According to this story from KRTV:

KRTV has learned that John Faulkner has been selected as the new director of the Great Falls International Airport.

I guess the Chairman forgot to include me on his e-mail announcement.

I don’t think Mr. Faulkner is from Montana, like the former director. She is from Great Falls – home grown and educated here.

Also, Faulkner would have been the second best choice if the Board was not so hell-bent on nailing Director Schultz. As Ms. Schultz’ attorney, Antonia Marra, was quoted as saying in the Great Falls Tribune on March 5, 2010:

“Will she be the most qualified? Yes,” Marra said. “Does anybody realistically think this board will rehire her? No.”

Faulkner won’t do better than Schultz, who increased the assets of the airport from $18.5 million to $113 million and the hangar occupancy from 28% to 100% and discretionary grants from $235,000 to $49 million, and all that in about 10 years. Incredible.

Something else that is interesting is that the Board has not presented him with a contract yet, so there’s still time for him to bail out of this circus.

If Mr. Faulkner does agree to the contract presented to him, I do wish him well. I encourage him to read it very closely before signing. I also wish everyone on the current board would resign and give the new “man” a fresh start without all the baggage – because this baggage will weigh the airport down.

Finally, if Mr. Faulkner wants to know what he is getting into, he can read all about the circus on this blog by clicking on the drop-down menu under “Categories” on the right side of this screen and then picking “GFIA.”