After a 39-year-career at the Salina Regional Airport, Salina Airport Authority Executive Director Tim Rogers will retire this summer.

Rogers made the announcement in his monthly Salina “Reporting Points” newsletter.

Rogers, who started at the airport in January of 1985, was inducted into the Salina Business Hall of Fame in 2017. He will retire effective July 1st.

Among many things, Rogers oversaw great expansion at the airport and airport industrial area.  Along the way he worked with aviator and adventurer Steve Fossett, whose record setting around-the-world, solo, nonstop flight in the Global Flyer in 2005 originated from Salina. The historic 22,936-mile, 67-hour flight started and ended at the Salina Regional Airport.

Rogers wrote the following:

“Wow! The headline even surprises me. I’ve had the pleasure and honor to serve as executive director for the Salina Airport Authority since January 1985. Over the years 61 of Salina’s best civic and business leaders have served on the Airport Authority board of directors. Those men and women have inspired me to achieve the Airport Authority’s funding goal to “replace jobs and payroll lost” with the closure of the former Schilling Air Force Base in 1965. Since base closure the Airport Authority’s vision and mission has matured to “chart the course for global success and be a trusted leader propelling economic growth for aerospace business, industry, and military by strengthening partnerships.” Forward thinking board members have provided the guidance and resources for success. I’m grateful for their trust and confidence in me over the years.

A staff of dedicated and skilled Airport Authority employees have executed the Airport Authority’s vision and mission to build a dynamic and modern Airport and Airport Industrial Center that drives community economic growth. If there is a behind-the-scenes secret to the Airport Authority’s success it is a staff second to none. I have been most fortunate to work with staff members that excel at their jobs.

Long standing partnerships with the City of Salina, Saline County, the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce, the Salina Community Economic Development Organization, K-State Salina, Salina Area Technical College, and Kansas Wesleyan University, the State of Kansas and federal agencies have enabled the Airport Authority to achieve goals that benefit residents of Salina, Saline County, and North Central Kansas. Collaboration among government agencies, civic organizations and community leaders is a cornerstone to the Salina community’s enduring success.

I have been fortunate to work with board members, staff members and community partners that have shared a common vision for achievement and success. A former board member referred to the Salina Airport and Airport Industrial Center as a “diamond in the rough.”

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the Salina Airport Authority’s executive director. I believe that the “diamond in the rough” is shining a bit brighter.”