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Maureen Riley has used Salt Lake City International Airport as a passenger for at least 12 years. Now, she will run the place.
Mayor Rocky Anderson named the suburban Orlando, Fla., resident as the new executive director of the city's largest department. If approved by the City Council as expected, she will start Feb. 26 and make $185,000 a year.
The new boss already is familiar with the Utah capital and its airport. She was a financial consultant in the 1990s, and the skier has had a home in Park City for more than a decade.
"I've been flying in and out of the airport for a long time," Riley said Wednesday. "It's really a second home that will become home."
Riley has not been a director of an airport, but she has led several departments at the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, as well as worked as an airport-industry consultant.
Keith Christensen, a candidate for Salt Lake City mayor and chairman of the Airport Board, participated in Riley's hiring. He said her experience was discussed. Supporters pointed to her expertise in two fields that matter most: managing people and money.
Christensen said the city asked Riley to apply for the post. The city also had asked her to apply last year before fired Director Roy Williams was hired, but Riley said no at that time.
"Maureen comes with serious, serious strong financial-analysis skills," Christensen said. "If there's a number-one need at the airport, it's going to be . . . watching and analyzing our finances into the next three to five years."
While Williams may have been moving too quickly on the airport's plans for a $1.8 billion overhaul, Christensen said redevelopment should remain on the "back burner" for Riley until the "airline industry shakes out."
Particularly in light of US Airways hostile takeover bid for Delta Air Lines, which operates its Western-most hub in Salt Lake City. US Airways officials have said Salt Lake City would continue to remain a hub if the takeover is successful, though observers aren't so sure.
"Of course, we all hope Delta maintains its hub in Salt Lake," Riley said.
She also said the airport's master plan should be launched only when passenger demand proves the need.
As the deputy executive director of finance and administration at Orlando's airport from 2000 to 2006, Riley oversaw a $300 million budget, managed corporate airline relationships and directed development of a $2.5 billion capital-improvement program. She was the airport's chief financial officer and treasurer from 1989 to 1996, overseeing $1.5 billion in assets.
By comparison, Salt Lake City's airport budget is $181 million. It served 22.2 million passengers in 2005, the highest level in its history. Orlando had 34 million passengers that year.
Riley currently is the director of aviation services at RW Block Consulting in Orlando. In that job, she advised the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on construction and worked on hurricane-recovery proce- dures.
After Williams was fired, the city plucked longtime airport employee Russ Pack from retirement to become interim boss. Pack, who also was acting director before the city hired Williams, will return to retirement, according to a city news release.
With Anderson's second and final term set to expire this year, Riley could be in the job less than a year. But she hopes to stay long term.
Maureen Riley
* AGE: 56.
* EDUCATION: Bachelor's of business administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. CPA in Utah, New Jersey and Florida.
* FAMILY: Married, one daughter.
* WORK EXPERIENCE: Current director of aviation services at RW Block Consulting in Orlando, Fla. Greater Orlando Aviation Authority's deputy executive director of finance and administration (2000-2006) and chief financial officer and treasurer (1989-1996). Senior associate for Leigh Fisher Associates in San Francisco (1996-2000), providing business and financial consulting services to the airport industry.
* CIRCUMSTANCES: Riley replaces Roy Williams, fired by Mayor Rocky Anderson in October after five months on the job. Anderson complained that Williams had alienated key staff - senior employees had threatened to quit - and wasted up to $500,000 on consultants for a master plan.