The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport board hired a new leader Thursday with more than 30 years of airport management experience, including the last seven running a smaller one in North Carolina.
Kim William “Bill” Hopper, of Greenville, North Carolina, stood out as by far the top candidate, board members said during and after the meeting where all six voted to hire him.
“We couldn’t tell you, but from the get-go, he's got the longer experience. His resume was just really good,” board chairman Chris Belles said. “I was open through the entire process. I mean, he had to check every box, right? It's not just a resume. It's not just how you look. It's not just how you talk. It's like you got to have the whole package. But as time went on, it was just, he's the real deal. He's going to be really, really good here.”
Since 2019 until he retired from the job in June, Hopper served as executive director of the Pitt Greenville Airport Authority, which had 42,318 departures in fiscal year 2024.
By comparison, the local airport had 259,490 departures last year.
The choice of Hopper means Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak, a finalist for the job, did not get it. Board member Bill Gaughan said the airport will pay Hopper $150,000 a year to start as part of a five-year contract.
