News
New Bradley Airport Administrator announced
By Governor Rell's office
May 7, 2008 - 12:03:17 PM

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that Jeffrey Schultes of Portland, Maine has been selected as the Airport Administrator for Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The announcement comes eight months after the Governor announced a national search for a leader who could enhance Bradley’s “already excellent reputation for marketing and customer service.”

Schultes is currently serving as Manager of the Portland International Jetport. He has also worked for FedEx Corporation as its senior airport properties representative and as the assistant airport manager for the Bloomington-Normal (Illinois) Airport Authority. He is expected to begin his new assignment on June 2, 2008.

“Jeff is a dynamic, proven aviation leader who can take Bradley to new heights of excellence and burnish its strong reputation for customer service,” Governor Rell said. “This airport has become one of the key drivers of Connecticut’s economy and Jeff is someone who understands the intricacies and challenges of delivering the best in service for the thousands of customers who travel through Bradley every day and the hundreds of businesses using and supporting Bradley operations.”

With new and ongoing terminal and other service expansions, Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks is New England’s second-largest airport, serving about 7 million passengers per year. Bradley also contributes $4 billion in economic activity in Connecticut and the surrounding region, representing $1.2 billion in wages and 18,000 full-time jobs. It also serves as a base for the Army and Air National Guard.

“With the recent initiation of daily non-stop service from Bradley to Amsterdam, this airport can compete with any other in the Northeast, and I look forward to the challenge of making Bradley even more customer-oriented and business friendly,” Schultes said. “I am grateful to Governor Rell for the confidence she has shown in me. I can assure her and the people of Connecticut that this confidence is well-placed.”

L. Scott Frantz, Chairman of the Bradley Board of Directors and a member of the search panel, said that Schultes “meets or exceeds” every criterion on which the search was conducted, including relevant airport management experience, industry group credentials, excellent character and exceptional leadership skills.

“As the airport and airline industries complete the first half of yet another very challenging year, we are very happy to have such a vibrant individual become part of the management team at Bradley International,” Frantz said. “Jeff will help foster the airport’s growth, assure that it remains a significant economic generator in the region and increase its ability to meet the needs of the market place.”

The nationwide search for a Bradley Administrator was conducted by a four-member panel headed by Acting DOT Commissioner H. James Boice. Other panel members included Frantz; Richard J. Jaworski, Chief of the DOT’s Bureau of Aviation and Ports; and Stephen E. Korta II, Acting Bradley Airport Administrator.

“Jeff is an excellent match for Bradley and I am confident he will keep this vital regional airport moving in the right direction,” said Acting Commissioner Boice.

Korta, who has been serving as Interim Bradley Administrator, will return to his post at DOT Headquarters in Newington as the agency’s Aviation Administrator.

Bradley is operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT). Originally a military airfield that opened in 1941, it initiated commercial service in 1947. It is named for Eugene Bradley, an Oklahoma airman who died during a training exercise at the airfield in 1941.

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