{"id":27108,"date":"2023-11-07T01:33:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=27108"},"modified":"2023-11-07T01:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:34:01","slug":"melissa-cooper-selected-as-director-of-aviation-in-kansas-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/news\/airports\/melissa-cooper-selected-as-director-of-aviation-in-kansas-city\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Melissa Cooper Selected as Director of Aviation in Kansas City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following a nationwide search, Melissa Cooper has been named\nthe Director of Aviation for the City of Kansas City. Through Cooper\u2019s career\nof more than 25 years she worked her way up through her field and the Aviation\nDepartment. She is the first woman to fill this role in the history of the\nCity\u2019s Aviation Department. In December 2021, Cooper was promoted to Deputy\nDirector of Aviation over Properties & Commercial Development, a position\nwhere she helped launch Kansas City\u2019s $1.5 billion new terminal at Kansas City\nInternational Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Melissa Cooper<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cooper is also the first female Airport Manager of the\nCharles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport, a position she held from 2017 until her\npromotion to Deputy Aviation Director. Cooper\u2019s first position at the Kansas\nCity International Airport in the 1990s was for a private airline company as a\ncustomer service agent. Through her hard work and experience she was promoted\ninto a supervisor role, and ultimately into airport management where she is\nthriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe opening of our brand-new Kansas City International\nAirport terminal was a transformational project for our community which took\nthe strong leadership of many, with Melissa Cooper playing an integral role,\u201d\nMayor Lucas said. \u201cAs Kansas City month-over-month breaks passenger traveler\nrecords and secures more flights to more places both domestically and\ninternationally, I am proud to welcome Melissa\u2014who makes history as Kansas\nCity\u2019s first ever female Aviation Director\u2014to lead the Department into the future\nas it continues to serve the flying public across our region. Ms. Cooper\u2019s 17\nyears of work at the Aviation Department, most recently as Deputy Director of\nAviation and Airport Manager of the Downtown Charles B. Wheeler Airport, will\nhelp her hit the ground running, working to continue growing Kansas City\nInternational\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c30 years ago, I experienced my first pilot introductory\nflight at the Downtown Airport, sparking my love of aviation. I have been very\nfortunate to foster this passion with a variety of jobs, training, and\nexperiences within the aviation field, preparing me for the roles and\nresponsibilities of the Director of Aviation. I am truly honored, as a lifetime\nKansas City resident, to serve our community and to lead the men and women of\nthe Aviation Department, in pursuit of a first-class airport experience for our\nbusiness and leisure travelers arriving to and departing from Kansas City,\u201d\nAviation Director Melissa Cooper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Cooper was awarded the \u201cWomen Who Move the Nation\u201d\naward by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. In 2019, she was\nnamed the WTS Greater Kansas City Chapter\u2019s \u201cWoman of the Year.\u201d Cooper is\ncurrently serving as the Bombardier Safety Standdown Advisory Council Chair. In\nthe past she served as the co-chair of the MARC Aviation Subcommittee,\nPresident of the Great Lakes Region of American Association of Airport\nExecutives. In June of 2024, Cooper will begin serving on the National American\nAssociation of Airport Executives Board of Directors. She is also recognized as\nan Accredited Airport Executive through the American Association of Airport\nExecutives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDirector Cooper has already demonstrated and proven her\nability to lead and manage our team within the aviation department and has been\ninstrumental in the successful launch of our world class new airport terminal,\u201d\nCity Manager Brian Platt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooper was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She\nwill begin serving as the Director of Aviation on November 6, 2023. She holds a\nMaster of Science degree in aviation safety and a Bachelor of Science degree in\naviation technology both from University of Central Missouri.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a nationwide search, Melissa Cooper has been named the Director of Aviation for the City of Kansas City. Through Cooper\u2019s career of more than 25 years she worked her way up through her field and the Aviation Department. She is the first woman to fill this role in the history of the City\u2019s Aviation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airports","category-missouri"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27110,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27108\/revisions\/27110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}