The Mobile Airport Authority is searching for new leadership after Executive Director Roger Wehner resigned from the post, ending a three-year run overseeing the agency that manages Mobile’s public airports.
Wehner’s resignation took effect Feb. 22, according to the Airport Authority, though the agency did not announce the change publicly until this week. Board chairman Elliot B. Maisel said in a statement that Wehner had agreed to help ensure an “orderly transition of his duties and responsibilities.” Maisel’s statement did not offer a specific reason for the departure, and the circumstances surrounding Wehner’s exit remain unclear.
Mark McVay, the Airport Authority’s director of finance, has stepped in as interim executive director while the board begins a search for a permanent successor. Authority officials have not said how long that search is expected to take or whether McVay will be considered for the permanent role.
Wehner joined the Mobile Airport Authority as executive director in 2013, taking over after his predecessor, Bill Sisson, left to become president of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure, Wehner was responsible for overseeing operations at the authority’s airfields, including Mobile Regional Airport and Brookley Field, as well as budgeting, staffing and long-term facility planning for the region’s air travel infrastructure.
The Mobile Airport Authority is a public agency governed by a board of directors that sets policy for the region’s airports, with the executive director serving as the authority’s top administrator and reporting directly to that board. Leadership changes at the authority can influence decisions on everything from airline recruitment to capital projects, making the transition one that local business and civic leaders are likely to watch closely in the months ahead.
Attempts to reach both Maisel and Wehner for further comment were unsuccessful at the time this report was published.