Unable to finalize a contract with its chosen candidate, the local airport board plans to consider options for finding a new executive director before deciding on a next step.
Speaking after the board met Thursday, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport board chairman Chris Belles said the options include offering the job to interim executive director Stephen Mykulyn, another airport administrator or a previous finalist or searching again nationwide. He did not specifically mention the names of any other airport officials.
“We have to think of the pros and cons on each choice that we take, or that we have to make along the way here,” Belles said. “So, I mean, I'm not trying to hide anything. It's just we truly have decided that we need to deliberate for a short period of time.”
Belles declined to say how soon the board might act to hire a new person to lead the airport.
“So, what the board is really doing is we're going to sit down and have a few meetings in the next couple of weeks, executive (private) meetings, of course, and consider all our options, as you would expect us to,” he said. “As long as it takes. I don't believe that you rush a decision like this.”
In the meantime, Mykulyn will keep running the airport.
He did not apply for the job during the process that led to voting last month to offer the job to Kim William “Bill” Hopper, of Greenville, North Carolina. Mykulyn also remains the airport's engineering director, overseeing upgrade and expansion projects. He said Thursday he would consider taking the job.
The failed offer
The airport’s offer included a five-year contract starting at $150,000 a year, but negotiations fell apart earlier this week and Hopper withdrew his application.
Belles again declined Thursday to talk about the disagreement that caused Hopper to withdraw.
Hopper, a veteran airport official with more than 40 years experience in the aviation industry, ran the Greenville airport the last seven years. Belles praised Hopper for having “a collaborative and visible leadership style, with a strong commitment to community engagement.”
In an interview after the board meeting last month, Hopper sounded enthusiastic about taking the job. He could not be reached for comment on why he withdrew.
Considering Hopper withdrew, the board will “probably not” revisit interesting him in the job again, Belles said.
Belles reassures staff
During the meeting, Belles reassured airport employees.
“So, it's important that you all, as employees, and that the public understands that from our perspective, and hopefully from your perspective too, that this place is under stable leadership and strong leadership, and you guys are doing a heck of a job day in and day out,” he said. “And, so you know, our board is remaining dedicated to making sure we identify the best leader for the airport.”
What will Chermak do?
One other known finalist was Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak, who was not at Thursday's meeting.
Efforts to reach Chermak on whether he will seek the job were unsuccessful.
The airport has lacked a permanent executive director since Carl Beardsley Jr. took a sabbatical leave for health reasons last November.
In March, the board appointed Mykulyn as interim director and hired a firm to search for a permanent replacement, the process that led to hiring Hopper.
