Q: How did you come to be named to this position?
A: When Vicki Braunagel was leaving and announced she was retiring as co-manager of the airport, I thought about it and thought about it. So I did the somewhat brazen thing and went over and asked, “Can I have Vicki’s job?” As it turns out, they were not planning to have another co-manager relationship. Turner (West) will be sole manager. But in my little sales pitch to (Mayor John Hickenlooper), basically the thought was that I could provide Turner some major support.
From my conversation with the mayor, I am not guaranteed the top spot (when West retires in the next couple of years). I will have to compete for it when it comes open.
Q: What interested you about this job?
A: A few years ago I started thinking that the airport is just a unique, incredible operation, and it would be interesting to be out there. After it was announced I was going out there, a lot of people have come up to me and said, “You know, I always thought it would be so cool to work at the airport.”
I’ll be giving up my Cabinet-level hat to go out to the airport. But the flip side is that it is definitely more responsibility. For me, it was an interest in the airport and the airline industry and an opportunity to exercise a different part of my brain, or more of my brain. I like a challenge. It’s not something I ever thought about as a kid, like, “Oh, I want to grow up and manage the airport.” I think it’s a major focus for a lot of people, just how important the airport is to the city and the region.
Q: What will be your first goals?
A: Right now we are in the cycle of looking at the airport’s debt, refunding opportunities, what new money we might need to get for capital projects. The discussion is still on the table. Is it time to do an airport hotel?
Q: Were you involved with the convention center hotel?
A: Up until the time we turned it over to the Convention Center Authority, I was kind of the major point person in the city for getting it together. I couldn’t stop grinning at groundbreaking. The day that it opened, it was still of strange to think, “Wow, it’s really here. There are people in here.”
Q: Do you expect to be overseeing a significant expansion of DIA?
A: That would be my fantasy. But I’ve got a long way to go. It looks like it’s imminent. I hope I’m still in Denver to see it.
Q: What do you think the biggest challenges will be in your new role?
A: I think the first biggest challenge is to really get myself immersed in the issues and the people and the players.
One of the things I have noticed at other airports is the trend in concession areas. They’re like shopping malls. I’ve even seen airports that have upscale jewelry stores in them. Is this a good idea? Is this a bad idea? Do we need to get on that bandwagon? There are some other things that are on the radar screen:
Q: Do you think Southwest will be a very large player here?
A: I’ve heard people say that they’ll never be a major player with their model. And I’ve heard other people say that this will be such a boon for them.
Q: You have an Ivy League educational background (a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Columbia University). What attracted you to public service?
A: What I was doing before was public finance investment banking. I always assumed I would at some point be in the private sector in a management role, so it’s nice to be able to have an opportunity to manage a department and also deal with finance, which is what I knew.
I thought I’d be here maybe three or four years, so the fact that I was here for 11 is absolutely stunning to me. I’m 51 years old. I think I’ve got a couple more jobs in me. I’m not looking, but when you are an appointee, one never knows what’s going to happen.
Edited for length and clarity from an interview by Denver Post staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi.
