Long Beach Airport to loose Director to Indianapolis International Airport

Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez (Brittany Murray - Staff photographer) 

 

Mario Rodriguez, the Long Beach Airport executive director who oversaw a major recent overhaul of the passenger concourse, is leaving to run Indianapolis International Airport, he announced Monday.

 

Rodriguez, who has been at the helm of the airport since 2009, was instrumental in the construction of the $45 million passenger facility that opened to travelers at the end of 2012. The 13-gate concourse is cheap by airport standards — Burbank Bob Hope Airport estimates that it will soon need to spend $300 million to $400 million on a new 14-gate terminal — but Rodriguez repeatedly said the airport should only build what it needed.

He also supervised construction of a new parking garage that finished under budget and ahead of schedule, according to airport officials.

 

Both Rodriguez and the airport won accolades for the terminal facility, a project that included a rehabilitation of the airport’s historic 1941 Art Deco main building. The Southern California Chapter of the American Public Works Association called the building the best transportation project of 2013. Last month, Long Beach’s updated passenger facility made a Fodor’s list of the top 10 new airport terminals.

“Mario came into Long Beach at a time when the airport was trying to build a new passenger concourse,” said Brett Snyder, a Long Beach-based airline industry analyst and blogger. “He made sure it was done with a focus on passenger comfort while also keeping a close eye on costs. The result is one that travelers love the convenience but airlines also love the low cost of operating there.”

But there was a limit to what Rodriguez could accomplish in Long Beach. Unlike most airports, which are constantly seeking growth, Long Beach is limited in the number of new flights it can accept. A city ordinance restricts the number of commercial flights to 41 per day on large jets, such as the Airbus A320, which seats 150 in JetBlue’s configuration, and 25 per day on smaller planes, such as the 65-seat CRJ700 operated by Delta Connection.
 
Rodriguez will have no such limitations in Indianapolis, which accommodated 7.2 million passengers last year, or about 4.2 million more than Long Beach.

He’ll also be running an airport with international flights. JetBlue, the main tenant in Long Beach, has long wanted to build a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center at the airport, a requirement before the airport can accept international arrivals. But so far that has yet to happen. (Rodriguez said JetBlue’s request is reasonable, and he suggested the airline probably will eventually get its wish.)

“I like the challenge of learning a new organization and working with the dynamics that Indianapolis has,” Rodriguez said. “It has a lot more airlines.

It is going through a couple of interesting developments, like new leases with airlines. That is really interesting to me. The airport is also the second largest FedEx hub in the United States.”

 

In addition to running the international airport, Rodriguez will oversee four other airports and one heliport operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The other airports handle mainly general aviation flights.

Rodriguez’s last day will be May 23. City officials say they will conduct a national search for Rodriguez’s successor. They plan to appoint an interim head after Rodriguez leaves.

Rodriguez said the airport will be fine without him.

“This is a service industry, and the people here and their level of professionalism is amazing,” he said.

Long Beach Airport, operated by the city of Long Beach, has 125 employees and an annual operating budget of more than $40 million.
 

(Brian Summers - Daily Breeze)