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Head of the Akron-Canton facility for 33 years, he is lauded for growth, contributions to aviation
By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 01, 2008
Officials on Tuesday unveiled a renamed park outside the Akron-Canton Airport in honor of retiring airport Director Fred Krum.
Krum retired on Tuesday as head of the airport after 33 years, including 27 as director. During his tenure, Akron-Canton grew from a sleepy, small airport to one of the fastest-growing facilities in the country.
Krum has been on a leave of absence since last year after having surgery to remove a brain tumor. He was not in attendance at the unveiling.
But Rick McQueen, Krum's longtime assistant who will officially take the helm today, said the honor is well-deserved.
''We don't name a lot of things after people,'' said McQueen, who will become the airport's chief executive officer and president under a new management structure approved by the airport board of directors. McQueen said Krum was instrumental in aviation for the com
munity.
Kristie Van Auken, who becomes senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer today, said Krum ''deserves to be honored in a big way.''
Krum was very moved when the board approved the renaming of the park at a board meeting he attended last week, McQueen said.
The Frederick J. Krum Aviation Park is just outside the airport. At the center of the area stands a metal and aluminum replica of the Wright Flyer, built by the Wright brothers. Around the structure are plaques and bricks honoring people in aviation.
Don Armen, president and CEO of McKinley Air, a service provider to airlines, said it was fitting to rename the park after Krum.
Armen said Krum persevered during what he called the airport depression in 1982 when only two United Airlines flights a day were operating. In the years since, Krum was instrumental in growth and development, he said.
''Fred could have gone to other airports, but he decided to stay here. My hat is off to Fred. He stuck it out and kept pumping,'' said Armen.
Armen said it was difficult to unveil the newly named park, given Krum's illness.
''Under normal circumstances, when someone is retiring, we'd be here roasting him. This situation is different,'' Armen said.
In retirement, Krum and his wife, Diane, plan to spend time with their family, including two grandchildren, and travel to Florida, airport officials said.
Before the unveiling, McQueen and Van Auken discussed a wide variety of airport issues with reporters.
The airport is continuing to buck national industry trends, they said.
While other airports across the country are seeing a 9 percent drop in seat capacity, Akron-Canton saw no downturn.
It's also seeing an increase in ''load factor,'' or the percentage of the plane that is filled.
The airport is also on pace for another record-breaking passenger year with 1.5 million passengers.
Van Auken said the airport has the lowest airfares of any airport in Ohio. McQueen said the airport is also among the 15 lowest in the nation for fees it charges to the airlines.
The airport continues to work on making its experience better for passengers, including a cell-phone lot for communications on picking up passengers.
Also, recently installed power towers in the gate areas allow multiple passengers to plug in their electronics without having to sit on the floor near a plug in the wall or floor.
McQueen and Van Auken said the economy and high fuel costs are making it challenging for airlines but the airport continues to work toward new flights and destinations.
But they acknowledged that times are tough for airlines.
''There have been crises before. People are still going to need to do the face-to-face business meetings. You still are going to want to fly to go on vacation'' or see relatives for the holidays, said McQueen.
''Once the new normal shakes out, there will be a bright future for aviation,'' he said.
In the meantime, Van Auken said, ''We'll look for windows of opportunities and when they present themselves, we'll be ready.''
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.
Officials on Tuesday unveiled a renamed park outside the Akron-Canton Airport in honor of retiring airport Director Fred Krum.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 12:27 PM, 10/01/2008
How far can you drag out this story for god sakes. This has been out for like 4 days now. And these blogs are so boring with almost no one participating
