LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: CAPE GIRARDEAU LOSING A BLUE-CHIP ASSET

Dear Editor,

The Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board held its regular monthly meeting on July 12. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed by those present that I would write the enclosed letter to the editor from the board. I have contacted the one member who was not present and he concurred:

The City of Cape Girardeau has suffered a major loss with the resignation of Randy Holdman as airport manager. The Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board wants to take this opportunity to express its opinion as to the magnitude of this loss, make the public aware of how much his efforts on behalf of the community and region will be missed, and wish Mr. Holdman great success in his new endeavors. Cape Girardeau is losing a blue-chip asset.

When the city began the search for an airport manager that resulted in Mr. Holdman's employment, it advertised for an individual with "Associates Degree in Airport Administration, Business or Public Administration, Marketing, Transportation or Civil Engineering and two years supervisory or management experience in related field." Instead, we found an engineer who graduated from the Air Force Academy, had a masters degree in civil engineering and over 20 years of management experience in both aircraft and airport operations. We were able to hire him for an embarrassingly low salary because he wanted to come home to Missouri, get his family settled in one place, and become part of a strong growing community.

Doug Leslie, assistant city manager/public works director, stated, "... Holdman has made a number of positive contributions to the airport during his tenure as manager. Some of these improvements include opening the new terminal building facility and restaurant, working to increase passenger boardings, completion of major improvement projects including a new parking lot, and extensive work towards the business development of the airport property." Mr. Leslie's comment is accurate, but it does not fully express Mr. Holdman's accomplishments as airport manager. More importantly, it fails to express the long-term affect his tireless efforts to, as Bill Heitland wrote, "... rub the airport until it glistened like a regional gem."

When Mr. Holdman began his term as Cape Girardeau's airport manager, he found an airport undergoing tremendous evolution. During the past ten years, management of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport had evolved from being a subset of Parks and Recreation managed on a crisis basis to crisis management by other department heads and finally crisis management by the assistant city manager. He was replacing the first full-time airport manager who had been hired about three years prior with little education and experience. Suddenly the city had an airport manager with superior education, experience, and the long-term vision to make the airport a major regional asset.

As had been advertised, Mr. Holdman's responsibilities included "airport marketing, economic development, grantsmanship, public relations, operation and maintenance of the airport in compliance with FAA regulations CFT part 139." Having had similar responsibilities and authority to accomplish those responsibilities, he was naturally frustrated, as Bill Heitland wrote, by the city's reluctance to provide authority. In spite of the frustration, he set out to do what he could do to accomplish those things he could.

The results of Mr. Holdman's initiatives to market and promote the airport as a regional facility should be realized for several years to come. As a result of his research and initiative, the market area of the airport has been significantly redefined and chambers of commerce and travel agents within the redefined area are beginning to respond to his efforts. He has managed to get TWE to reschedule flights to improve their boardings and consider the possibility of adding a flight in the near future. The current growth rate in boardings is sufficient to get the attention of other carriers who should be more willing to consider providing flights to other destinations than at any time in the past five years. Aviation related businesses are now considering Cape Girardeau as a potential location as a result of his promotional and economic development efforts. In addition, other initiatives should lead to the rejuvenation of general aviation activity. In other words, the long-term outlook for Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is brighter than at any time in the past ten years thanks to Randy Holdman's brief tenure as airport manager.

The Airport Advisory Board wants the community and Randy to know that he will be sorely missed.

The board also wishes to congratulate Drury Southwest for making an excellent decision.

WILLIAM H. WALKER

Chairperson

Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board