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 the top candidate by far, 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 afterward. “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.”
Hopper's background
From March 2019 until he retired from the job in June, Hopper, who is in his sixties, 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.
According to a profile produced by the local airport’s executive director search consultant, before arriving in Greenville, Hopper, a Marine Corps veteran, worked for:
- Omaha (Nebraska) Airport Authority as operations supervisor from 1986 to 1988.
- Blast Deflectors Inc. as assistant manager from 1988 to 1990.
- Binghamton (New York) Regional Airport as operations supervisor from 1990-1993.
- Pease Airport, New Hampshire, as deputy airport manager from 1994-2016. The airport is known now as Portsmouth International Airport at Pease.
- Elmira-Corning Regional Airport as director of aviation from 2016 to 2019.
Hopper earned a bachelor of science degree in aviation management from Southern Illinois University. As a Marine from 1982 to 1986, he served as an air traffic controller at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
He also served as a board member of American Association of Airport Executives and past president of its northeast chapter. He earned the group’s accredited airport executive designation.
Hopper will replace interim executive director Stephen Mykulyn. The board named Mykulyn to the post in March after the departure of former executive director Carl Beardsley Jr. for health reasons.
Belles said Hopper was chosen from among three finalists, who included Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak. Originally, the board's search consultant, ADK Consulting & Executive Search, narrowed the list of candidates in a nationwide search to five finalists, but Belles said two withdrew before the final interviews.
'A great opportunity'
In a telephone interview after the meeting, Hopper said he brought on Beardsley as an unpaid intern about a month before he left the Binghamton job.
“Carl and I have been very good friends over the decades, Hopper said. “I see this as a great opportunity. I know he did a great job there.”
Beardsley, who eventually ran the Binghamton airport before taking the job here in January 2015, led the local airport to record passenger departure levels before COVID-19 slowed travel. Delta Airlines ended flights from here in July 2020 as the pandemic pummeled air travel and never returned.
“I'd love to see if we can get them back,” Hopper said. “(I want to) work on, first of all, maintaining the air service we have, and then trying to expand on the air service we have at the existing airlines.”
He noted the presence of Amazon and other companies in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“I'd love to try to see if there's something we can do to take advantage of the growth that's going on there on the business side,” he said.
With the arrival of Breeze Airways and its flights to Florida destinations in January 2024, the airport’s departure numbers rebounded, though not to the record levels. Hopper said he sees the possibility of adding more Breeze flights.
“I've worked with a lot of the leadership at Breeze. I worked with them because I worked with Allegiant Airlines quite a bit, and a lot of the leadership at Breeze are former Allegiant people,” he said. “And so I've got some really good relationships and really look forward to getting back with them.”
Hopper retired from the North Carolina airport in June.
“It was the end of the fiscal year and time to let the new generation take over,” he said. “And then I saw this one (opening), and shortly after I retired actually, and threw my hat in the ring.”
Because of his time in Binghamton and Elmira, he knows the region, he said.
“And my wife and I love that area, and look very forward to returning,” he said, also citing being closer to family in New England.
Why board picked Hopper
During the board meeting, Belles thanked board members and airport staff for the “extraordinary time, care and hard work” spent finding “the perfect fit” to run the airport.
“He's an accomplished aviation executive with more than 40 years of airport leadership experience,” Belles said. “Just as importantly, Bill is known for a collaborative and visible leadership style, with a strong commitment to community engagement, employee development, fiscal responsibility, and strategic growth.”
Board member Bill Gaughan echoed Belles.
“Throughout this entire process, I have consistently said that a national search should result in one thing: the most qualified person for the job. After reviewing the candidates and participating in the interview process, I believe that Mr. Hopper clearly meets that standard,” he said. “He clearly understands, after interviewing him, that an executive director works with the board, keeps the board informed, listens to employees, engages the community, and develops a long-term strategy for the airport.”
Board member Thom Welby noted other qualified people applied, but said the board is “100% behind Mr. Hopper.”
Board members Romilda Crocamo, Lee Ann McDermott and Chris Munley concurred.
“They were all very qualified (applicants) and making the decision was difficult, but again, we all feel that this is the best choice, and hoping that he fits in well and everyone works with him,” McDermott said.
“I concur with all the statements that were made, I am pleased that the process was fair and the two counties work together as we should,” Crocamo said.
Munley, who temporarily replaced Chris Chermak on the board because Chermak was a finalist for the job, said Hopper “was by far the unanimous choice of this board.”
“I am absolutely convinced that he will be able to take this airport to even a higher level, and he will have the help of this board all the way through,” he said.
Chermak loses out
The choice of Hopper means Chermak, a Lackawanna County commissioner, failed to get the job. Chermak later issued a statement saying he's pleased the board hired a qualified candidate.
"I am confident he will continue to move our airport forward and accomplish great things.
He thanked ADK and fellow board members for considering him for the job.
"I am personally honored and proud to have been selected as one of the three finalists through that nationwide process," he said. "Unfortunately, along the way, I read some unkind and dismissive comments regarding my candidacy in the media. While those comments were disappointing, being selected as one of three finalists following an independent nationwide search speaks for itself regarding my credentials, experience, and qualifications."
He is expected to return to the board now that a new leader was appointed, though he did not confirm that in his statement.
Asked in a July interview if he could support the successful candidate if it weren’t him, Chermak said, “We’re going to find out.”
Belles said he isn’t worried about Hopper having to deal with a board member who lost out on the job.
“I know Chris Chermak to be a professional, and I have no concerns on that at all,” he said.
Belles said the airport will pay Hopper $150,000 a year to start as part of a five-year contract. He starts Nov. 1.
