LEXINGTON, KY - Hours after the previous executive director of Blue Grass Airport and his top three lieutenants were indicted on felony theft charges, the man brought in to smooth over the damage done by the scandal was named the airport's permanent executive director.
After eight months as interim director, Eric Frankl was unanimously voted as the new director over 68 other applicants by the airport board. When Frankl, who previously headed airports in Toledo and Springfield Ill., and was head of operations at the airport in Fort Wayne, Ind., came on as interim director he was tasked with rebuilding the confidence of airlines servicing LEX, and keeping them at the airport in the wake of scandal.
"That was really his first priority to try to stabilize those relationships, and so to go from that point to where we are today to have a new airline with the confidence to come in here, into this market in this day-in-economic-time, I think that really shows a lot for how far we've progressed since last January," said airport board chairman Bobby Owens.
Immediately following the board's vote on Frankl, the airport announced its newest carrier, AirTran, a discount airline that will begin servicing the Fort Lauderdale and Orlando airports from Lexington in February.
"Eric did a great job working with us, even when he was the interim director. There was a good rapport here," said AirTran Corporate Communications Manager, Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas. "(AirTran) felt confident in the plan that had come together and the team that was already hereĆ that made it a good fit."
When Frankl started following heavy media coverage of the fall of previous director Mike Gobb and other top managers for around $500,000 in questionable expenses, he had to show stability at the airport that had been rocked by the scandal involving the then well-regarded Gobb.
"We really focused on our existing carriers right out of the gate, making sure we're talking to them, communicating what happened and making sure any concerns they have are addressed," Frankl said following today's announcement. "It really was a duel effort not only working with our existing carriers to make sure they understood and were comfortable with where the airport was going, but also work for the future as well."
Owens said the perception of a stable management group is vital to an airport's relations with air carriers and good relations with air carriers are needed for an airport's success.
"They do (see stability here) now. And that was a huge challenge back in January, when we had our last management group leave we had a couple of airlines, major airlines for us, really express some grave reservations about the direction of the airport and we worked really hard to turn that around," Owens said.
And today's announcement of the flights three times a week to Fort Lauderdale and four times a week to Orlando on AirTran, which until now did not service Kentucky, is proof that work paid off, according to Frankl.
"(Continuity in management) is important," Frankl said. "Frankly if we were in the middle of a management change, I think that is something (AirTran) would take into consideration. We make commitments and obviously sometimes we'll have that on paper, but sometimes our commitments are our word.
"Had a transition occurred now, with different philosophies - not necessarily good or bad - but it would have perhaps would have been different and they might not have been comfortable with that," Frankl said about potential consternations an airline could have in the process of negotiating the launch of a service.
"We talked about (the possibility of a different person in the director's role), we were completely open and honest about it," Frankl said. "And Brian Ellestad, our director of air service development really has a great relationship with them and he was hopefully going to be here regardless of who the executive director was, so I think that gave them some comfort."
Asked if the AirTran would have come to Lexington had there been another transition in management, Tinsley-Douglas said: "Things were far enough along that we felt comfortable that we were coming here, it makes it all the better that the person we had been working with was going to be that choice, but I think that we probably would have come."
The process that led to the naming of Frankl started back in the spring with Guy Huguelet, former owner of staffing company Adecco, interviewing 25 Lexington leaders to see what they would look for the airport to do following the Gobb scandal. Top feedback involved adding more direct flights, restoring the faith of the community and business leadership in the airport, building relationships, playing a role in economic development and focusing on passenger safety.
After the initial submission of 69 applications the search committee narrowed the field to 30 who had American Association of Airport Executive certification, aviation management degrees and experience in airport management. From there it was narrowed to nine who had the certification, degree and 10 years or more experience in airport management.
The committee eventually interviewed three applicants before choosing Frankl.
"It is tough for me to truly enjoy today having that as the backdrop," Frankl said adding that he looks forward to continuing the work he started as interim director.
"This board, this community need to move forward, we are almost a year into this now, we've taken great action to move this organization forward and I hope today is just another step in that direction," he said.
The AirTran service will start on February, 11 to Fort Lauderdale and the following day to Orlando. Flights will start at $99 one-way to Orlando and $109 one-way to Fort Lauderdale. Tinsley-Douglas said Boeing 717s will be used on the routes and all planes come equipped with a fee-based WiFi service.