Airport interim director resigns; Troup to meet with EAS officials Tuesday over airline concerns – Muddy River News

QUINCY – There will be leadership changes at Quincy Regional Airport next week, and there may also soon be changes at the airline that fulfills Quincy’s Essential Air Service (EAS) contract.

The airport’s interim director, Tairu (Tai) Zong, told the Quincy City Council during Monday’s meeting – the first at City Hall in 13 weeks due to renovations – that he would resign at the end of the week. Quincy Mayor Mike Troup said Zong’s wife recently completed her doctorate and accepted a position at a university in California.

“A great help out there (at the airport). A great resource,” said Councilman Eric Entrup (R-1), a member of the Aviation Committee. “You ever need a positive reference from one of us? I think we’d be happy to give it to you.”

“Thank you for having me here,” Zong said. “I want to thank everyone from the city, all the councilors, all my colleagues and all the city staff for helping me make my life and my job a lot easier. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for you. God bless you guys.”

Troup said he was meeting with representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service office on Tuesday to discuss concerns about Southern Airways Express, an airline based in Palm Beach, Florida.

The city council is unhappy with the low number of boardings, the high number of canceled flights and the alleged additional stopovers on the actual nonstop flights between Quincy and Chicago. The Aviation Committee at its Aug. 7 meeting gave the green light for the city council to explore options to exit a four-year contract the city signed in August 2022 with Southern Airways Express for 18 weekly flights each to St. Louis and Chicago. Southern Airways Express began operating from Quincy in December 2022.

After sending a complaint to EAS officials, Troup said he met with Southern Airways Express representatives on a conference call.

“I asked them, ‘Is there anything in our letter that we haven’t discussed many times before?’ (They said) no,” Troup said. “They had some new leaders who had just come to Southern, and we explained the situation to them. Their response was that our problems were completely unacceptable.”

“(Southern Airways) wanted the city to work with them. I said, ‘Look, we’ve been fighting this for over a year.’ This isn’t something you can say, ‘See you in six months and wait for the report.’ We have to turn this around immediately – within days or a week – or it’s over.”

After Monday’s meeting, Troup said Bill Lantz, a longtime airport employee who is in charge of maintenance, will likely be named as Zong’s successor at next Wednesday’s aviation board meeting. Lantz was named operations manager earlier this summer, and Troup said Lantz is waiting to complete his certification as an airport manager.

“Once (Lantz) takes over after a probationary period, which we expect will be fine, he will be promoted to full-time director,” Troup said. “He has extensive experience at our airport. He has been working with Tai for several months. Again, the transition should be relatively easy.”

Zong replaced Chuck Miller, who resigned as airport director in April after 18 months on the job. Miller, who called Troup “rude, dismissive and personally offensive” in his resignation letter, is now director of the Valdosta (Georgia) Regional Airport.

In another action, the city councilors:

• Saw boss Adam Yates honored Sergeant Erica Scott on her 20-year anniversary with the Quincy Police Department.
• A request for a special event for Septemberfest on September 7 at Blessed Sacrament Parish, 1119 S. Seventh, was approved.
• A request for a special event for the Liters and Lotus Autism Awareness Car Show on Saturday along Maine from Fifth to Eighth was approved.
• A request for a special event for Pride in the Park on September 22 at Clat Adams Park was approved.
• Heard Troup read a proclamation declaring September as Workforce Development Month.
• Thornburgh Abatement, Inc. was awarded the contract to perform asbestos abatement at 206 Chestnut.
• Approved a lowest bid of $360,514 from Laverdiere Construction of Macomb for an Amtrak station parking improvement project, 30^th and Wismann Lane. The deteriorating concrete pavement on the east side of the existing parking lot will be replaced and the parking lot will be extended to the south, adding nine spaces and improving traffic flow through the parking lot.
• The purchase of a Polaris Ranger 1000 EPS 4×4 side-by-side utility vehicle for $17,399 from Outdoor Power has been approved. The UTV will replace a 1982 John Deere tractor that was recently taken out of service due to irreparable engine damage. The UTV will serve multiple functions at Landfill #4.
• Approved a low bid of $967,000 from Bleigh Construction of Hannibal, Missouri, to build a 140-by-60-foot prefabricated storage building on the south side of the Central Services site. Public Works Director Jeffrey Conte said the building will be used to store some of the city’s larger equipment. “This has been a long time coming,” said Richie Reis (D-6).
• A city ordinance setting a date for a public hearing on the proposed 54th Street business district was approved by a vote of 9 to 5. Voting against the ordinance were Jeff Bergman (R-2), Dave Bauer (D-2), Mike Farha (R-4), Tony Sassen (R-4) and Mike Rein (R-5).
• Approved a request from Reis to conduct a traffic study at the intersection of Eighth Street and RJ Peters Drive.
• An ordinance authorizing the award of $25,000 from the Economic Growth Fund to the Quincy Society of Fine Arts was put on hold for a week. Rein said city councilors “worked diligently” to cut funding for nonprofits from the city budget many years ago. “I would hate to see that trickle down here again,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for the city to fund (them).” Farha echoed Rein’s comments, saying, “It’s not that we don’t think they’re worthy, but we think you should make those decisions yourself. We shouldn’t make them for you with taxpayer money. … I don’t care where the money comes from. At the end of the day, it’s taxpayer money, right?”