The Greenbrier County Airport Authority met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 21. Amidst a busy schedule, the Authority took time out to consider a resignation request from Airport Director Brian Belcher. Belcher, having served in his current role since Nov. 14, 2019, will be moving on to retirement. The Authority very reluctantly accepted his resignation, with each member extending their thanks and gratitude for Belcher’s years of stellar performance, diligence, and dedication to the Greenbrier Valley Airport.
“I’ve always loved aviation, loved being around it, and this has just been the best place I’ve been,” said Belcher. “The staff here has been great, the employees we have always just go above and beyond and are some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
The Authority is now in the process of hiring a new airport director, and appointed current Airport Financial Advisor Martha Livesay to the position on an interim basis until a new director is hired. Belcher’s resignation takes effect Feb. 28, 2023.
In other news, Belcher informed the Authority that the work on the entrance sign is complete, and that the components for the sign are to be delivered via truck sometime this week. He also gave a briefing regarding Contour’s service.
According to Belcher, “there have been 12 cancellations to date, since Jan. 1. That breaks down as four in January and eight in February. However, over the last ten days, we’ve seen Contour complete ten consecutive days of service, so we’re seeing them trend upwards.”
Contour has had issues since their start of service with LWB, due to factors both specific to Contour and some generally applicable to the industry, Belcher explained. “Contour right now has expanded to several cities alongside us, and perhaps too many too fast, so they’ll just need time to catch up, but we hope that they can get to terms with all the different markets they’ve added. Also, everyone right now in aviation is struggling with personnel issues, so that’s something to be considered.”
The Authority will meet again on Mar. 21 in the Administrative Building of the State Fairgrounds, at 2 p.m. Interested parties should call 304-645-3961 for information on Airport Authority meeting dates and times, as they are subject to change.
