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» HAS Newsroom
Greater Houston Weekly
By PAM GIBBENS
January 26, 2006
People-watching at the airport is a favorite pastime among those who love to travel. Tourists dressed in their favorite Hawaiian shirt, families with tearful toddlers in tow, and laptop-carrying business men and women, scurrying to catch their flight, provide a colorful mosaic and interesting fodder for one's imagination. On any given day, a certain distinguished-looking gentleman with snow-white hair and probing blue eyes can be spotted walking briskly inside one of the busy terminals at the airport.
He might be a passenger on his way to a business meeting in Europe or there to pick up a loved one. Judging from the large ID badge draped around his neck, perhaps he is one of the many employees who work for the burgeoning Houston Airport System (HAS). But, the man is no ordinary traveler or tourist. His name is Rick Vacar, director of the City of Houston Department of Aviation and HAS, the fourth largest airport system in the United States.
The dynamic man at the helm of HAS holds a juris doctorate degree from Loyola Marymount University and a master's of business administration and bachelor's degree from California State University, Northridge. An Air Force veteran and a licensed pilot, Vacar was appointed to his position in 1998.
Prior to his appointment, he was the department's deputy director of aviation/chief operating officer. Before moving to Houston, Vacar served as the executive director of Florida's Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority for six years.
"I guess I've kind of been an aviation guy the whole time," Vacar says. "I read Arthur Haley's book 'Airport' a long time ago. As a teenager, I remember my mother took me to the airport for an airplane ride. I've been hooked ever since."
Vacar and his wife, Ann Marie, recently moved to their new 60-acre ranch in Cleveland, Texas, to have more room for their four horses, seven large dogs, nine cats and one feisty goat. An avid horseman, Vacar occasionally rides the range around Bush Intercontinental Airport. As part of the airport security program, volunteers on horseback patrol the perimeter of the airport on a regular basis.
"The airport ranger program has been successful. We now have 50 miles of trails. I have ridden on the trails but it takes a lot of effort to bring the horses out here. We have a quarter horse, a Paso Fino, a Peruvian Paso and a spotted cattle horse. As I drive down the long driveway to see them, they all have smiles on their faces," he quipped. A native of Salem, Ohio, Vacar served in the Air Force from 1967 to 1971.
"I did an enormous amount of flight training early on. I got an airline transport rating, the highest rating you can get, issued on my 23rd birthday, which is the youngest you can be to get it. I did a stint in Vietnam. After that, I started flying for a commuter airline and later as a corporate pilot for a lumber company."
Vacar explained that he sort of "stumbled" into airport management.
"I was trying to get a job with an airline but they were furloughing at the time. In 1973, I went to work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and did air traffic control for a time. In 1984, I managed Burbank Airport (California) as a contract operator. They hired me to be a noise specialist. I was quickly promoted to deputy director at Burbank."
The self-described "early bird" gets to his office on JFK Boulevard at the break of dawn. He drives around a bit before he begins his walk around the slick new terminal buildings that make up the small city known as Bush Intercontinental Airport.
"I walk around for a couple of reasons," said Vacar. "A: I want to know what's going on; and B: Sitting behind a desk all day is not my idea of having fun."
And, having fun is important to Vacar. When asked who influenced him most in life, he smiled broadly and said, "Woody Allen."
"I see a lot of things that are very funny. I can see a funny thing in almost everything, especially when you work in an airport!" Vacar's responsibilities are as vast as the expansive terminals he walks.
Managing a $400 million budget and 1,500 employees could be all consuming. But, Vacar's views on management are progressive and realistic.
"I'm a delegator," he said. "I like to find good people and let them do things they are responsible for. I learned a long time ago that working extremely long days isn't necessarily the best way to be productive. If you are around your management team too much, you tend to over manage them."
More than 48 million passengers traveled through the HAS in 2005 - four million more than in 2004. By 2025, the number will grow to an estimated 80 million travelers each year. Looking ahead, a 20-year HAS master plan was developed which includes expanding the infrastructure while continuing to promote global travel and worldwide business opportunities.
"I see an enormous amount of growth that will occur, particularly for Intercontinental," Vacar predicts. "The population is increasing, which means the origin of destination traffic is going to grow pretty dramatically. That means we'll have to have the infrastructure in place to meet those demands by 2025 or sooner.
"At the end of the day, it's really a business operation. What we need to do is posture ourselves for the growth that's occurring in aviation and make good, sound business decisions." Increasingly, Houston is becoming an international "gateway city," said Vacar. "Geographically, Houston is in a wonderful place for Latin America service," he said. "That will be the focus of airline growth. Given that we are a business city, with all of the oil and gas companies, we can get service out of here without having to go through other places."
The HAS Development Corporation is a separate entity that assists developing countries with airport management. According to Vacar, providing technical support and management training is a win-win for Houston.
"We have numerous groups from China training here in Houston. This is another revenue source for HAS that's not airline related. It also helps secure future service to Houston. It's got huge potential. We're the only U.S. operator engaging in this kind of stuff. "To me, this is the fun part of the job. It's taking our expertise places where they need help. In places like China and Africa, they don't have management expertise to keep up with all of the infrastructure they are building. In Quito, Ecuador, we're part of a team that's building a new airport right now."
Though he has no plans to retire, Vacar is thinking about his own future.
"At some point, I may do some consulting work probably with international airport development. Developing countries lack the expertise, so guys like me who have been around for a while can bring some value to what they are trying to do. I will retire one day. It depends on how things are going. The best way to measure that is whether I'm still here." As far as his legacy is concerned, Vacar says he hopes to be remembered as a "competent aviation guy who's done a lot of things and done them well." .
Copyright © 2006 - Greater Houston Weekly
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