Bryan Johnson took the reins at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, when the area was just a few weeks into the Illinois shelter-in-place orders, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He succeeded Tim Cantwell, who retired after serving 17 years as the airport’s director.
Needless to say, the timing of Johnson’s arrival resulted in many unprecedented challenges, but his strong leadership experience allowed him to meet them head-on and continue working toward strengthening the airport and growing passenger and cargo operations.
Bringing 30 years of airport and aviation experience with him, Johnson is now responsible for the management, development, planning and community relations at MidAmerica, which includes the joint use agreement with nearby Scott Air Force Base.
Johnson took the time to share with us some of the challenges he faced coming into a new airport leadership position during such unusual times, the goals he has for MidAmerica, and some of the traits he believes makes for a good leader.
What are the biggest challenges coming in as the new director of an airport amidst the pandemic? The challenge of COVID-19 is really framed in three words: react, rethink and recover. It’s an incredibly difficult and challenging time for the entire airport industry, but I believe MidAmerica St. Louis Airport may be better positioned than some other airports to rebound. We’re a leisure market airport, meaning we serve our air carrier, Allegiant Airlines, which is considered an ultra-low-cost carrier. As we entered into vacation season, we saw some incremental return of the market. While we’re cautiously optimistic, we are also wondering what the future will be like as we work toward the fall and winter.
What are your goals with MidAmerica? My goals are directly related to the airport’s mission, vision and values. For now, it’s learning the nuances and assessing the airport’s current and future role – both regionally and nationally. My vision for the airport long-term is really to take the success that was laid down here over the last 20-plus years and accelerate that.
Any major changes, additions, developments? MidAmerica St. Louis Airport has implemented various protective measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as demand for air travel returns, including requiring all passengers, visitors and employees to wear face coverings in the terminal, and introducing a higher standard of cleanliness and increased frequency of cleanings of high-touch points throughout the airport. MidAmerica continues its joint-use partnership with Scott Air Force Base. They are currently using our civilian runway for military flying missions because their military runway is temporarily closed for renovation. That’s a significant benefit for folks at the base because there are no deployments to support home missions, and especially, no family separation for the estimated duration of the closure, which could last 12 months in total. We’re also working with Scott AFB as the extension of the MetroLink light rail system from the Shiloh-Scott MetroLink station to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport moves forward. That light rail extension will serve not only passengers, but also the various tenants on the airport’s property, including, among others, the Illinois State Police, North Bay Produce and Boeing’s St. Clair County operations. Boeing has actually been a tenant since 2010, and in 2019, MidAmerica also became the designated test site for Boeing’s MQ-25TM autonomous air refueling platform, which successfully completed the first test flight September 2019.
How many passengers does MidAmerica serve (on average, during normal circumstances)? Approximately 300,000. Prior to COVID-19, the airport was seeing 15% to 20% growth in passenger traffic each year. That record-setting pace of passengers flying through MidAmerica St. Louis Airport was a key factor that attracted me to this job.
How did you become involved in the aviation industry? I started getting the aviation bug when I was a teenager, and haven’t looked back since then. I give a lot of credit to my parents for encouraging and pushing me to pursue my passions. I like that the aviation industry is a significant driver of the U.S. economy, and the relationships and partnerships developed over time are the best.
What do you think is the most important aspect of good leadership (in any industry)? The most important aspect of good leadership includes several individual characteristics and qualities. It’s not so much about how you define the role, but more about the actual impact on others. I am a big fan of Simon Sinek and value his view on leadership. Good qualities of good leadership include integrity, accountability, empathy, humility, resilience, vision, influence and positivity. It’s about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.
Johnson has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Nebraska, and a Bachelor of Science degree in aviation management from Metropolitan State University of Denver. He is an accredited airport executive with the American Association of Airport Executives.
Before joining MidAmerica, Johnson was a senior consultant for Aviation Management Consulting Group in Centennial, Colorado. Prior to that he was airport director at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, Colorado, and prior to that, the assistant director of aviation at Quad City International Airport in Moline, Illinois.
Other airport experience includes operations at Denver International Airport, airport director at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport-Denver, airport director at Kearney Regional Airport, and terminal manager at Lincoln Airport. He is also an active commercial- and instrument-rated pilot.
MidAmerica St. Louis Airport provides passenger service to almost a dozen different destinations through Allegiant Airlines. Tenants include Boeing, which has a manufacturing facility at the airport; North Bay Produce, an international, grower-owned, year-round, fresh produce marketing and distribution cooperative headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, and AVMATS, a company providing alternatives for the support and maintenance of corporate aircraft, which has been operating at MidAmerica for a number of years.
MidAmerica is a joint use airport, partnering with Scott AFB, the home to U.S. Transportation Command, a multi-service organization, and Air Mobility Command, the United States Air Force’s component command for airlift.
Mr Johnson, seems to be a good fit for MidAmerica