NORTH LITTLE ROCK — 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, took his place and started 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.”
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.
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.