Airport Authority assumes greater control at Fargo's Hector International

Image by: Facebook/Hector International Airport
Image by: Facebook/Hector International Airport

(Fargo, ND) -- Airport employees at Fargo's Hector International are no longer considered city employees.  That's the result of a new memorandum of understanding singed at city hall Monday. 

"It establishes the relationship between the city and the airport authority.  The airport authority's expertise is running the airport.  The city has lots of other things that it has to be [concerned with], property disputes and managing all the city services and so forth. We're the experts at running the airport," said Airport Authority Board Chairman Erik Lund.

The new agreement, two years in the making, will allow the Airport Authority to take over full operational responsibility for the airport, reducing the direct involvement of the city in day to day operations.  Previously, the Airport Authority asserted airport employees were not city employees.  The agreement essentially confirms that position while also resolving other issues. 

The agreement also allows the airport to now outsource such services as HR, accounting, and IT to local providers.  Those services were previously handled by city staff.