Chip Kennedy Named Maintenance Director of Easton Airport

Easton Airport is excited to announce that Mr. Chip Kennedy is now leading the airport’s maintenance department as Maintenance Director. Prior to accepting the promotion, Chip was the Assistant Maintenance Director of Easton Airport. He is extremely familiar with the airport’s operations and worked closely with Easton Airport’s former Maintenance Director, Jerry Foreman, who announced his retirement effective December 31, 2021 after 34 years.

To honor Chip’s promotion, the weather gods deemed fit to blanket the airport with nearly a foot of snow during his first week as director. Other tasks (and more snow) have taken place since, but we did get a chance to sit with Chip to ask him a few questions about what he hopes to achieve in his new role.

How many years have you worked for Talbot Count and Easton Airport?

It will be 19 years with Talbot County this March. All 19 years have been with Easton Airport. I first accepted a maintenance operations position when I was 19 years old. I was looking at jobs the County had open at the time and it seemed like a good fit.

What else led you to work at the airport and what do you like most about being here?

There were a few other County departments hiring at the time, but I liked what the airport had to offer. It fit some of my skills but was different from what I was doing at the time. I saw an opportunity to learn new things with a solid team. The crew out here is a little smaller than one might expect and I like that. Sometimes it feels like the airport is its own small city. We all seem to know each other and know how to get things done by working together.

Why were you interested in the Maintenance Director position?

It was a good opportunity to advance my career, to move up and use the skills I have been working on. I look forward to the challenges of keeping operations running smoothly and using the role to train others and share my knowledge.

What are some of the changes you have seen during your time at the airport?

Having the tower here makes thing a lot safer with that team looking over us. Our fuel farm operations have also grown. There are interesting logistics involved in making sure fuel deliveries come in as needed and maintaining a high quality of service for our businesses. We will look to modernize some of those practices.

What other changes do you anticipate in the future?

One of my goals is to utilize new technology and that means educating myself on different software. We have established good processes, but if we can save time and cut out some of the manual steps we take now it can benefit everybody. I also look forward to working with Trey Haddaway as he moves into the Assistant Maintenance Director position, the same position I had before this one. I will continue supporting him and we will both support our new team member as we look to hire a third position in our department.

What lessons have you learned that will help you with these goals?

I have learned how to be patient. Patient when trying to figure out how to fix things, when dealing with vendors, and when working with different clients that all have different needs. We are going to continue to provide a high level of customer service, which is not hard since the airport community is great to work with anyway.