The new CEO of the Albany County Airport Authority has a lot on his plate.
Stephen Clark is landing at Albany International Airport amid a push to add new nonstop routes and a drawn-out, nine-figure renovation project. His appointment also comes about two years after popular airport CEO Philip Calderone was ousted, reportedly to open up the position for Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. McCoy has denied wanting the job and said he was unaware of the board's decision to remove Calderone.
To get a sense of what's next for Albany International Airport, WAMC Capital Region Bureau Chief Grant Ashley went to the airport to sit down with Clark shortly after he started on the job. Here's part of their conversation.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Ashley: And, you know, you've been working in Sacramento for a long time. Why the cross-country move?
Clark: Yeah, you know, it's an opportunity to get back to the cold, if anything else. No, I'm just kidding. This is such a unique opportunity to get to come in and lead an organization in a community, quite frankly. It's fairly rare in the airport profession, and it's just one you can't pass up. It's just exciting — everything that's going on in this region, and to be able to, you know, be at the center of it here at the airport is ... just amazing.
Ashley: You know, I wanted to talk a little bit about how the transition's been, right? There was a, you know, pretty well-liked CEO in this role before. There were rumors that the county executive was gunning for the job, and you know, then that fell through. Like, what's it been like, kind of coming into that situation and, you know, taking over as the top employee?
Clark: Sure, I'll tell you, it's been nothing but supportive, right? And I think you can see that out in the news. I mean, there's a lot of articles out there. You know, I certainly read them before I came. But I'll tell you, the Capital Region wants whoever is in this role to be successful, and every single person I've talked to has said that, and they're doing everything they can. You know, being here and just trying to just focus on the experience every day. That that's the goal, right? And you know what's happened, you know, in the past is in the past, and we're moving forward. We got a lot of exciting things here, and you know, seeing record employments. You know, my job isn't to count chips; it's to serve this community, and I want to do that as best I can.
Ashley: You know, you obviously have inherited a large renovation project here. Where is that? Like, how is that coming along?
Clark: Yeah, so it's moving along. It's moving forward. So you're talking about the departure hall, and actually, you know, today or this week, last week was exciting because we actually were able to open a portion of it, another portion of it. So we were able to expand the queue space where folks will be waiting in line, you know, to go through the TSA security checkpoint. You know, so as you just think about what's coming up here with the holidays, you know, obviously, the increase in travel. That space now will enable folks to be a little bit more comfortable, right? So they're going to come up off the escalator. They got a little bit more space to queue. You know, fortunately, our partners at TSA here are fantastic, and the wait times are, you know, relatively short, anyways. Nevertheless, you know, having an additional I want to say it was like 1,500 or 1,700 square feet — just to put folks into the queue, it's a huge thing, and it's open now. So, you know, now the rest of the project is moving the rest of the checkpoint. It's finishing up all the other features. The connection point there into the north garage is really where the teams are focusing right now.
Ashley: And do you know approximately how long that's supposed to take?
Clark: The project is going to be wrapping up next year. So, you know, the exact day and all, you know, I'm still picking up on all of that.
Ashley: Sure. Like spring next year? [Or] winter next year?
Clark: It's probably going to be around mid-year, is what I would say. And you know, one of the things that we're trying to do is we're trying to work with all of the teams to see where can we pick up [the] speed, right?
Ashley: And then, you know, there's been some concerns in the media about this project being over budget. How are you trying to kind of get this done while reining in the spending on it?
Clark: Sure. No, I think that's just working with the partners, right? And just knowing what's going on. And you know, there's always going to be items in a project that you don't foresee, right? Things that you need to go back and readdress, and this project is no different than that. It's about making sure that we keep them in check, and we work, you know, very well with all the partners on the ground to say, you know, if we need to add dollars to this project, what's the reason for it, right? And making sure that we're accountable to that.
Ashley: And it was your first week when those diverted planes were diverted to the Albany airport, correct?
Clark: My first day. It was actually my first day.
Ashley: I wanted to hear about that. What was that like to, you know, come in and then immediately have a, you know, very busy day at work?
Clark: It was cool just to get to see the team function. I mean, you know, here's the thing: they were ready for this, right? They had this whole plan put together, and I hadn't even read it, obviously. And you know, for them to just come in and execute on that, and you know, when you have a situation like that where you have multiple flights diverting, you know, internationally, you know, the moment really tests the mettle of the team. Are they able to do it safely? And they did. They did it flawlessly. And you know, for me, coming in literally first day, like I didn't even know where the bathrooms were to help people, you know. I had little to nothing to do with it, but really, to be able to watch the team and to celebrate them a little bit afterwards, that's a great way to start.
Ashley: Right, and just for the listeners, those flights were coming from France, and...
Clark: I believe there was Italy, if I'm not mistaken.
Ashley: Right. Yes, Italy and France. They were supposed to go to Newark.
Clark: Correct. Correct. Yeah, and you know, airports all over the Northeast were affected by that. You know, a lot of airports took diversions, and you know, we did our share.
Ashley: And then I also read that you have a track record of bringing new flights to airports. Is there anything in the works for the Albany airport?
Clark: Yeah, so that is going to be one of our big initiatives, working together with the business community, specifically, to bring new nonstop routes to the airport. You know, we're in a really unique time right now. You just think about what's going on with oil prices, and you know, some more of, like, the even aircraft delivery delays. It's going to make it a challenging job. Just because I show up, the airlines aren't going to, you know, that's not the way it works. But you know, one of the things that I'm going to be helping us focus on is really building good relationships in the community with our business leaders to tell the story about why we need those nonstop routes, whether it's for business or for leisure, you know. And those two need to be together, and we need to tell a coherent story. And so, you know, I know that the Capital Region is going to compete very well.
Ashley: What's your dream flight to have come here? What's the white whale?
Clark: The white whale? You know, the one that I think a lot about the most. You know, a lot of folks are going to say transoceanic, right? A lot of folks want to have a nonstop to Europe, or they want to have a nonstop to Asia. I think for us, really, it's about core service, right? It's a nonstop to the West Coast that's, you know, daily, right? So for me, it's like a Los Angeles, San Francisco, a Seattle- you know, even seeing Las Vegas be a daily; you know, those are white whales in a way that maybe isn't like glitzy and shiny and famous, but they provide connectivity to our economy, right? And you just think about, you know, Albany being, you know, the capital region for one of the largest economies in the world. You know, we need to have that connectivity into those markets for all sorts of reasons, whether it's business or it's for leisure. And so for me, I think that's where it starts. We've been really proud of our partners at United for adding in Denver service; I think I've taken it personally three times already. You know, it's doing very well, and that helps us when we want to tell that story about, you know, why do we want to have, you know, a San Francisco or an LA or something, you know, and we need to have those successes.
