Airport Business - 44

UNDER

JAMES W. HESS III, ACE

G

rowing up in Savannah, Ga., James W.
Hess III was always around airplanes.
Military aircraft would fly over his home and
his dad would take him to air shows.
Hess wasn't sure what he wanted to do in
high school, but he took part in
an airport operations job shadow
program in Fort Myers, Fla. He
fell in love with it, but decided he
wanted to be a pilot.
Hess changed his mind
after one semester and decided
he wanted to work in airport
management.
"I really like the people," he said. "The
passion that everyone demonstrates in this
industry is absolutely amazing. I love learning
from others and taking what I learned and
mentoring my team."
Hess has been a representative for aviation
and the Lee County Port Authority for 15 years.
He started as an intern and after graduation
went to South Bend, Ind., to learn more to
include winter operations. He came back as
an operations agent and began mentoring

Airside Operations Manager, Lee County Port Authority

I'd really like to see all of the
people that I helped mentor
succeed somewhere in aviation
in a management role or a role
they're happy with.
and training his peers while he was still new
himself.
He overhauled the hiring and training
program for his team to ensure operations
agents are some of the most knowledgeable
in the field. Hess manages the 139 program for
LCPA and has worked to keep it discrepancyfree since 2016.
Hess also runs the airport wildlife program
and before becoming the manager he was the
bird dog handler for its dog, Sky, who was
featured in USA Today. He helped train the
subsequent dogs and dog handlers until the
airport closed that portion of the wildlife
program.

ANTHONY DEFRENZA, PE

I

t's the process of engineering that fascinates
Anthony DeFrenza, and after beginning his
career working in water and wastewater projects,
he's found a home at Hollywood Burbank
Airport (BUR) where he can put
his love of engineering to work.
"Hollywood Burbank is a great
medium hub airport that offers a
small, convenient airport feel in
a huge urban area. I love my role
at this size of airport because it
allows me to get involved in a lot
of different aspects of the airport,"
he said.
DeFrenza first got the aviation bug when
working at LAX as a consultant. He found it a
natural fit for his love of engineering.
"I really like engineering as a discipline
because it provides a very organized method
to solve problems and going through an
engineering process allows seemingly difficult
problems to be considered in a different light,"
he said.
Currently, DeFrenza is working on several
significant development activities underway

Hess has served on the LCPA ASPIRE
committee, which identifies individuals within
the organization that go above and beyond.
He also sits as the vice-chair of the Florida
Airports Council Operations Committee. As a
result, he has been able to share topics and issues
involving Florida airports which has helped the
airport develop as a team.
Alma Mater: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
Bachelors of Science in Aviation Business
Administration with an Area of Concentration in Airport
Management (2003)
Fun fact about myself: I have lived in five different
states: Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and
Indiana
Favorite aircraft: MD-11
Are you a pilot?: No
Someone I look up to in the industry: There isn't really
one person but many that I look to for advice. Almost
everyone has something to offer
My favorite thing about aviation is: The aircraft. I love
watching the aircraft land, taxi, takeoff. I also enjoy
identifying commercial service/military aircraft
If I could change one thing about the aviation industry:

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Director of Engineering and Maintenance, Hollywood Burbank Airport

I like the bigness of aviation. Aircraft
are big. Runways are big. Facilities
that need maintaining are big.
Construction projects are typically
big. And then there's something
fascinating about a system that
works as well as it does that relies
on so many different skill sets and
technical expertise.
at the airport. Most notably, working to
advance towards the implementation of a
new replacement passenger terminal (RPT).
With his leadership the solicitation, selection
and contract award of a program manager and
the soon to be solicited progressive design
builder, BUR will be able to advance the RPT
Program into design and construction.
In addition, DeFrenza oversees the

44 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / NOVEMBER 2019

rehabilitation of airfield pavement, landside
pavement, facility improvement projects and
maintenance activities.
Alma Mater: UCLA
Fun fact about myself: After graduating with an engineering
degree and being an engineer for a while, I decided I wanted
to go in a completely different direction, that was short-lived,
but I was a butcher for a little while and I was also in a band at
the same time
Favorite aircraft: The one that I am sitting in on my way off
to vacation
Are you a pilot?: No
Someone I look up to in the industry: Because I am relatively
new to the aviation industry, a lot of my examples are
within the realm of this airport, but I have gotten very good
mentorship from three people here: consultant to the
airport, Mark Conway; Senior Deputy Executive Director,
John Hatanaka; Deputy Executive Director Planning and
Development Patrick Lammerding
My favorite thing about aviation is: The sheer scale of it and
magnitude of the aircraft
If I could change one thing about the aviation industry: I'd like
to see more funding available for airports, that would be great
and I think would pay visible dividends to the traveling public

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Airport Business

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