Tom Nolan stepping down as executive director of Palm Springs International Airport

Tom Nolan has resigned as executive director of the Palm Springs International Airport, a position he held for 13 years.

Nolan accepted a job as president and CEO of the Sanford Airport Authority in Orlando, Florida, according to Al Jones, Chairman of the Palm Springs International Airport Commission.

According to Jones, Palm Springs International Airport saw a lot of success and growth under Nolan's leadership, including a 1 million passenger growth pre-pandemic.

Nolan oversaw a lot of successful extensive capital improvements that resulted in expanding the airport's capacity and bring a higher class of service to the airport, Jones wrote. This includes a new concourse, a new concession program, several key airfield improvements, terminal remodel, new control tower, and currently underway, a major ticketing modernization and car rental major facility expansion.

The airport saw record-growth for the last three years in a row. This period also saw six new airlines add routes to Palm Springs; Air Canada, JetBlue, Sun Country, Frontier, Alaska Air (then known as Virgin America), and Contour Airlines.

"In all of my 45 years of administrative experience, I have never worked with anyone as accomplished, visionary, talented, honest, fair, and dedicated as Tom. He is not only the executive director, but I am proud to call Tom my friend," Jones said.

Palm Springs City Manager David Ready will appoint an interim executive director and, later, a permanent replacement. There is no word on when an announcement is expected.