Airport chief Dickten is a finalist for Florida job

VIENNA — Dan Dickten, the aviation director at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport since April 2010, is one of three finalists for the job as director of three airports in Okaloosa County, Fla., near Pensacola in the northwest part of the state.

Dickten on Saturday confirmed a report in the Northwest Florida Daily News that said he will interview late this month for the position, which involves operation of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, Destin Executive Airport and Bob Sikes Airport.

The two other candidates are Okaloosa’s interim airports director Tracy Stage, who served as the top assistant for previous airports director Sunil Harman; and Jeffrey Tripp, director of the Redmond Municipal Airport in Redmond, Oregon.

The finalists were culled from 66 applicants from across the country, the Daily News said. The county has been searching for a new airports director since October 2015. The position will pay between $80,000 and $145,000, the newspaper said.

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