After 12 years of serving as the North Little Rock Airport manager, Clay Rogers is stepping down to pursue other ventures.
Barry Bray, an experienced pilot with an extensive aviation background, will take his place starting Friday.
“We have done a lot of great things over the airport. We’ve grown, we’ve improved our infrastructure,” Rogers said. “We’re finishing up building a brand new terminal and [a fixed-base operator] building. The airport is in as good a shape as it has ever been and I think it was just the kind of thing that I feel like I accomplished a lot of things out here and it was just time to move on and start something new.” Rogers will remain in the area and start Apptegy, an education software company developing apps and websites for area schools.
Of Bray, Rogers said he is motivated and has “good ideas and a good background.” Bray is originally from Camden in South Arkansas and has been a pilot since the 1980s, with most of his flight time in Texas. He also had a completion shop for small planes, jets and King Airs; he even worked on actors Patrick Swayze and Kurt Russell’s airplanes. It’s been “a lifelong passion.” “Getting back on the airport to me is very exciting,” Bray said. “I love the noise and I love the smell. North Little Rock is a great place to be. … It’s on the way to everywhere. This airport has so much potential and Clay has just done a wonderful job in growing the airport over the last 12 years.” Bray also praised the airport commission as “pilot-oriented” and said “Everybody’s got that same passion.” His job, as he sees it, is to market to new tenants to share the airport’s space.
“I think we’re located ideally, being under the airspace of Little Rock National. It offers easy access in and out for crews and pilots’ corporate jets.” Bray said the main thing the airport needs to share is what it does and the income and revenue it produces.
“The commission and Clay have been so aggressive and getting funding and making this airport what it is. We’ve just got to continue his legacy and he’s got quite a legacy.” The North Little Rock Airport is home to about 180 corporate and private aircraft and is prominently used by the business community, according to its website. Flight instruction, airplane rentals, scenic flights, aircraft sales, fuel, and maintenance facilities are available on the field. The airport is also home to the National Weather Service, Central Arkansas Water, Pulaski Technical College, and the North Little Rock Fire Training Facility. The airport has two fixed-based operators, 24 privately owned T-hangars/corporate hangars, and over 180 tie-downs.
The airport has two runways (5-23 and 17-35), which can accommodate 56,000 operations per year.