Robert Olislagers - New Director for Centennial Airport

Robert Olislagers - New Director for Centennial Airport
by Di Freeze

SEPTEMBER 2000

The word is out. Robert Olislagers, director of airports for San Bernardino County, Calif., will be the new director of Centennial Airport. The Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority announced his appointment on August 10, after a six-month national search.

Olislagers has been managing airports for 18 years - including airports in New York State and California, and is an adjunct professor at Palomar College and National University's San Diego Campus. He holds a doctoral candidate in business administration at the University of Santa Barbara, and has undergraduate degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. On top of that, he co-authored a book on airport history in the Southwest with Gen. Chuck Yeager and has written numerous articles in aviation management journals. His new job presents a challenge; he'll be director of the second busiest general aviation airport in the nation - an airport that sees over 436,000 operation flights annually and is ranked in the top 25 busiest airports in the nation.

Centennial is home to more than 700 aircraft, including 72 corporate jets. The three fixed-based operators at the airport pumped nearly 11 million gallons of jet fuel in 1999.

Olislagers, who was picked out of over 80 candidates, will head up a staff of 19. According to Brackney, he was the first choice of the final seven contenders.

Olislagers won't have the same exact job that Crandall had. "We expect him to take on additional responsibilities in making Centennial the premier general aviation airport in the nation," Brackney said. The Airport Authority is pleased with how the staff on hand is operating the airport and wants Olislagers to focus his efforts on "working with the surrounding community and state and federal officials," according to Brackney.

"He's our ambassador to the community at large, residential, business and government. Our goal is to be an even better neighbor," Brackney stated. Olislagers and his wife Marilyn will be taking a vacation out of the country for two weeks before assuming his role as director. Don Crandall, presently executive director of the airport, will be retiring at the end of September. Olislager's new job will officially begin on October 1.

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