New leadership team at Albany International Airport

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Albany International Airport has a new leadership team after Phil Calderone was removed as CEO. The new team addressed the media for the first time since it was appointed.

New acting CEO of Albany International Airport Peter Stuto shared his vision to bring more flights and more non-stop destinations.

“Very excited to be here, very excited for the future. We are excited for the construction projects that you can obviously see,” said Stuto.

Stuto and new acting COO John O’Donnell discussed the leadership transition, after they were appointed by the Albany County Airport Authority Board. Both came out of retirement to fill the positions.

The team is confident it can bring new destinations and more direct flights. O’Donnell was the CEO of the airport just four years ago and said he’s already built relationships with airlines.

“I met with all the airlines in their corporate offices and promoting this airport and I will just do the same. They are familiar with me, and I am familiar with them,” said O’Donnell.

They touted their combined experience, with over 50 years in the industry. The switch up happened on Wednesday after the board notified former CEO Phil Calderone that he would be relieved of his duties immediately. 

The board lists a litany of reasons in the decision to not renew Calderon’s contract and in a statement pointed to his, “unwillingness to authentically collaborate and fully cooperate with the board in what we viewed as our performance of our duties and responsibilities.”

With the board dissatisfied with Calderone’s lack of communication on matters of importance, the new team made a promise to keep everyone informed on the construction progress.

“We will do updates,” said O’Donnell. “And there will be more than one. There will be tours, updates for the pricing, and for the scheduling.”

Stuto said they talked metrics with the board and they want to increase enplanement numbers – the number of passengers boarding aircrafts. 

Stuto said that number is currently at 1.3 million and they want to get it back up to pre-pandemic levels at 1.5 million. He said travelers and staff should know one thing.

“We are working as hard as we can. We are working night and day to ensure that they have a great experience, and we have already had several conversations with staff. I think staff is very, very happy,” said Stuto.