Spokane Airport Board selects Lincoln, NE airport director as new CEO

The Spokane Airport Board on Monday voted to select a new CEO to oversee Spokane International Airport and Felts Field.

The board selected David Haring, who had been serving as the executive director of the Lincoln Airport Authority in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Haring would replace Larry Krauter, who served as the CEO of Spokane Airports since 2011. Krauter announced last year that he was leaving for the same role overseeing the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, located across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in Hebron, Kentucky.

According to a news release, Haring is a 20-year veteran of the airport industry.

In his biography for the Lincoln Airport Authority, Haring is a private pilot who is from Pennsylvania and is an accredited airport executive. He graduated from the University of North Dakota.

Prior to his appointment in 2014 as executive director of the Lincoln Airport Authority, Haring held a variety of positions at the Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There he served as its director of aviation from 2007 to 2014, according to the website.

In Spokane, the airport is jointly owned by the city of Spokane and Spokane County. That means Haring’s appointment must be approved by elected leaders from both bodies.

He would replace Krauter, who added several nonstop routes from Spokane, started several terminal upgrades, added more parking and built a 1-mile rail line connecting the existing Geiger Spur line to the airport property.

The Terminal Renovation and Expansion Project – called TREX – added a centralized security checkpoint, expanded baggage claim area and more gates to improve passenger flow at the airport.

Haring did not immediately respond Monday to an email seeking comment.