Bellingham airport hires new director of aviation

The Port of Bellingham has hired a new airport director, Sunil Harman, who will start work Nov. 2.

Harman has worked in aviation for more than 30 years and has experience developing and managing airports as engines for economic development, trade and commerce, according to a port announcement.

Harman has worked at large airports including Miami, San Diego, and John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia in New York, as well as several smaller non-hub and general aviation airports in Florida.

He replaces aviation director Dan Zenk, who took a job with Seattle-Tacoma International Airport early this summer. Harman was one of 42 applicants and beat out three other finalists for the job.

Before leaving, Zenk told The Bellingham Herald the airport was shifting from a construction phase, having just completed a terminal expansion, into a marketing phase, where the new director will need to tackle the airport’s declining number of passengers and work to develop air service.

For the month of September the airport reported it had 28,329 people board planes, down 25 percent from last September. That continues a downward trend in the number of people taking flights out of the airport this year as multiple routes were pulled from service and the Canadian dollar has been in decline.

“I’d say our focus is efficiency, customer service and replacing the routes that we’ve lost,” said Mike Hogan, port spokesman. “Obviously, (Harman) has a lot of connections in the industry and experience. That was definitely a focus of the hiring process, finding someone with that experience to have the necessary coordination with the airlines and familiarity to replace those routes that we’ve lost.”

Harman is currently on the Board of Airports Council International—North America, representing small and non-hub airports in the U.S. The council represents the world’s airports, helping them present their interests to governments and international organizations, develop standards and policies, and it recommends practices for airports, according to the organization’s website.

Harman will make $120,000 annually, according to the port.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Bellingham airport hires new director of aviation."