Ex-PHL chief Gale named Fort Lauderdale airport director
Mark E. Gale, former Philadelphia International Airport CEO, has been hired as aviation director of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.
Mark E. Gale, former Philadelphia International Airport CEO, has been hired as aviation director of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida.
The Broward County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Gale, on the recommendation of the Broward County administrator. He will begin in March, and succeed retiring aviation director Kent George.
Gale, 53, who spent 28 years at Philadelphia International, including seven as CEO, will earn $270,000 a year, and receive a car allowance of $450 a month, according to the offer letter from Broward County administrator Bertha W. Henry.
Mayor Nutter, who appointed Gale to the CEO job in 2009, announced Nov. 30 that Gale would be stepping down, coinciding with Nutter's own departure earlier this month.
Mayor Kenney has named Chellie Cameron, who was Gale's No. 2 and the airport's chief operating officer, to be Philadelphia airport CEO.
In an editorial last week,the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said that Gale "may well be the best choice for the top job," but before making that decision "shouldn't the Broward County Commission have considered more than one candidate?" the newspaper said.
"The secretive process County Administrator Bertha Henry used to pick the next airport chief could set a precedent for how she picks the next head of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau," the editorial said.
"Given that the airport and convention center are key pistons in our region's economic engine, taxpayers deserve a transparent process in picking their leaders," the newspaper said. "Instead, we got a hush-hush process that cloaked the candidates' names, even after Henry revealed her ultimate pick to commissioners."
Henry told the Sun-Sentinel that she visited seven airports, talking to "people who had comparable jobs." Then, an internal committee interviewed the two finalists and a headhunter firm "vetted her eventual choice," the editorial said. The county administrator gets to select the airport director, and the county commission must approve the person's contract, the newspaper said.
"None of this is meant to suggest that Gale, 53, is not a good candidate," the editorial said. "On first blush, he looks like a strong choice...he has dealt with a controversial runway expansion, the redesign of terminals and contract negotiations with airlines, unions and vendors."
The editorial noted that Gale serves with outgoing Fort Lauderdale aviation head, Kent George, on an industry board -- the Airports Council International-North America. "Actually, George played a role in selecting his successor," the Sun-Sentinel said. George was executive director of the Allegheny County Airport Authority in Pittsburgh until 2007 when he took the Fort Lauderdale job.
About 31 million passengers annually fly in and out of Philadelphia International Airport. In 2015, the passenger traffic at Fort Lauderdale International was 25.9 million, an airport spokesman said.
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