Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) CEO Jacqueline Taft has resigned, according to the City of Austin, Texas, which oversees the airport.
No reason was given for the departure. According to local media reports, Jesus Garza, named interim city manager in February, is making a number of changes regarding senior city officials. Austin is the capital of Texas.
In a March 1 statement, the city said Yaft “led the airport’s COVID-19 response, launched our Airport Expansion and Development Program and was instrumental in the airport securing new airlines and nonstop flights.”
Yaft became the airport’s CEO in 2019. “We thank her for her service to our airport and our city,” the statement adds.
Yaft replaced Jim Smith, who led AUS from 2000 to 2019. Smith will return as AUS’s interim CEO and “help guide this transition,” the city’s statement says.
The airport handled 21 million passengers in 2022, the highest total in the Austin-Bergstrom’s history. AUS opened in 1999. Airlines operated 97 nonstop routes from AUS in 2022, according to the airport.
Smith assumes leadership of an airport with construction projects underway, including a fourth cargo facility on which ground was broken in April 2022. Construction also started on a second Jet-A fuel facility last year. The airport is additionally in the midst of installing a new outbound baggage handling system, a project started last October.
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