WESTFIELD–Brian Barnes, manager for Barnes Municipal Airport for the last seven years, is retiring, effective Sept. 1.
Barnes announced his retirement to Mayor Brian Sullivan through a letter this past week. He is required to give a 30-day notice of resignation but said in the letter that he wanted to stay through the summer to make sure most projects are finished before he departs.
The control tower and a plane hangar at Barnes.
The report of Barnes’ departure was initially premature though as the city posted the open position for applicants on July 7. It has since been removed. Sullivan said that the actual job posting will be happening sometime within the next week.
“The airport’s been good to me, the city’s been good to me and I absolutely appreciated the opportunity to serve as airport manager,” Barnes said.
“I’ve been in aviation for 36 years and got another opportunity to pursue and thought it was time to move on to something else,” he said.
Barnes could not elaborate on the new opportunity because it is still pending, but he said that it was just about certain to happen.
Sullivan said that the city expects to find a person for the position by July or Aug., and that the city will look extensively for a new candidate.
“We’ll be looking globally, looking across the country or wherever,” Sullivan said about finding the replacement.
Sullivan said that the initial job posting from July 7 was posted because the city became too eager to fill the position. Sullivan wanted to make sure that the posting accurately reflected what the position will require, as well as who they are looking for, but also said that the requirements should not change much from the original advertisement.
Sullivan said that in spite of Barnes leaving, the airport will continue to run as it has been, including the continuation of the noise mitigation program that was started under Barnes.
“We’re looking to do the next phase, which is the purchasing,” Sullivan said. “So that will proceed as is.
“That’s why I appreciate that he will be here for a little while–there’s some economic development going on up there for a while,” he added.
The hiring process will be overseen by the Westfield Airport Commission, which is a three-member board consisting of Chairperson Kimberly Cameron, as well as Robert T. Goyette and Donald J. Nicoletti.
Barnes will serve as a special advisor to the board through the selection process, and will help to train the new manager upon their recruitment.
