Four Decades of Success in Aviation

Dec. 26, 2017
Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport Director Bern E. Case visualized positive change throughout his career to drive success wherever he worked.

It’s been an interesting journey for Bern E. Case, who retires as airport director of Oregon’s Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport on Jan. 18, 2018, after 40 years in the business.

After high school, Case attended junior college and became a police officer in the Army. “But I got burned out on people. I was a commanding officer and I had to deal with alcohol and spouse abuse and other things that happened under military command,” he said. “So I got out of the Army, went to back to college and got a degree in mortuary science.”

Case continued his education and was working on his thesis, on how to save money on funerals. “Eventually, it got published as a book and when that happened, I got fired and was blackballed [by the industry],” he recalled. “By then, I had three kids, my wife and a mortgage. I learned that Salt Lake City International Airport was hiring operations officers, a cross between safety and police.”

He got the job, where he started by writing parking tickets and inspecting the airport. “That turned into several promotions, and I eventually became manager of operations covering police, fire and safety,” said Case. “I needed a job and the police experience helped me get in. But I caught the aviation virus and one you get infected, it’s hard to think of anything else.”

After leaving Salt Lake City in 1986, Case went to Saginaw, Michigan, to become the airport director at MBS International. “I worked hard to get my accreditation with AAAE and felt I was ready to run an airport, so I put out some applications,” he said.

Of his biggest accomplishment at MBS International, Case felt he opened up the vision of what the airport could be. “We had record numbers of passengers because I worked to convince them not to drive to Detroit Metro Airport,” he recalled. “I replaced a guy who retired. He was a nice guy, but he visualized MBS International as a nice little county airport. I saw it as a booming economic engine for the community, which made a big difference and helped the airport grow.”

In 1990, Case moved again, becoming director of aviation at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport in Texas, a step up in size from Saginaw. “My biggest accomplishment at Lubbock was making it a little bit more entrepreneurial. An example would be that they did almost nothing in advertising when I got there,” he said. “We took over advertising in the terminal. I demonstrated to them how to operate the airport more like a business, and less like a governmental entity.”

But Case grew tired of hot Texas summers and wanted to run a smaller airport. “I found that I like running airports that were just a touch smaller, so in 1994, I went from Lubbock to Medford,” he said. “Here I have less than 50 employees and a few contracted employees, so I know everybody.”

Case said he was attracted to Medford because of its quality of life. “We have the Rogue Valley and skiing within an hour away. It was truly a better place for my family,” he said.

Case listed his accomplishments during his 24 years at Medford, including building a new terminal, runway extension and tower, changing the airport’s name, winning designation as a Foreign Trade Zone and constructing a new snow removal equipment and operations facility. He also consistently set record passenger numbers, grew from two to nine destinations via five airlines and spent nearly $105 million in grant funds.

As part of the new terminal construction, the airport had some extra space, said Case. “We decided to convert the space into a replica of the White House’s Oval Office. We use it for special events and community activities,” he said. “We’ve even had film and television productions companies using it because that space gets overbooked in Hollywood.”

Rogue Valley airport was innovative, building the first airport restaurant that has access in both the secure and non-secure areas, said Case. “We have one kitchen that serves two restaurants, which brings in revenue and serves all of the public,” he said.

Case said he has had a charmed airport career. “I have been here 24 years and I have never been unemployed in 39 years. I have got the best team in the country, which made it hard for me to retire,” he said. “When I got here, there were two airlines flying to two destinations serving about 300,000 passengers a year. Now we have five airlines serving nine destinations, and we are approaching 900,000 passengers a year.”

Case offered advice for those at the beginning of their airport management careers. “I see people getting their degree at one of the aeronautical universities and they all want to come in and start as an assistant manager or even a manager,” he observed. “But my advice to them is to just get your foot in the door. If you have to write tickets on the curb, drive an operations vehicle or handle PR, get your foot in the door.

“Because once you get inside an organization, you can increase your knowledge and your versatility and move up. You can get involved in AAAE or ACI-NA and from there, you get to meet people. It’s kind of interesting, because you start hearing about jobs via word of mouth and you grow your network.”