Lebanon
Fire Chief Chris Christopoulos was named acting airport manager on Wednesday and will continue in that role until further notice, Mulholland said.
Both Mulholland and Dyment declined to explain the leadership change when reached on Friday. Dyment’s contact information has been removed from the airport’s website and the city’s staff directory.
Dyment, who was hired to lead the airport in 2009, remains a salaried city employee and plans to retire in April, Mulholland said.
Christopoulos said he was asked to step in to ensure the airport continues to operate. He said Dyment still is available to him as a consultant until his retirement.
“I don’t know what (the city’s) long-term plan is. I don’t know how long I’m going to be up here,” Christopoulos said of the $1.1 million city department.
Dyment’s salary couldn’t be determined on Friday. The city has budgeted $156,600 in full-time wages for the airport next year, but that figure includes the salary of a full-time administrative assistant, as well.
Dyment began his aviation career in 1973, when he landed a job cleaning airplanes for American Airlines. He then earned a degree in aviation management from Daniel Webster College and worked in airports throughout New England for nearly three decades before coming to Lebanon.
When he was hired nearly a decade ago, Dyment was working as an outside consultant for Concord-based engineering firm McFarland Johnson, Inc.
“Rick had a really good, solid core of airport planning experience,” then-City Manager Gregg Mandsager said at the end of the roughly two-year search for an airport manager.
At the time, the airport was facing a familiar set of challenges, including aging infrastructure and a deficit totaling $700,000.
His mandate was “to look at the airport and try to make money off of every square inch that we possibly can,” Dyment said in an interview his second day on the job.
During his tenure, Dyment helped to oversee a multi-million effort to improve safety at the airport. He also worked to promote the facility to commuters leaving the Upper Valley to Boston and New York.
However, several problems persist.
The airport continuously struggles to meet 10,000 “enplanements,” or passengers departing Lebanon on its aircraft. That number must be met to continue the federal subsidies that allow Cape Air to continue offering service to Lebanon.
The airport hit its 2018 goal on Thursday morning, and tallied 10,249 enplanements in 2017. Still, Cape Air has had to offer end-of-year sales to hit the mark in years past.
Officials also have failed to find a sustainable business model for Lebanon airport, which was predicted to draw a $250,000 deficit in 2018. In 2017, the airport ran a $151,000 deficit, according to city figures.
To reverse the facility’s financial troubles, Dyment and Mulholland this summer proposed a fee increase for pilots using the airport.
Dyment also presented plans to utilize airport land for solar power, and was working with the Lebanon Police Department to create a K9 training facility on the property.
But the fate of those projects now is unclear. Christopoulos said on Friday that his job is to keep the airport operating.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.