Airport authority chief to retire

Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon, who oversees Bradley International and five other state airports, announced Tuesday he will retire next January.

Dillon has been the only executive director since the authority was created in 2013. His total compensation last year was $460,656, according to the web site for the state Comptroller’s Office. Before the creation of the quasi-public agency, the responsibility for running Bradley and Connecticut’s five general aviation airports in Danielson, Groton, Hartford, Oxford, and Windham, fell to the state Transportation Department.

Dillon said he is proud of the “significant milestones” the Authority has been able to achieve during his tenure in the job.

“I want to thank the CAA Board of Directors and my team for their hard work over the years,” he said in a written statement. “I have every confidence that the organization’s success will continue into the future. Leading an organization in this community has been a privilege.”

Dillon was hired to run the agency in 2012 and was able to get the federal regulatory approvals needed to make the transition of operations of the state’s airports from the state DOT to the newly established Authority a year later.

Tony Sheridan, chairman of the Authority’s board, said the agency “is very fortunate to have benefited from Kevin’s strong leadership since his arrival as the organization’s first executive director.”

“As a direct result of his efforts, the CAA has experienced sustained nonstop route growth at Bradley International Airport, been recognized with national awards, and completed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of capital projects across our entire airport system,” Sheridan said. “It is not an overstatement to say that Connecticut’s air travelers, tourism industry, and overall economy are better off due to Kevin’s tenure at the CAA, and we will all be sad to see him go.”

Brian Spyros, a spokesman for the Authority, said the agency’s board “will determine the appropriate process and timing for naming a successor.”

Michael Boyd, president of airline consultant Boyd Group International, described Dillon as “an icon in the commercial aviation industry.”

“There aren’t many out there like him.” said Boyd, who does not serve on the agency’s board of directors. “He’s done a great job with that airport, which before he came wasn’t as well regarded as it is now.”

Boyd said the Authority’s board and state officials need to look for a replacement “that will keep the momentum at Bradley moving forward.”

“There’s plenty of talented people out there, but the trick is getting them to come to Connecticut,” he said. “It won’t be easy and someone with that level won’t come cheap.”

During Dillon’s tenure, there has been an increase of more than 35 percent in nonstop flight destinations from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, just north of Hartford. The economic impact of all of the airports overseen by the Authority is now at $4 billion of total output, which includes an increase of $1 billion at Bradley alone, when compared to the last economic impact study done for the agency, state officials say.

Dillon has also gotten a number of capital projects off the ground in the past year, including an 80,000square-foot inline baggage screening building that is under construction directly behind the Sheraton Hotel that will house the airport’s explosive-detection machines. Once the building is complete, baggage will be sent directly from the airline ticket counters along a mile-long conveyor belt to the new facility for screening.

A makeover is also on tap that will give arriving passengers faster and better access to the airport’s baggage claim area, located on Bradley’s lower level. Two new corridors are being constructed on both sides of the main terminal, which will eliminate the bottle neck that now exists as arriving passengers make their way out airport’s secure area through a single lane. That will allow the security checkpoint area for departing passengers to be expanded. Both projects are expected to be completed late next year.

The airport is also undergoing an upgrade of its shopping and dining options for travelers, once they have passed through security.