DIA’s next CEO is former RTD head
The man who runs Los Angeles’ public transportation is the likely next CEO of the Denver International Airport, Mayor Michael Hancock announced Monday morning.
If Phil Washington’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he spent several years running the Regional Transportation District in the Denver metro before heading to Los Angeles. So long as the Denver City Council approves Hancock’s decision, Washington will take over this summer for departing CEO Kim Day, who announced her retirement in May after 13 years at the head.
“You stole him from us,” Hancock said he told Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, “so it only makes sense that I come back and get what belonged to Denver in the first place.”
As CEO, Washington will oversee multiple expansion projects at the airport, including a controversial $770 million terminal renovation, a push to add 39 gates and the planning process to add a seventh runway.
While Day said she didn’t have a baton to pass, she did give Washington a pair of socks adorned with the airport’s infamous mascot, Blucifer.
The airport is growing and the potential that will be at Washington’s hands is “endless,” she said.
Washington said although he hasn’t run an airport before, his experience with large budgets, massive employee bases and relationships with government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration will help him in his new role. That also means he is just as comfortable finishing projects that are already underway as he is guiding the start of new work, he said.
Safety and “enhancing the customer experience” will be among the top priorities
moving forward, Washington said. Describing himself as a public servant, he also pledged to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion.
The airport CEO — alongside Denver’s chief of police — is among the city’s most important positions, Hancock said.
When Hancock first took office in 2011, he kept Day, who was appointed by former Mayor John Hickenlooper.
But Hancock is termlimited and will leave office in 2023, meaning whoever replaces him in the mayor’s office could appoint a different airport CEO. Washington said he’s unconcerned and focused only on doing the best job he can with whatever time he has.
“I try not to look too far ahead,” Washington said. “The future will take care of itself.”
The airport CEO’s annual salary is $266,143 a year. If the council approves Washington’s appointment, he will take over the position July 16 — the same day Day leaves.