Los Angeles World Airports Announces Management Changes at Van Nuys Airport

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Feb 08, 2010, 06:18 ET

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has announced that Jess Romo, airport manager at LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT), will also manage Van Nuys Airport (VNY).

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Selena Birk, VNY airport manager for the past 10 years, has been selected to lead the Regulatory Compliance and Standards Division at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). This group is responsible for Ground Transportation, Permits, Landside Administration, Regulatory Compliance and Emergency Management sections for LAWA.

Kim Ellis, who is a former assistant airport manager at ONT, will oversee daily operations for both VNY and ONT, reporting to Romo. Ellis currently manages LAWA's Regulatory Compliance and Standards Division.

Romo's career spans 21 years with the City of Los Angeles. He has worked for the Bureau of Engineering, Department of Water and Power, and General Services Department. Romo joined LAWA in 1997 and has served in a number of progressively responsible positions, including chief of the LAWA Properties Division from 2001 to 2006, where he was responsible for real estate, lease administration, property management and other various areas of real estate for all of LAWA's airports. In particular, he was property manager at both VNY and ONT before heading the Properties Division. Romo was appointed Ontario's airport manager in 2006. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Irvine and a master's degree in industrial psychology from California State University, Los Angeles.

Birk's responsibilities during 20 years with LAWA include system development for identification badging and access control, risk management, budgeting, contract management, and handling a wide variety of operations and administrative issues when at LAX.

She holds a bachelor's degree in behavioral science from California Polytechnic University in Pomona. She currently serves on the boards of the San Fernando Valley Economic Alliance and the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce. Birk is a member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, a member of the Southern California Association of Government (SCAG) Regional Airport Task Force and former Chairperson of the SCAG Aviation Technical Advisory Committee.

Ellis has over 21 years experience with LAWA including assignments as an assistant airport manager, chief of airfield operations, landside operations manager, and airport operations coordinator. He also worked for America West Airlines and Lockheed Air Terminal, Inc., and served in the United States Marine Corps.

Ellis holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University. Ellis is also an accredited airport executive with the American Association of Airport Executives.

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is a Los Angeles city department that owns and operates three Southern California airports: Los Angeles International (LAX), LA/Ontario International (ONT) and Van Nuys (VNY) general aviation. LAX is the sixth busiest airport in the world, offering more than 565 daily flights to 81 destinations in the U.S. and over 1,000 weekly non-stop flights to 65 international destinations. ONT is a medium-size, full-service airport located approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. VNY is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world based on the number of operations. VNY is a major economic engine in the San Fernando Valley generating more than $1.3 billion to the Southern California economy and an earnings impact of $707 million. Over 12,300 jobs are directly or indirectly due to the airport, including more than 2,060 jobs at 240 firms at the airport itself.

SOURCE Los Angeles World Airports