Redmond Hires New Airport Director

REDMOND, OR -- The city of Redmond has finally named a new Director for Roberts Field, six months after the last Airport Manager suddenly stepped down. Zachary Bass has been with Roberts Field for about a year. He tells KBND News he’s excited to continue the airport’s current success. "Last year, we saw record growth out here for commercial air service, of 9.5%. We’ve also got a lot of plans coming up this summer with $20 million in projects. We’re always increasing our commercial air service, and we look to do that again this upcoming summer. We’re focusing on our place as an economic driver for the region."

That $20 million dollars in projects include a runway repaving project that will shut down the airport for three weeks in May, and construction of the new COIC dispatch center. "Not to mention that, right now, we’re undergoing a restaurant remodel upstairs. So, a lot of stuff is going on. What I actually enjoy is leading and running processes. Not only does our staff handle that, but we also have quite a few consultants that are experts – engineers, architects – kind of that full team dynamic is what’s going to move those projects forward. As of right now, we’re not seeing any issues with any of them." He says those projects are, so far, on budget, as well.

The airport’s last manager quit in July after a little more than a year. Bass says it's time to move forward, "We have a great team out here; we’ve got over 100 years of airport operations history among everybody, we’ve got experts that spent 27 years working here and we’ve also got new talent that kind of brings that entrepreneurial spirit. The team is working well together and we’re ready to push forward into 2016."

Bass was initially hired about a year ago as the Project and Grant Manager. He was promoted to Business Manager last summer. Prior to moving to Redmond with his family, Bass spent nearly a decade with the U.S. Air Force.

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