New Manager of Johnstown Airport Expects More Growth; Passenger Count Ticks Up Again

Aug. 18—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Long-time airport engineer Cory Cree was named the new manager for John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport on Tuesday.

With passenger counts skyrocketing, growth in business aviation and new economic development opportunities opening, Cree said the Richland Township facility is poised for success.

"Enplanements are on the rise," he said. "I see the airport as growing now."

During July, 1,223 passengers got on commercial flights at Johnstown — more than any single month since July 2005, when the airport recorded 1,236 enplanements.

In addition to welcoming Cree as manager, the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority on Tuesday voted to authorize the use of about 130 acres of airport property to establish a Keystone Opportunity Zone. Richland's school board, Richland Township supervisors and Cambria County commissioners previously agreed to support the KOZ, which exempts the property from local real estate taxes for 10 years.

"The KOZ could bring a lot of business to the airport," Cree said.

Cree, 47, joined L.R. Kimball & Associates in 2001 and was assigned the Johnstown airport that same year. As the airport engineer, Cree has overseen all new construction and upgrades at the facility.

"I have a familiarity with the airport that none of the other managers had," he said.

Jack Babich, chairman of the authority personnel committee, said Cree had been interviewed for the job twice before.

"We could never get to a funding level to hire Cory," Babich said.

Cree was hired at a salary of $100,000 a year.

He replaces former manager Chad Gontkovic, who resigned in May because his military promotion meant he would not have time for the job. Gontkovic had the job for about 15 months, at a salary of $75,000 a year. The previous manager, Thomas Keyes, was in the position from June 2017 through December 2019 and was hired at $60,000 a year.

Authority Chairman Rick McQuaide said it may have been more than the funding that kept the previous authority boards from hiring Cree instead of Keyes or Gontkovic.

"Nobody wants to lose their engineer," McQuaide said.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, assistant manager Heather Tomasko was promoted to executive assistant manager, with a salary to be negotiated. Tomasko has been acting manager since Gontkovic stepped down.

"I believe that (Cree) and Heather will be a team for a long time that takes the airport forward," Babich said. "We are excited to have Cory."

McQuaide said Cree's familiarity with airport operations and ongoing projects will make the transition seamless.

"He's not coming not knowing what the job is and trying to figure it out," McQuaide said.

On Tuesday, Cree introduced Jim Hood, of Kimball, who will take over as airport engineer.

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