RIAC picks new chief from New Orleans

IFTIKHAR AHMAD has been named the new president and CEO of the R.I. Airport Corp., coming from the New Orleans Aviation Board. / COURTESY R.I. AIRPORT CORP.
IFTIKHAR AHMAD has been named the new president and CEO of the R.I. Airport Corp., coming from the New Orleans Aviation Board. / COURTESY R.I. AIRPORT CORP.

(Updated 2:38 p.m.)
WARWICK – The new president and CEO of T.F. Green Airport is Iftikhar Ahmad, who led the international airport of New Orleans through six years of passenger and route growth, according to an announcement by the R.I. Airport Corp.

The T.F. Green board of directors announced his appointment Thursday, following a board vote at a regular meeting. He will replace former CEO Kelly J. Fredericks, who left the position in March to become the CEO of Ontario International Airport Authority in San Bernardino County, Calif.

Ahmad, who begins Oct. 13, will earn $346,500 annually, according to Patti Goldstein, a spokeswoman for the airport. His predecessor, who was CEO for three years, made $302,900 in salary in 2015, and also received a $66,188 incentive bonus that year.

Since May 2010, Ahmad has served as director of aviation at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. He has 19 years of professional aviation experience, and has worked previously in airport management positions in Nashville, Dayton and Houston, according to a news release.

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He is now CEO of the New Orleans Aviation Board, which oversees an international airport that served 10.7 million passengers in 2015. By comparison, T.F. Green traffic was about 3.6 million last year.

Under his leadership, annual passenger traffic in New Orleans grew from 7.8 million people in 2009 to 10.7 million last year. The number is expected to surpass 11 million this year, according to a news release.

The number of airlines serving New Orleans grew to 15 from five during his tenure. He also oversaw increases in nonstop flights and the addition of new routes to Latin America, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and Canada.

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