New Hartsfield-Jackson GM selected after nearly eight-month search

Smith will replace Jan Lennon, the interim general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson since last summer, when then-manager Balram Bheodari stepped down from the role.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

Lennon will become executive deputy general manager, according to Dickens, working directly with Smith to lead the airport.

Smith has been executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration since 2015, and before that was CEO of the Cleveland Airport System.

He is also chair of the Airport Minority Advisory Council, a trade association dedicated to advancing minority participation in the aviation industry.

“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport needs dynamic leadership to drive the continued growth we’ve seen over the past years and Mr. Smith’s extensive experience will help us reach more milestones in the years to come,” Dickens said in a written statement. “I want to thank Jan Lennon for her dedication and leadership while we conducted our search, and we look forward to continuing to work with her in the capacity of Executive Deputy General Manager.”

Smith said in a written statement that he is “both honored and excited to serve the Atlanta public as the new Airport General Manager for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — the busiest and most efficient in the world. Mayor Andre Dickens’ confidence in me to lead the City’s and State’s most impactful economic driver is met with deep appreciation.”

The effort to find a new airport manager has been underway for about eight months, with the city saying in June it had retained recruitment firm Korn Ferry to conduct a national search.

The position of general manager of the Atlanta airport has paid $306,000 annually, but city officials have said for years that the pay is not enough to be competitive to attract someone to lead the world’s busiest airport.

In an editorial board meeting with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this month, Dickens in remarks about the airport manager search said “pay was an issue.”

“We have the world’s busiest airport, and we were not paying anywhere near the top tier,” Dickens said. “It was definitely causing a challenge for recruiting people to interview or come after this opportunity.”

In remarks to an AJC reporter at an industry conference last October, months before he was named to the position, Smith said: “One of the challenges with city-run airports is the compensation package. But it’s the world’s busiest airport so I’m sure there’s lots of interest.”

Smith’s compensation package was not immediately known.

“Once we set the price high enough, they started coming,” Dickens told the AJC earlier this month.

“We’re trying to get a new general manager that sets the course for the future. This metro area is booming. It’s growing, and the airline industry is dynamic,” Dickens said. “We want somebody that has a lens on cargo being a big part of Atlanta’s future growth, using the airport overnight.”

And, he said “they’ve got to have a good relationship with TSA.” Long wait times at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints have been a pain point for years at the Atlanta airport.

“I do want some modernization to take place in the airport,” Dickens said. He said he envisions making it not just the world’s most efficient airport, but “also to make it the most innovative.”

“It’s going to come from partnerships,” Dickens said.