Cd’A Airport has new interim director

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene Airport has a new interim director this week.

Kootenai County commissioners voted July 6 to appoint Gaston Patterson to the interim position, effective Sunday.

Patterson worked for Kootenai County from April 2017 to January 2017 and returned to the county in July 2022, working as the airport operations supervisor/duty manager.

Meanwhile, previous interim director Phil Cummings will step back into a part-time position at the airport. Commissioners appointed Cummings to the interim role in February, following the departure of former airport director Steven Kjergaard.

Cummings retired in 2020 after 29 years of employment with the Coeur d’Alene Airport. He began working at the airport as a mechanic in 1991 and was named deputy director in 2000. He also served as interim director in 2014.

The county’s search for a permanent airport director continues. No timeline for the search has been set.