New Boss Hired for PG Airport

Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:32 AM

Prince George, B.C. - The Prince George Airport Authority has hired a new President and CEO.

Effective July 1st, John Gibson will take over the post. He comes to Prince George from the Hamilton International Airport, where he has held the position of Vice President of Marketing since 2001. Under his leadership, Hamiltonhas seen a tremendous growth in both passenger and cargo business. Prior to Hamilton, he held senior positions in air cargo with Canadian Airlines International, where he was General Manager – Cargo International. In this role, he successfully developed a series of cargo initiatives in Japan, Asia, South Pacific, South America, and the United States.

Furthermore, John has also been Chair of the Canadian Airports Council Cargo Subcommittee.

John has been in the aviation industry for the bulk of his career, first with Pacific Western Airlines and then with Canadian Airlines International prior to joining Hamilton International Airport. He holds Masters of Business Administration from UBC and carries many affiliations in a variety of aviation organizations.

John, his wife Corrine, and son Jon, are excited to be coming back to British Columbia to be involved in the opportunities offered at the Prince George Airport and within the community.

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Posted on Thursday, May 21, 2009 10:32 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Wolfie on May 21 2009 10:50 AM

Based on the information in this article, he sounds like a very good choice.

Posted by: He spoke on May 21 2009 11:49 AM

Maybe his previous contacts will be a good thing for us.

Posted by: He spoke on May 21 2009 12:18 PM

I'm sure he will not be like Stieg. Let's face it Stieg, did his job of taking our little landing strip into the 21st century. He obviously knew that he was not going to last, thus he made his preparation for a exit.

Thank you Stieg for taking it to the next level. Now we need to John to attract the commercial traffic.

Good Luck.

Posted by: Palopu on May 21 2009 3:22 PM

The problems with the Prince George Airport will continue regardless of who is running the show.

John Gibson may be able to do some things, but the bottom line is, is that the Airport Costs exceed its revenues, and it looks like the next few years will be worse not better.

Not sure why Gibson would leave a healthy Airort like Hamilton where he was Vice President Marketing, making a salary in the range of $125,000.00 per year, and locate in Prince George as a President and CEO making a salary in the range of $110,000.00 per year.

Must be some sort of career move.

Posted by: He spoke on May 21 2009 3:42 PM

Palopu, Sometimes, its not always about the money. Sure it is a bit of a pay cut. But, we have a lot to offer. Lots of fishing, hunting and outdoor activities. I am sure that the cost of living here is cheaper than Hamilton. He likely made money selling his home and relocating.

He probably hit his ceiling and needed to do something different.

Posted by: NMG on May 21 2009 3:58 PM

"Palopu, Sometimes, its not always about the money"

Very true. Maybe he looked at this as an opportunity to build something instead of managing what already exists. That can be a very tempting and rewarding proposition.

Posted by: Harbinger on May 21 2009 5:00 PM

Maybe Mr.Gibson can have yak with John Major and Gordo to see if they can agree to put about a half dozen one armed bandits at the airport.In order to raise a few more bucks for the airport. They have them in Reno and Vegas. But then again, we maybe have to wait awhile to be a more worldly city.I recollect gambling in Las Vegas where I could drink while gambling and not just stand on a stupid purple rug like at our casino.

Posted by: gus on May 21 2009 6:30 PM

http://www.flyhi.ca/pdf/amp_update.pdf

Read the 2004 master plan and you will see some of the challenges the Hamilton airport has. Air cargo is the bright spot having increased 10 fold in the last decade. Aircraft movements have decreased considerably over the last two decades.

I think the new manager knows where his better option is for the next 5 to 10 years. Hamilton has been a very depressed area for a couple of decades, so that will not be a new experience for him. In fact, I think Hamilton has had a worse go of it than PG.

Posted by: Wolfie on May 21 2009 9:46 PM

But the Hamilton airport will soon be booming from all the flights landing carrying NHL hockey players!

Joking, obviously...

Posted by: DPJ on May 22 2009 12:14 AM

Hope his experience and knowledge of the cargo industry will bring results to the Prince George Airport. Good luck John Gibson and welcome to Prince George.

Posted by: Palopu on May 23 2009 10:05 PM

There is more to this move than meets the eye.

The PG Airport Authority as we know it, is for all intents and purposes broke.

It has in excess of $15 Million in debt.

It is supposed to start paying lease fees to the Federal Government on 2011.

There are no opportunitys to increase revenue at this time. In fact the projections are that passenger numbers will decline.

There is little or no possibility of any Wide Body Cargo Jets, or any other jets for that matter landing in Pr George in the near term. Even if they did, it would have to be significant before any money was made.

I suspect that in the next few years you will see the Federal Government finding a new management team for this Airport. They will probably pay all the old debt., and allow the new team to start fresh.

Starting fresh with no debt will allow them to start making a profit, and to pay the Federal Government lease fees. The only losers of course will be the taxpayers.

Whats new????