The city of Cortez is seeking applicants for the airport director position at Cortez Municipal Airport to replace Jeremy Patton.
Patton is leaving in March to take a management position at Four Corners Regional Airport in Farmington, according to the city.
In a news release posted Monday, the city announced it is accepting applications to fill the role held by Patton, who has served as airport director since 2021 and has a background in aviation, the trades field and experience as a first responder.
“He showed far and above all the other candidates,” Farmington’s airport manager Mike Lewis told The Tri-City Record. He added that Patton is a pilot.
Lewis, who was named New Mexico’s Airport Manager of the Year twice, is retiring next month.
The full-time position in Cortez pays $45.94 to $69.48 per hour plus benefits, according to the city’s job board.
The director is the senior employee in charge of supervising, managing and overseeing daily operations of the airport. The director partners with local, state and federal agencies, as well as the public, to ensure compliance with regulations for safety and grant assurances.
Denver Air Connection, with flights to Denver and Phoenix, is the main airline service in Cortez. The airport also serves general aviation and emergency service helicopter flights, as well as travelers going to and from Mesa Verde National Park.
The director will oversee the final installations of the airport’s $8.6 million federally funded rehabilitation project. The multiyear project, funded in part through state and local matches from American Rescue Plan Act funds, is expected to finish this spring.
The project included a new asphalt runway, taxiway connector roads and upgraded lighting systems for safety to modernize decades-old infrastructure. Additional upgrades include installing grooved surfacing to enhance aircraft braking and drainage and replacing aging navigational aids.
The renovations, which halted flights briefly in October, are expected to extend the airport’s lifespan by up to 30 years.
The last major runway construction was in the late 1990s.
Debra Mayeux, of the Tri-City Record, contributed to this article.
