Angela Gittens says she doesn’t know why former Atlanta airport general manager Miguel Southwell was abruptly ousted just over a week ago.
But she knows Southwell, and she has done the job.
Gittens ran Hartsfield-Jackson International from 1993 to 1998 before being let go by then-Mayor Bill Campbell. She said “there’s all kinds of issues that can come up that don’t really have anything to do with actual management of the airport — because it’s part of the city politics and the city bureaucracy.”
Gittens now leads the industry group Airports Council International. Speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she emphasized that she couldn’t comment directly on the Southwell situation.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, at a press conference after Southwell was terminated, declined to give specific reasons. But he voiced frustration about long security wait times that have plagued the airport lately, along with issues of cleanliness of restrooms and floors.
“We will have a sharper focus on the customer service experience,” Reed said. He added: “I want my team to be aligned and moving in the same direction.”
Southwell stepped into the job after the retirement of previous airport manager Louis Miller, who retired in January 2014 after three years in the post. Miller, also reached recently, also declined to comment on Southwell but added he had a good experience in the job.
“Mayor Reed was responsive to my requests and supportive of my efforts,” Miller said.
While long lines have dominated airport news lately, Southwell had been managing the launch of Hartsfield-Jackson’s $6 billion expansion, including huge construction contracts and other deals. The airport had also just finished negotiating a new lease with Delta Air Lines.
Reed in a written statement last week said: “My role as the City’s chief executive is to ensure that every department performs to the highest standards. I will opt for performance over popularity every time.”
Gittens said she is familiar with the challenges of the airport post, though it’s been nearly two decades since she held it.
“You have the mayor who makes the decisions. So you know, it all depends on the relationship between that one person and this person,” she said. “The big issue, of course, is contracts.”
With hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts that go through the airport for construction and concessions, “money and politics have a very strong relationship,” Gittens said.
“The airport could be successful from a financial point of view, from a customer service point of view, from a safety and security point of view, from the terms of its economic benefit to the community, and still there may be turnover [in management] because you have these other issues at play,” Gittens said.
Reed has emphasized that he has not had ethical issues with the airport.
“I have multiple reasons, which are my own,” for Southwell’s termination, Reed said.
Gittens has been a mentor to Southwell, who worked for her at Hartsfield-Jackson and later moved to a job at Miami International Airport, which Gittens also ran for a time. Southwell returned to Hartsfield-Jackson as a deputy manager, then was promoted to interim general manager and then the permanent GM position in 2014.
Gittens said Southwell “has very high standards of integrity, a very strong work ethic.”
“He’s soft-spoken and quiet, which sometimes betrays how tough-minded he is. He’s very diplomatic,” Gittens said. “He’s so talented, I would hope that he stays in the industry and continues to contribute to the industry. He’s very well-regarded … a real leader in the industry.”
Southwell has not commented on his dismissal.
Gittens’ contract was not renewed by Campbell after she refused orders in 1998 to sign a contract with developer C.R. “Ronnie” Thornton, whose company supplied dirt for the airport’s fifth runway, according to her testimony during Campbell’s trial in 2006. Campbell went to federal prison for two years for tax evasion.
Gittens had a reputation as an independent manager willing to stand up to the mayor. Then-Delta Air Lines CEO Leo Mullin said he liked and respected her despite “some history of difficulty” with Gittens, according to articles in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A New York Times story at the time said Campbell “had grown frustrated with Ms. Gittens’s unyielding style and her refusal to take direction from City Hall. They said she had alienated important political leaders, airport concessionaires, and officials of leading airlines,” including Delta.
Gittens also resigned under pressure from Miami International Airport, after criticizing the influence of lobbyists and challenging hub carrier American Airlines and contractors, according to news reports.
MORE:
About the Author
