Sarasota-Bradenton airport chief's pay grabs attention...
Written By: Susan Taylor Martin, Times Senior Correspondent
Published Saturday, April 26, 2008 2:53 PM
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BRADENTON, FL. (NS/SPT) —
Airlines are merging or going bankrupt, throwing thousands out of
work. Passengers endure security hassles and long delays caused by
aging planes...
But in the turbulent U.S. aviation industry, it has been a comfortable
ride for one Floridian — Fredrick J. Piccolo, president and CEO of
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport...
At $196,285 a year, Piccolo makes nearly $73,000 more than the
director of the larger Pensacola airport and about $3,500 more than
the director of Palm Beach International, which handles five times as
many passengers as Sarasota-Bradenton...
And that's just for starters in the most expansive compensation
package of any airport director in Florida...
The Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority provides Piccolo with a 2005
Acura and pays for maintenance including regular oil checks ($53),
tires ($974) and even car washes...
Piccolo also gets three round-trip tickets a year for wife Sally to
accompany him on business trips, some as far away as Buenos Aires. And
in another perk almost unheard of in the airport industry, the
authority provides Piccolo with a $425,000 pool home it bought in
Sarasota so he won't have to commute as often from his own house in
St. Petersburg. An additional $75,000 went to update and furnish the
Sarasota house...
As the authority meets today for Piccolo's annual review, board
members say the money is well spent...
"He does have a very generous package, and he's worth every penny of
it,'' says chairman Jack Rynerson, noting that Piccolo lured low-cost
carriers AirTran and JetBlue to the airport...
But Piccolo's salary and benefits have raised eyebrows even though the
authority — a public agency — gets no tax money and is supported
entirely by rents, landing fees and other business operations...
"His compensation is kind of nutty,'' says Michael Stephenson,
president of a firefighters local that fought unsuccessfully in 2006
to keep the airport from privatizing its fire department in a cost-
cutting move. "When you look at his salary and factor in all that
other stuff, it's not much different than the biggest airports
around.''
With 1.6-million passengers a year, Sarasota-Bradenton ranks 94th
among all U.S. airports and ninth in Florida. It has long struggled to
increase commercial service because it is within an hour's drive of
27th-ranked Tampa International, which offers 10 times more daily
flights to more destinations...
"It's not always easier to run a smaller airport, certainly not when
it comes to air service,'' says Piccolo, 55, who came to Sarasota-
Bradenton in 1995 after working at TIA. "When airlines cut back, the
first place they go are places like mine.''
'Not a mansion'...
Piccolo is well-regarded in the industry. He was North American
chairman of Airport Councils International last year and is a past
president of the Florida Airport Managers Association. Sarasota-
Manatee board members say their fear of losing him is why they agreed
to perks generous enough to surprise others in the business...
"Wow, that sounds pretty good,'' Greg Chin, spokesman for 15th-ranked
Miami International, said of Piccolo's salary and benefits. Miami's
aviation director makes a higher salary, but gets no house or spouse
travel privileges...
For years, Piccolo commuted 70 miles a day between his St. Petersburg
house and the airport. To encourage him to move to the community
served by the airport, the board first considered giving him use of a
house that had been noise-proofed with federal grant money. But when
the Federal Aviation Administration balked at that idea, the authority
dipped into its own funds in 2005 to buy a house...
Board member Paul Sharff said it would be a good investment but voiced
concern about the perception...
"The question will be, how is Mr. Piccolo's moving here going to bring
us more air service?" he wondered...
Nonetheless, the board unanimously approved the purchase plus $25,000
for "window treatments and furnishings.'' The Piccolos — who still
spend considerable time in St. Petersburg — bought a $2,084 Sony 40-
inch flat-screen TV and a $2,059 modular entertainment center for the
Sarasota place...
"It's not a mansion,'' Piccolo says of the 24-year-old house, now
updated with granite countertops. "It needed a lot of work, though I'm
not saying it's a terrible benefit.''The board also approved travel
for Sally Piccolo, who has used her round-trip tickets to accompany
him to Hawaii (ticket cost: $2,352), Zurich ($2,710), South Africa
($6,807) and Buenos Aires ($2,759)...
"It is a lot of money,'' Rynerson, the board chairman says, "but we
knew he was going to be doing extensive travel and having her fly
three times out of 20 doesn't bother me.''
Partly due to his chairmanship of the airports council, Piccolo took
23 trips last year for a total cost of $53,500. By comparison, TIA
executive director Louis Miller, who also served on the council board,
took eight trips totaling $14,000...
The airport authority's six members — three each from Manatee and
Sarasota counties — are appointed by the governor and get a $2,000
annual stipend. All are Republican, and several have strong political
ties, including Sharff, former head of the Manatee Republican Party;
Leslie Wells, wife of former Manatee Sheriff Charlie Wells; and Eric
Robinson, chairman of the Sarasota Republican Party...
Two of Piccolo's children also have been active in Republican
politics...
Fred Jr. worked on U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' unsuccessful 2006
Senate campaign. Thomas Piccolo, then 23, unsuccessfully ran for the
state House from St. Petersburg that year. A third of his campaign
contributions came from aviation industry professionals and companies
doing business at the Sarasota-Bradenton airport...
Piccolo acknowledges asking for contributions. Neither he nor board
chairman Rynerson saiy they saw any problem with that...
"Most of the people in the industry know everybody else reasonably
well,'' Rynerson says. "He (Piccolo) also jacked prices up for
everybody at the airport. If he was going to be nice to them, he
wouldn't have done that.''
Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Susan Taylor
-------------------------------
Worth every penny?
A national survey of airports shows surprising uniformity in the
compensation packages for their directors, with the exception of
Sarasota-Bradenton International.
Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International
Rank: 1
Passengers: 89.4-million *
Gen. manager: Ben DeCosta
Base salary: $255,091
Extras: $553 monthly car allowance, other expenses
Orlando International
Rank: 11
Passengers: 36.3-million*
Exec. director: Steve Gardner
Base salary: $225,014
Extras: $650 monthly car allowance
Miami International
Rank: 15
Passengers: 33.7-million*
Aviation director: Jose Abreu
Base salary: $243,178
Extras: $560 monthly car and parking allowance
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International
Rank: 23
Passengers: 22.7-million *
Aviation director: Kent George
Base salary: $250,000
Extras: $600 monthly car allowance
Tampa International
Rank: 27
Passengers: 19-million*
Exec. director: Louis E. Miller
Base salary: $247,116
Extras: $500 monthly car allowance
Southwest Florida Int'l
Rank: 49
Passengers: 8-million*
Exec. director: Robert Ball
Base salary: $228,181
Extras: 2003 Mercury
Marauder
Palm Beach Int'l
Rank: 55
Passengers: 6.9-million*
Director of airports:
Bruce Pelly
Base salary: $192,841
Extras: $500 monthly car allowance
Jacksonville Int'l
Rank: 58
Passengers: 6.3-million*
Exec. director: John D. Clark
Base salary: $230,000
Extras: Car or $850 monthly car allowance; $750 monthly for
incidentals
Pensacola Regional
Rank: 90
Passengers: 1.7-million*
Exec. directrector: Frank P. Miller
Base salary: $123,600
Extras: 2005 Ford Explorer
Sarasota-Bradenton International
Rank: 94
Passengers: 1.6-million*
President, CEO:
Fredrick Piccolo
Base salary: $196,285
Extras: 2005 Acura, free use of $500,000 house, three round-trip
tickets per year for wife
St. Petersburg-Clearwater International
Rank: 120
Passengers: 742,521*
Airport director: Noah Lagos
Base salary: $146,478
Extras: 2001 Ford Crown Victoria
* 2007 preliminary passenger totals
Source: Airport Councils International
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Editor's Note:
Many in the Sarasota-Manatee County area still chose to drive to Tampa International Airport to catch a cheaper and usually 'direct flight' to where they need to go. This isn't the case with most of the flights out of SRQ in Sarasota. It should also be noted that the Federal Grants and local monies received in the past and currently are in fact Taxpayer monies that have been used at SRQ. Is the Fox in the Hen House and is there a waste of money there?
You be the Judge...
*MCB*