Operations director leaving Eastern Iowa Airport

The director of operations at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids has resigned to become executive director of the University of Illinois Willard Airport in Champaign, Ill.

Gene Cossey joined The Eastern Iowa Airport in July 2014. He was previously senior manager of airside operations and safety at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Willard Airport, which is owned by the University of Illinois, is a commercial service airport served by American Eagle airlines. Cossey, who has more than 25 years of aviation industry experience, was selected after a national search, according to University of Illinois Associate Chancellor Michael DeLorenzo.

'Gene stood out very early in the process as someone who was not only capable of managing Willard Airport, but one who could improve its operations and take it successfully into the future,” DeLorenzo said in a news release.

Cossey, who joins Willard on Dec. 7. said he has enjoyed working with Airport Director Marty Lenss, airport staff and members of the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission during his brief time in Cedar Rapids.

'Marty is a great leader, we have a great staff and the members of the commission are very supportive of the airport,” Cossey said. 'I was the director of a smaller airport in Oregon and I wanted to work at a large hub airport.

'After being in Cincinnati for almost three years, I decided that I wasn't a fan of the larger hub airports and I changed my focus to go back into airports like Cedar Rapids.

'Willard Airport is a little smaller in terms of operations, but it has a lot of potential. American Eagle does about 100,000 enplanements each year.”

Lenss said Cossey has played a key role in supervising a number of capital improvement projects, including the four-year, $50 million passenger terminal renovation and expansion project.

'Gene really helped me get up to speed after I joined the airport,” said Lenss, who began his tenure in January of this year.