Andrew Meyer hired as Fort Smith Regional Airport director

After a nationwide search, the Fort Smith Regional Airport Commission hired airport employee Andrew Meyer as airport director. He succeeds Michael Griffin who resigned April 22, and Meyer’s first day as director was Sept. 24.

Meyer’s director salary is $155,000. The airport has 16 employees, including the director position, and the annual operating budget is $3.12 million.

Meyer, 35, was hired in October 2024 as operations director of the Fort Smith Regional Airport^[1] where he directed day-to-day operations, which includes emergency response, building maintenance, and security. He also was tasked to support coordination between the airport and the U.S. Air Force during work to establish the foreign military pilot training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base.

Ebbing was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Ebbing is co-located with the Fort Smith Regional Airport.

Meyer’s previous work includes operations positions with the Ontario (California) International Airport Authority and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority. Before moving to Fort Smith, Meyer was maintenance manager for Atlanta-based TBI Airport Management, which operated the Ontario airport. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation administration from California State University, and he is a private pilot.

The airport commission in May hired Atlantic Beach, Fla.-based ADK Consulting and Executive Search for $45,306 for their search services to fill the airport’s open director position. The list of candidates was narrowed to four^[2] and interviews were conducted in early September.

“Andrew was selected above other candidates because he understands what is special about Fort Smith and its airport,” said Airport Commission Chair Eric Pendergrass. “Over the course of his time with us, he has displayed exceptional leadership and understanding of the unique opportunities ahead of us.”

Meyer said he plans to “continue growing relations” with military, city, and chamber leaders with the goal of creating a “cohesive community environment” in the push to improve services at the airport. Meyer said his job priorities also include managing several federally-funded projects related to the foreign pilot training center and adding more commercial service routes at the airport.

Airline service at the airport has been a focus of airport leadership for many years. American Airlines had four to five flights a day in 2021 but has reduced its schedule to three flights a day. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines stopped its direct service to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in July 2020.

Between January and August, the airport reported 40,906 enplanements, down 0.3% compared with the 41,049 in the same period of 2024. The numbers are up 2.8% compared with the same eight-month period in 2023. Fort Smith enplanements were on a growth trend prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time enplanements topped 100,000 was in 2005 with 102,607. The enplanement record is 112,782 and was set in 1975.

The airport received a $1.145 million grant in August 2022 from the Small Community Air Service Development Program of the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit a route to Chicago or another northeastern market. The grant is good for 10 years. The airport contracted with Middleton, Wisc.-based Mead & Hunt to help recruit more flights and add new markets.

Meyer said he plans to “put our foot down on the gas” in the effort to convince airlines to add routes — especially a route that connects with eastern U.S. airports. He said airport staff and the consultants have “promising hints from some people, but at this time we don’t have anything concrete.”

“I’m a problem solver, and I look for solutions,” Meyer said when asked how he plans to be successful in the task of convincing airline officials to place more resources in a small-market airport.

Meyer said the “community has been nothing but welcoming to me and my family,” and he is eager to be a part of helping the community by improving airport services.

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