Search firm narrows Orlando Airport CEO field, but contenders are a secret

The agency that runs the Orlando International Airport wants to hire a CEO as early as the end of the month, and a search firm has flagged 13 contenders for the job.

But so far, the public has been mostly shut out of the firm’s work finding a new leader to oversee the nation’s seventh busiest airport.  A list of the candidates hasn’t been released, with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority insisting to the Orlando Sentinel that no written list even exists. It’s unclear if interviews will take place in public.

The executive search firm Korn Ferry is handling CEO recruitment for GOAA, the public entity that oversees the airport. A Florida open government group contacted by the Sentinel said Korn Ferry’s secretive process seems designed to bypass public scrutiny. The aviation authority is subject to Florida’s open meetings and public records laws.

The authority’s board has said it wants to move quickly to replace the airport’s outgoing CEO Kevin Thibault, who resigned in September, citing his wife’s illness and the need to spend time with her.

Last month, the authority’s board chairman, Tim Weisheyer, said the search firm identified 45 potential candidates and then whittled that pool down to 13. Those 13 candidates will be further narrowed to a few finalists, he told the board.

The Sentinel asked for a list of candidates and for the applications of the 13 contenders, but the aviation authority said it had no records responsive to that request.

“The search firm has done its work by phone calls and verbal reports, and we haven’t required applications,” said Angela Starke, an agency spokeswoman, in an email.

It’s unclear how the board will proceed next.