Mayor John Hickenlooper today named aviation industry veteran Kim Day as the likely new manager of Denver International Airport.
Hickenlooper put an asterisk on the announcement of Day’s appointment to lead the nation’s fifth-largest airport, saying she was the last-standing “finalist” for the position but that he wanted her to meet DIA employees and other airport “stakeholders” before formally giving her the job.
“We have every expectation that Kim will become our next aviation manager,” Hickenlooper said in a statement.
Day will meet DIA employees and other community representatives on Jan. 31.
A former executive with Los Angeles World Airports — the parent of Los Angeles International and other southern California airports — Day currently operates Strategic Aviation Consulting, her own advisory firm. DIA officials said Day recently provided consulting services for the Denver airport on strategic-planning issues.
Day will succeed Turner West in DIA’s top spot and will guide what is expected to be a major expansion of the airport in coming years.
Denver City Council President Michael Hancock, a member of the search committee for a new airport manager, described Day as “very sharp and decisive.”
The three other finalists for the top DIA job were Coors Brewing Co. executive Lynn Utter; former Adelphia Communications executive Ron Cooper; and John Clark III, executive director of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Aviation Authority.
