Malafronte to be nominated as next director at Manchester airport
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais this week will nominate Tom Malafronte to serve as the next airport director at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
The nomination is expected to be made at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, which begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Malafronte has been serving as deputy director of the airport since 2015, and as acting airport director since early April. Ted Kitchens announced in March that he would be leaving his post as director of aviation on April 4.
Malafronte has been with MHT for 35 years, serving in seven different roles. In addition to deputy director, Malafronte has served as manager of airport operations and facilities, assistant director of air service development, marketing and public relations.
Ruais said Malafronte started as a maintenance specialist doing everything from "inspecting aircrafts to operating snowplows for the runways," working his way up to deputy director.
"He is a foundational guy who knows the airport from top to bottom," Ruais said. "That type of experience is hard to come by these days and is deeply valued. Tom is also a true aviation professional with broad knowledge of the industry. He has my full support as our new director.
"I am confident he is the right person to the lead MHT at this time.'
Kitchens guided the airport through the pandemic and helped draw new airlines to Manchester in recent years.
'I have accomplished the goals that I had when I arrived six years ago: the airport is financially stable; we have been able to attract new air service for the airport, as exemplified by the recent commitment made by JetBlue; and to build organizational resiliency that enabled us to not only survive the pandemic, but to come out of the period in a stronger situation,' Kitchens said in his resignation letter to city officials.
Kitchens was the highest-paid city employee, earning nearly $250,000 in Fiscal Year 2023. That same year Malafronte was paid $158,993.
Ruais praised what Kitchens accomplished for Manchester.
Kitchens 'has attracted five airlines, constructed a 64,000-square-foot cargo warehouse used by Amazon that created 300 full-time jobs for Manchester residents, tripled the amount of federal funding for capital development projects, diversified airport revenue streams, and restructured 70% of its long-term debt,' the mayor said in a statement.
'His tenure will be most remembered for bringing JetBlue to the airport, along with its $48 million investment,' Ruais said.
Kitchens said he plans to 'pursue new horizons and turn the airport over to new management to build upon the sound foundation that exists.'
'New leadership can bring a new vision and strategies that will continue the Airport on its current positive trajectory,' Kitchens wrote.
In May the Department of Business and Economic Affairs honored Kitchens with its Collaborator of the Year award at its annual tourism summit. The award, presented by Commissioner Taylor Caswell, recognizes strong commitment and exceptional support to the state in advancing tourism and economic development.
'Ted provides a great example of how vision turns into reality,' Caswell said. 'Beyond attracting five airlines to the airport, he successfully led Manchester-Boston Regional Airport through a pandemic and poised it for further growth.'
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Last month, ALBA Berlin departed from EuroLeague after 24 years to join FIBA's Basketball Champions League, with the club's managing director, Marco Baldi, pointedly voicing his belief that 'the European competitions under the FIBA umbrella will develop significantly in the coming years'. EuroLeague appears to be creaking, but it has also voted to expand from 18 to 20 teams for the 2025-26 season, with Valencia and Dubai expected to join. Advertisement A collaborative solution that unites the top level of European club basketball does not seem entirely inconceivable. In a remote meeting with international media this week, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum cited 'very productive' discussions between NBA, FIBA and EuroLeague representatives at a meeting in Geneva last month and added that all parties will continue to talk. There is no indication British basketball's bitter dispute will be resolved soon. The BBF and GBBL project total confidence in their path to this point and believe that FIBA is on their side. The SLB clubs are entrenched behind a cause they view as necessary and just, and have asked basketball's governing body for recognition as they prepare to operate outside the jurisdiction of the BBF. A prolonged stand-off could even undermine the recent progress British basketball has made at international level, which has seen both the men and women's senior teams qualifying for Eurobasket this year — not least because the licence issued by the BBF to GBBL does not cover the women's league. 'In this day and age it's terrible to overlook women's sport,' Vanessa Ellis, coach of Sheffield Hatters, said after her team's 83-73 victory over Oaklands Wolves in the SLB women's play-off final at the O2 Arena. 'We know we're not in their plans — so what's going to happen to us? Nobody is going to support a women's league on its own. We haven't got that profile.' A BBF statement on this point said: 'The women's league is operated under a separate licence, which runs through to 2028. The sustainability and development of the women's league is a key consideration for the BBF and something which we are discussing with Women's Basketball League Ltd — the company which holds the current licence.' Glickman added: 'The licence is only relating to the men's league, but we're quite interested also in the women's side and believe in it. I hope that it unifies at some point.' There is also the worrying precedent of Japan, which was banned from participating in FIBA competitions in 2014 for its failure to merge two rival professional leagues. The uncertainty in British basketball is going nowhere, and when the time comes for the NBA to try to wake the sleeping giant of European basketball, there is no telling what they will find.
