GARY | The Gary/Chicago Airport Authority approved a contract extension Wednesday for Airport Director Chris Curry that commits it to paying him $150,400 per year through March 2013.
Curry's three-year contract did not expire until March 2011, but a majority of the seven-member authority board voted to exercise a two-year extension option on the contract
"He has totally been busting his butt at that airport since he started," said the Rev. Marion Johnson, president of the airport board. "And we are in the middle of negotiations with the railroads, and the conflict with the (Gary) School Board, and so many things that we don't want a contract extension hanging over us."
The airport is in the midst of a $92 million expansion project. It needs to conclude negotiations on moving railroad tracks that block expansion of its main runway to keep federal funds flowing into the project.
Curry's extension does not grant a pay raise from his previous contract, though he now will receive a monthly vehicle stipend. He became airport director in 2006, after the departure of his predecessor, Paul Karas.
One of those voting against the extension, board member Ross Amundson, said both the length of the authority's commitment to Curry and concerns about lackluster airline recruitment led to his no vote.
"My reservations are mainly in the area of airline recruitment," Amundson said. "I've had reservations about what we've done and what we are doing in that area. We haven't done enough."
The airport has been without an airline since Skybus, a low-budget, startup airline, folded in May 2008. Before that, four other airlines, all either startups or financially distressed, came and went.
A check of two other regional airports shows directors' salaries vary.
John Schalliol, director at South Bend Regional Airport for the past 28 years, makes $140,006 per year. Robert Working, manager of Evansville Regional Airport, makes $110,790. Tory Richardson, executive director of airports at the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority is paid $145,332 a year.
Unlike Curry, Schalliol, Working and Richardson are employees of their respective airport authorities, so they receive medical and other benefits and can participate in the state's pension plan. Curry works for the airport as a full-time consultant, so he does not receive medical or other benefits.
But Wednesday's extension did add one significant benefit. Curry will receive a $600 monthly allowance for using his car on airport business. Some other regional airports, including South Bend, provide their directors with a take-home vehicle.
Johnson said Curry has a tough job when it comes to recruiting airlines in the current aviation environment. He said Wednesday that Curry presented the board with a two-page list of both passenger and cargo airlines with which he has had discussions.
The airport authority on Wednesday also approved a $3.2 million operating budget for 2010, which represents about a 5 percent cut in spending compared to this year. Also winning passage was a $6.5 million capital improvements budget for 2010, which represents spending on the airport expansion project.
The airport plans to continue with its plans for cutting spending as outlined to the state's Distressed Unit Appeals Board, Curry said. This year it gained a partial exemption from property tax caps mandated by the Indiana General Assembly by appealing to the board. The airport will do so again this year, Curry said.
How they voted
Here is how each member of the Gary/Chicago International Airport authority voted on the two-year extension of Airport Director Chris Curry's contract (also includes how each member is appointed to the authority):
Yes: Pastor Marion J. Johnson Jr., president, mayor's appointment
Yes: John Evans, vice president, Porter County appointment
Yes: Michael Doyne, secretary, mayor's appointment
Yes: Delvert Cole, Lake County appointment
No: Nathaniel T. Williams, mayor's appointment
No: Ross Amundson, governor's appointment
No: Silas C. Wilkerson III, mayor's appointment
