Chris Hayes is resigning as the manager of the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport after just 16 months to head up ammunition production for Howell Munitions and Technology.

The airport authority board of commissioners unanimously, if reluctantly, accepted Hayes’ resignation at a special meeting Wednesday night. Board Chairman William McCann Jr. appointed Vice Chairman Jim Finley and Treasurer Pat Nuxoll to head up the effort to replace Hayes.

McCann noted that the board has had a difficult time keeping someone in the position since Robin Turner retired in 2014 after 30 years managing the airport. Turner announced his retirement in 2013, but stayed on for more than a year after the board’s first search failed to find a replacement.

The board hired Bruce MacLachlan after a second search. But MacLachlan got his pink slip from the board after 15 months in the manager’s office for undisclosed reasons. After another search, the board decided to hire Hayes, a former board member and chairman.

“Unfortunately, we have a track record in this area, and the procedure to go through,” McCann said of the search process. “We’ve had more experience in this area than we care to.”

Hayes said he was not looking for another job, but couldn’t pass up the offer when Howell came knocking. He has a degree in production operations management from the University of Idaho and worked for Del Monte Foods, ATK (now Vista Outdoor) and Seekins Precision before managing the airport.

The instability with the airport administration comes at a time when it is facing increasing competition from the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, which is undergoing a $119 million expansion. Finley and Friends of the Airport member DeAnn Scrabeck attended the Pullman airport’s board meeting earlier this week and reported that it is angling for one of Lewiston’s current flights to Boise.

The airport also is in the process of designing an aircraft rescue and firefighting station to house a new state-of-the-art fire truck and some airport offices. That effort comes after an attempt to build a joint station with the city of Lewiston failed last year. City officials backed out of that project when their share of the cost ballooned to more than $4.8 million.

Airport officials will begin advertising for the manager position soon, McCann said. If everything goes as planned, he hopes the process will take no more than three or four months. The airport also is shorthanded on another front since operations manager Ty Harper is out for an undetermined amount of time on medical leave.

Board members said they also will advertise for that position in hopes of finding someone who can replace Harper on a temporary basis.