Dallas Love Field’s aviation director is flying the coop.
Mark Duebner, who has held the position for the past 11 years, is set to retire on Tuesday.
Duebner’s job entails leading the teams running Love Field, the Dallas Executive Airport, and the Dallas Vertiport.
As the director, he supervised the $519 million terminal renovation and the construction of a new $230 million parking garage.
During his tenure, Love Field has also grown to become the busiest medium-hub airport in the U.S.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax wrote in a memo that Duebner’s commitment to a role that involves a “complex intersection of policies and people” was “a testament to Mark’s leadership and ability to deliver on behalf of the city of Dallas and its airfields.”
The Dallas Business Journal reported that Duebner would retire on November 8.
According to Broadnax, a new interim airport director will be named soon. The City is expected to conduct a national search for a permanent successor.
Prior to Duebner’s career as airport director, he was involved in the City of Dallas’ economic development department. He had a part to play in such projects as the Dallas convention center hotel, the Elgin Robertson Park Development, and the Cypress Waters mixed-use development.
Duebner was working in 2014 when the Wright Amendment was repealed. The amendment was put in place in 1979 and served to protect DFW airport, the second-largest airport in the nation, from competition.
From 1979-2014, Dallas Love Field could only conduct flights to neighboring states. The repeal of the amendment meant that flights out of the airport could now go to any city in the country.
Love Field ranks at No.31 of the largest airports in the U.S. During the busiest year in its history, 2019, the airport served around 16.7 million passengers.
Love Field currently serves 74 cities and is scheduled to have more than 132,000 flights take off this year, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
While Southwest Airlines, Delta, and Alaska Airlines all have flights out of Love Field, Southwest makes up for about 90% of the flights inbound and outbound.
