Workers prepare to install a new passenger boarding bridge at the Cheyenne Regional Airport on Wednesday. The bridge will be the first of its kind at this terminal and has required an investment of $2 million. “This is the capital city of Cheyenne, this is the first impression people have when they come here,” said Director of Aviation Tim Bradshaw.
Workers prepare to install a new passenger boarding bridge at the Cheyenne Regional Airport on Wednesday. The bridge will be the first of its kind at this terminal and has required an investment of $2 million. “This is the capital city of Cheyenne, this is the first impression people have when they come here,” said Director of Aviation Tim Bradshaw.
Alyte Katilius/Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Tim Bradshaw, director of aviation, Cheyenne Regional Airport
CHEYENNE — A lot was going on when Cheyenne Regional Airport Director of Aviation Tim Bradshaw started in late 2021.
Bradshaw — who announced his upcoming retirement from the airport last week — deals with a very specific set of challenges in his job, and few others across the nation are qualified to do the same. The search for his replacement, which he said could take up to six months, draws from a small, and highly specialized, candidate pool.
“It’s a very specialized industry; there’s just not very many airport managers out there,” Bradshaw said. “We all know each other and, more than likely, the airport board is going to use the same firm to solicit a nationwide search. ... An initial list could be anywhere from 20 to 40 people, but, more than likely, there’s only, maybe, less than 10 that are a good fit or actually qualified to do the job.”
The relationship that airports need to have with airlines, regulators and other businesses is what makes the job unique, he said.
“It’s very similar to what a city manager would do, you know. You have to manage a public asset,” Bradshaw said. “You have to work with the airlines a lot in this job, which is not very common for people to do. You also have a military component, so it takes a person who’s able to be politically astute, (and has) experience in all types of airport operations and development.”
Though Bradshaw announced his retirement date as July 1, he said he will continue in the position until the board can find his replacement, which is likely to take longer than that.
One of the major things an airport of Cheyenne’s size needs, Bradshaw said, is community buy-in, which directors need to help facilitate. Amanda Angell, the airport’s administrative assistant, said that Bradshaw has made a huge impact on the airport, and solidified its future. Community engagement, she added, is one of Bradshaw’s strengths.
“Cheyenne is a really small, tight-knit community,” Angell said. “We don’t have a lot of really large things like other cities have, but we’re at a really good location, and we have a lot of history, too, like how Cheyenne was involved in the transcontinental air mail system and the Boeing facilities and stewardess training ... during World War II, how we outfitted all the planes.
“There’s a whole list of aviation history here that I think was never really shared to the public. And so he’s done a good job of bringing Cheyenne back into the spotlight and to make people want to talk about it again.”
Bradshaw’s personality, and his commitment to communicating with everyday people, changed people’s perceptions of the airport, she added.
“Again, I think a really good example of this is (Facebook),” she continued. “So, one of my jobs is I manage the (airport’s) Facebook page. When I first started with that, there were definitely a lot of trolls, for lack of a better way to put it. ... Tim is always willing to talk to people, and that’s been something that’s just amazing. He’s always ready to talk to people and answer questions, no matter if you’re just someone who’s calling because there’s a helicopter going over your house and you’re upset about how loud it is, he’ll talk to you for as long as you need.
“I think he set the airport up to succeed.”
Cheyenne Regional Airport Board President Kevin Paintner told the WTE about how Bradshaw was able to hit the ground running when he started.
“Tim did a great job for us coming in the middle of the largest construction project in the history of the airport with the runway,” Paintner said. “There were some complications that came about due to the contractor. I won’t go into a lot of detail on that, but I think it’s well known. There were federal guidelines on that contract, so it wasn’t, you know, something that could be easily (changed). (We) just kind of had to work through the issues, and there were delays.
“So, Tim stepped in the middle of that, and really got things straightened out for us and got a $64 million project finished up in a timely manner.”
Bradshaw is retiring for health reasons, he said, adding that he wishes he could have stayed in the job longer.
“I just really want to focus on getting back to good health,” he said.
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Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.
