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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe leader of the Long Beach Airport in California has been named executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, the IAA announced Monday afternoon.
Mario Rodriguez will succeed longtime airport executive Robert Duncan in early June, the authority said. Duncan, who has been with the IAA for 40 years, including the last two as executive director, will remain as deputy executive director though the rest of the year to help with the transition.
Rodriguez was named executive director of Long Beach Airport in February 2009 after serving as deputy director of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport for five years.
“We are delighted to welcome Mario Rodriguez to the Indianapolis Airport Authority,” IAA President Michael Wells said in a prepared statement. “His proven leadership and ability to drive success over more than 25 years in our challenging industry will strengthen our team and further our goal of growing the value that the Indianapolis International Airport, a vital economic engine for central Indiana, creates for our region.”
Long Beach Airport is a five-runway airport in Los Angeles County that was formerly known as Daugherty Field. It handles about 3 million commercial passengers a year compared with about 7.2 million at Indianapolis International Airport. At Long Beach, Rodriguez oversaw a staff of 125 employees, an annual operating budget of more than $40 million and a five-year capital budget of $165 million.
Rodriguez also oversaw the opening of a $45 million passenger concourse in 2012 that was part of a $145 million expansion and renovation of the airport.
The IAA said Long Beach Airport’s operating revenues have risen by more than 50 percent and operating reserves by more than 35 percent under since Rodriguez took over.
Duncan, who previously served as general counsel and chief operating officer for the IAA, said he intends to return to private practice at the Indianapolis law firm of Norris Choplin and Schroeder LLP.
Duncan came out of retirement to take the lead role at the airport after John D. Clark III abruptly left in March 2012.
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