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The process of hiring a director for the Great Falls International Airport has begun, yet the reasons for seeking out a new director remain unclear.

The airport board approved a contract with a Florida consulting agency on Thursday, agreeing to pay at least $29,000 to search for a new airport director.

Cynthia Schultz has held the position for 12 years and shows no interest in leaving the job.

But the majority of the board says the contract needs to be reworked, and they've determined the best way to do that is by posting the job and going through the hiring process.

Schultz said, "Frankly, I feel it's unnecessary. The issues that have been presented as reasons for going down this path are not justified in my mind."

Board member Ed Buttrey stated, "I'm as confused as every taxpayer should be as to why you take an employee and employees that are performing so well and you tell them they're no longer needed and replace them with someone that you really don't know how they're going to perform. It doesn't make sense to me."

Buttrey also noted, "The current director's offered to let the board rewrite her contract and do an independent pay evaluation which would be done at no cost. So it's confusing to me why we sign a contract saying we're going to look for a new director, but when we talk about it and give our feelings, we state that we're not."

Schultz stated, "There are plenty of opportunities to assess salaries and negotiate differences in maybe contract language that some members may be in disagreement with. But nobody was given an opportunity to even discuss that prior to all of this beginning to occur."

Schultz's contract ends in June. She tells us she hasn't decided whether or not she'll reapply for the position.

Board members we spoke to would not comment on what contract changes were needed, but Buttrey says he believes other members of the board would like more control over airport operations.

(October 27, 2009) It's hard not to notice the changes at Great Falls International Airport, from a new runway to a new airline in recent years. But behind the daily operations and recent successes, there appears to be a growing dispute about the management of the airport.

An Airport Board oversees the airport and the person responsible for day-to-day operations, airport director Cynthia Schultz, and tensions between the two appeared to have boiled over on Tuesday.

The board told the airport director that her employment would end in June of 2010, voting 6-1 to terminate her contract by June 30.

Many board members told KRTV that a search process will begin, including an independent salary survey. Officially, the board says the incumbent director can apply and be considered.

But Schultz, who has been with the airport since 1998, said that it is an unusual move.

She says that since coming on board, the airport has gone from the lowest federally-funded in the state to highest in the region in 2009, with about $40-million dollars being brought in. She added that the airport is performing at its peak.

Another board member told KRTV that he worries that by essentially posting Schultz's job, it could set the airport up for possibly losing one of its high-performing employees. He says the boards' job should be to retain and reward those employees.

Other board members said that this is just the beginning of the process and don't consider this an insult against the airport director.