Opinion: New aviation director underpaid? Surveys say yes

As Gary Cyr settles in as director of aviation for Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, one thing can’t escape my mind. A source close to the airport has told me off the record that the Springfield position is underpaid for an airport of its size. That prompted me to dig up the average salaries for directors of other small hub airports around the country. Here’s what I found, keeping in mind Cyr makes $95,000 as director since Dec. 3:

• The national average for small hub airport director base salaries is $127,003, according to the American Association of Airport Executives 2000-2001 Airport Management Compensation Guide, the most recent survey available. That’s a difference of $32,000.

• The average salary for airport directors in operations like Springfield – city owned, but board governed – is $143,840, substantially more than what Springfield pays.

• The gap narrows when leveling the field to those airports with a similar number of enplanements. An informal survey of 18 similar-size airports performed by Springfield-Branson Regional Airport last May found an average annual director salary of $107,945. That’s still $12,945 more than Cyr’s wage, but it is more in line with retired director Rob Hancik’s salary after 32 years. When Hancik retired, his salary was about $106,000.

• The average director salary for all small hubs in Springfield’s north central region is $96,079, according to that AAAE survey, right in line with Cyr’s salary.

When factoring all four survey findings, I conclude that small hub airport directors make an average of $118,716. So, on a national scale, perhaps Springfield’s airport director pay can be inflated. But the difference is minimal compared to airports of this size and even more so to those in our region.

When broaching the subject with Cyr, he makes it clear he has no squabbles over his new salary – especially not a month into the job, which brought him up from about $90,000 as acting director. He made $82,000 as assistant director of operations, a position that was still vacant at press time. Cyr does not shy away from the topic, however, pointing to cohorts in similar markets making thousands of dollars more. There’s Bruce Carter, who makes $123,760 at the Quad City International Airport, a larger small hub than Springfield. Carter said the Moline, Ill., airport had more than 812,385 passengers in 2003, compared to Springfield’s 653,253 passengers. Or there’s Tory Richardson in Fort Wayne, Ind., who took the airport director’s job in late 2003 for around $125,000. The traffic there closely resembles Springfield’s airport activity.

So, if salary were an issue here, it would have affected the recent director search, right?

“We didn’t have any individual seem to think (salary) was going to be a problem,” said Bill Kirkman, chairman of the airport board and head of the search committee that selected Cyr. Kirkman said the vacancy for the position, which offered $73,365 to $106,205, attracted more than 50 resumes from individuals around the country.

“Those salary ranges were posted out all over the place. We found that what we had available in … pay for that position was very competitive and didn’t seem to have any issue with being able to attract high quality talent,” Kirkman added.

But Cyr said his predecessor, 32-year veteran Hancik, was consistently underpaid by $20,000 annually compared to other directors heading airports of similar size. So I called Hancik – now retired in sunny Florida – and asked if he felt underpaid working in Springfield.

“Yeah. That’s why I left,” Hancik said. “That played a big factor in my decision to retire. I wasn’t going to be working for 30 cents on the dollar and taking on the responsibility for a $180 million new terminal building.”

The complexity of that project, now under Cyr’s direction, and the self-supporting nature of the airport are reasons Hancik now lobbies for higher airport pay scales, something he couldn’t achieve while here.

“The big problem with that is that salaries are controlled through City Hall. The airport board has to abide by the salary schedule set by City Council,” he added.

Now we get to the root of the argument. Despite being governed by a separate board, staff at the city-owned airport falls under the city’s pay schedule. City pay scales are determined by the city manager’s recommendations, which then go through City Council approval.

“All department heads, with the exception of one or two, make the same amount of money,” Hancik said. “But you have to look at the airport in Springfield (being) self-supporting. It doesn’t get any tax revenues. You also have to consider the complexity of the job. Springfield is a very complex job compared to smaller hubs. We just came off of $50 million in improvements, (and) we’re looking at a new $180 million midfield terminal. That’s up there with the most complex small hub airports in the country. Why can’t the airport board set their salaries?”

Kirkman said there has been no board discussion of altering the city pay scale for the director of aviation’s salary, adding that it would take “quite an exercise” to change it.

“Why not?” Hancik said. “The best, most experienced and most successful guys are going where the money is, irrespective of what region you’re in.”

Hancik hopes his voice is heard, even 1,000 miles away.

Eric Olson is Springfield Business Journal news editor.

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