Syracuse Regional Airport Authority hires consulting firm to help in search for new airport director

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) announced it has hired Albany–based Steven Baldwin Associates, LLC to help it find the next executive director of Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

Christina Callahan, the airport’s current executive director, has agreed to take a job as deputy general manager of LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Steven Baldwin Associates “played a critical role” in establishing the Authority’s operation and management of the airport since 2015, the Airport Authority said in a Wednesday news release.

“Having worked with them for many years, we have a lot of faith and confidence in Steven Baldwin Associates to successfully complete this assignment and recruit a top-rated expert in airport management to lead [the airport] to the next level,” Jo Anne Gagliano, who chairs the Airport Authority board, said.

The executive-recruitment assignment, which will include a national search, begins “immediately” and is expected to take up to three months to complete. Steven Baldwin Associates will handle the task under the guidance of the Authority’s human resources sub-committee.

That committee expects to bring a recommendation to the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority board after reviewing a slate of short-list candidates that Steven Baldwin Associates will compile.

Once the project has started, the consulting firm will make additional announcements about how qualified candidates can be considered during the recruitment process.

Callahan’s last day as airport director is Feb. 15, Jennifer Sweetland, the airport’s director of marketing, communications, and air-service development, said in an email response to a BJNN inquiry.

Contact Reinhardt at eereinhardt@cnybj.com

BJNN file photo by Eric Reinhardt