has been a key factor in boosting boardings.

Hitting the 10,000-passenger threshold will secure more federal funding for the Cape Girardeau airport.

The airport will receive $1 million every year it reaches the boardings threshold, Loy said.

“Two years of SkyWest, it has made a huge difference. It has kind of brought a little more of the limelight out to the airport,” he said.

Today, there is a greater public awareness of the airport’s value in terms of economic development, Loy said.

City officials are planning to build a new terminal and air traffic control tower.

“It is very exciting,” he said.

On the run

Loy said he has plenty of things on his to-do list when he retires, including resuming his hobby of brewing beer and taking bike rides.

“I came close to riding to the airport,” he recalled. “I set out one day to ride out here. I got all the way to Dutchtown, and it just started pouring.”

Loy said he enjoys running, too: “I have probably run seven or so half-marathons.”

“My wife and I have a little photo booth business, which we will grow,” he said.

He also plans to do more scuba diving.

As airport manager, Loy has helped orchestrate 15 air shows. In retirement, Loy said he would volunteer to help with future air shows.

“It is kind of hard to just completely stay out of that,” he added.

Loy said his one regret has been his inability to boost cargo flights at the airport.

“I would like to see that grow somehow,” he said.

Still, he said, “it has been a good run.”

He added, “I feel like I am leaving things in pretty good order.”

Deputy airport manager Katrina Amos will take over as manager when Loy retires.

Loy likened the job of managing an airport to being on a carousel.

“It might slow down every now and then, but it never stops,” he said.

“You have to jump off sometime,” he said. “It is a good time.”

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