Ricky Smith Sr. has been appointed CEO of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI), replacing Paul Wiedefeld.
Smith, the director of Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE) since 2006, also will serve as the executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, overseeing BWI Martin State Airport and public-use airports across the state.
“Ricky has the experience, leadership skills and know-how to take BWI Marshall to the next level,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who announced the appointment Friday. “BWI Marshall is a major job generator and economic engine for Maryland, and I’m confident that Ricky will continue to grow domestic and international travel at our world-class airport. I want to thank Paul for his many years of leadership and service to the citizens of Maryland.”
The Baltimore Sun reported that Wiedefeld was fired and quoted Wiedefeld as saying, “You do your best, and sometimes governors and [transportation] secretaries want to make a change.”
Prior to his tenure at CLE, Smith was the COO at BWI, and he has nearly two decades of experience at the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration and the Maryland Aviation Administration.
Smith leaves CLE at a time when the airport is struggling to maintain service levels following United Airlines abandoning its hub there in 2014.
BWI served 22.31 million passengers in 2014, down slightly from the previous year; however, international passenger traffic has grown steadily in recent years. This year alone, four new international airlines have announced service or started flying out of BWI, including Norwegian Air Shuttle, Wow Air, Sunwing Airlines and Swift Air.
To help accommodate continued international growth and enhanced service for passengers, construction work on the airport’s D/E Connector program is underway. This multi-phase project will create a new security checkpoint to serve domestic and international travelers, construct a new secure connector between Concourses D and E, and configure airline gates to support additional international flights. BWI also just issued a request for proposals to establish a convenient, full-service hotel that will offer direct access to the airport terminal.
