Bill E. Boston III This is Me

 View all 18 references Web References

1. 1. KOMU.com - SoBoCo Fire District Wants to Expand

   www.komu.com/html/htmlFall2002 - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/18/2003   Last Visited: 1/18/2003

   Columbia Regional's manager, Bill Boston, says it's eager to work with the Southern Boone County Fire District on this project. "What we gain, and we gain it for the city of Columbia, as well as for out tennants out here, would be a greatly reduced response time for structural fires in the area. And so rather than have a response from a great deal away, it would come from right here on the airport."
   
   Zimny said that the new fire stations could lower insurance. You can't get something for nothing, however.

2. 2. Airport chief’s pending retirement ‘a big loss’

   www.columbiatribune.com/2005/M - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/10/2005   Last Visited: 3/10/2005

   When Columbia Regional Airport Manager Bill Boston took the job more than six years ago, he said he wasn't ready to retire yet, even after a 27½-year Air Force career and six years as executive director of Missouri's Board of Accountancy.
   
   Boston
   
   Now he is. Boston, 62, announced yesterday to the Airport Advisory Board that he will retire later this year, probably in October. 'I'm getting older, and I want to do some of those retirement things I told my wife we were going to do 13 years ago when I retired from the Air Force,' he said.
   
   He plans to spend more time with his family, play golf and travel.
   
   The former combat fighter pilot saw smooth flying and plenty of turbulence during his career with the airport. He had to navigate the airport through some challenging times, including chronic declines in passenger traffic, the rise and fall of Ozark Air Lines, and the fallout from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
   
   The city's Public Works Department oversees airport operations, and Director Lowell Patterson said a search to find a replacement for Boston will begin in a few months.
   ...
   Boston earns $64,139 a year.
   
   B.J. Hunter, who is chairman of the Airport Advisory Board, called Boston's retirement 'a big loss.'
   ...
   Boston heads a city operation with 16 full-time employees and a $3 million budget. About a third of the budget is for construction projects, which are 95 percent reimbursed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Last year, the airport generated $583,835 in operating revenue from landing fees and other charges for use of the facility and had an operating loss of $706,833 before depreciation.
   
   Boston noted, however, that a recent state study calculated the airport generates more than $101.6 million each year in local economic activity.
   
   Looking back over his tenure, Boston said he feels good about the capital improvements, nearby land acquisitions and clean FAA inspections.
   
   The biggest challenge at the airport, Boston said, is to increase commercial passenger traffic, which has been in a downward spiral since 1994. The number of passenger arrivals and departures last year was 35,388, compared with about 82,000 in 1994.
   
   Boston is at a loss to explain why more people don't fly out of Columbia to catch connecting flights in St. Louis. 'The most important and the hardest thing to do is to convince the public that it's in their self-interest to fly out of here,' he said. 'If we're ever going to get more air service, it'll be because we're using the service we have now to the maximum.'

3. 3. Manager’s retirement takes flight - Columbia Missourian

   www.digmo.com/news/story.php?I - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/14/2005   Last Visited: 10/19/2005

   Bill Boston is moving on from the Columbia Regional Airport.
   ...
   Columbia Regional Airport manager Bill Boston is looking forward to using some of his American Airlines frequent flier miles instead of encouraging others to use theirs.
   
   Today is Boston's last day on the job. He has held the position for seven years.
   
   "It was my time," Boston said. "I'm retirement age. If I didn't retire soon, I might be too old to enjoy my retirement."
   
   City officials this past weekend interviewed four possible successors to Boston.
   ...
   Nevertheless, Glascock praised Boston as an effective manager.
   ...
   Boston said the airport's problems go deeper than declining passenger numbers. Several industry-leading airlines have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy but also taken government support and continued to operate. This continues to give airlines the upper hand in making demands from local governments.
   
   Boston said that most airlines want a guaranteed amount of money, sometimes as much as $1 million, from the community to begin service in an area. So, even if passenger numbers increase, getting more airlines and more destinations means giving up a large sum of money - either from the city or local business donations.
   
   "It's an industry problem that's very badly broken and needs fixing," Boston said. "Until it gets fixed, we'll still have a hard time in Columbia."
   
   Boston, a native of Jacksonville, Ill., came to Columbia as part of his last assignment with the U.S. Air Force, serving as the unit commander of the MU Air Force ROTC. He worked with ROTC until 1992, when he retired from the Air Force. He then worked six years for the Missouri State Board of Accountancy.
   
   In 1998, Boston replied to an ad seeking a new manager at the Columbia airport and was hired Oct. 1, 1998. He said he had a particular interest in the airport because of his Air Force background and because he had served as a volunteer coordinator for the annual Memorial Day air show.
   
   The airport was a quieter operation in 1998, Boston said. It offered 19-seat flights by Trans World Airlines, and Boston was given the responsibility of attracting more air service. Soon after Boston's hiring, Ozark Air Lines went public, and Boston helped the airline establish itself at Columbia Regional, only to see it sold after operating for just more than a year. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks added to the misfortune and put a damper on air travel. Columbia Regional eventually reduced its flight numbers to two daily round-trip flights to St. Louis.
   
   While things have improved - American Airlines now provides four flights to St. Louis each day - passenger numbers still haven't recovered.
   
   Although Boston will retain some responsibilities during the transition to a new manager, he will hand off most of the daily operations.
   
   "I'll obviously watch with great interest what happens here," he said.
   
   In his newly acquired free time, Boston said he plans to travel, golf, go to the gym and continue being active in various community organizations.
   
   "I'm going to be as short of time in my retirement," Boston said. "I'm not going to sit around bored."
   
   City Transportation Manager Ken Koopmans will serve as interim airport director until the city appoints Boston's successor.