MORGANTOWN — Jonathan Vrabel begins his new role as director of the Morgantown Municipal Airport on Friday.
His goal — making the airport a top priority for the city and a more valuable asset for the community.
Vrabel, who the city selected from a pool of more than 40 candidates, was named director on Aug. 22. The previous director, Mick Galusky, retired “effective immediately” on April 25, after nine years with the airport and more than three years as its director.
Vrabel comes into the role with 25 years of experience as an aviation executive. He previously helped lead city-operated airports in Cleveland and Dayton.
While he concedes Morgantown’s airport has a lot of needs, he said he’s confident that he’s up to the task and is ready to get started.
“I welcome the challenge of working on an airport that needs a lot of updating — the air service development in particular,” Vrabel said. “Growing the air service and improving the facilities, making them more welcoming to the community is crucial.”
Vrabel said he’s always been drawn to the energy and development that surrounds college towns and he wants to draw that energy to the airport.
“In the short term I want to get out into the community and get the community more involved in the airport. That will involve talking to a lot of people, talking to the leaders in the area, and finding out what drives them when they travel. The goal being finding out how we get these folks to start supporting the airport more,” Vrabel said, explaining that his long-term goals are primarily infrastructure focused.
“From a long-term perspective, obviously the runway extension project is critical, but I’d also like to see improvements in the terminal. I think making the terminal nicer and more welcoming is important,” he said. “It needs to be a place that the community wants to come to and be proud of.”
Vrabel most recently worked with the Capital Region International Airport, in Lansing, Mich. A representative of the Capital Region Airport Authority did not wish to comment for this report.
Vrabel and his wife are moving to Morgantown from St. John’s, Michigan.
According to Morgantown Communications Manager Andrew Stacy, Vrabel will earn $46.16/hour as the airport director.
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