In 2015 at the age of 24, Dominique Ranieri, Esq., C.M., represented the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority in litigation following a 2015 slope failure. Ranieri then joined the West Virginia International Yeager Airport (CRW) in 2017 and worked with the team to rebuild the runway safety area EMAS bed, a $13.5M project.
She got to work as the director of marketing & air service development (2017 – 2019) and then was promoted to assistant airport director & chief officer (2019 – 2022). Ranieri became the first female director & CEO of West Virginia International Yeager Airport in September of 2022. Most recently, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice appointed Ranieri to the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board, which oversees all state pensions (including the airport) for a three-year term.
“I was very fortunate to grow up around aviation,” she said. “My mother was a Delta flight attendant before starting a family. My father, a police officer, had his pilot license. My older sister attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and works in the aerospace industry, as does her husband, who is currently an air traffic controller at DCA. My younger sister also has a passion for flight and enjoys nothing more than an afternoon spent watching airplanes at whatever airport she has access to (or a memorable trip to an air show)! Although I started my career practicing law, it was only a matter of time until I made my way into aviation.”
Looking to the future, she hopes to inspire future generations to get involved in the aviation industry.
“There are so many different avenues to do so. Pilots, flight crew members, air traffic controllers, and aircraft maintainers are just a few of the in-demand careers in aviation, but there are so many more,” said Ranieri. “If you have a passion, there is a way to make a career carrying out that passion in the aviation space.”
