What Redding Regional Airport's new manager has planned for his first year and beyond

Redding Regional Airport has hired a new leader.

Andrew Solsvig, the new airports manager for the City of Redding, started on the job on Sept. 16.

He supervises a staff of 12 and joins an airport in transition.

In August, low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines discontinued its service from Redding to Hollywood-Burbank, ending a three-plus-year run at Redding Regional Airport. Avelo's departure from Redding was one of several business changes Avelo made throughout the country.

And significant upgrades for the Redding airport's runway were postponed by a year, to late 2025, due to funding challenges, the city announced in May.

Still, there are hopes that United Airlines could one day add direct Redding-to-Denver flights.

Two air carriers now offer flights from Redding Regional Airport to three cities: Alaska Air Group flies direct to Seattle, while United Express flies direct to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The carriers logged about 88,000 air passenger departures out of Redding in 2023, according to the FAA .

Solsvig, 49, replaced the former manager of the Redding airport, Jim Wadleigh, was hired in mid-2019 and resigned in December 2023.

Who is Solsvig? Here are six things to know about him.

Where did Andrew Solsvig work as airport manager before Redding?

Canyonlands Regional Airport near Moab, Utah and Minot International Airport in Minot, North Dakota. "This is technically my seventh airport I've worked at and third being an airport manager."

What are his first priorities here?

"A focus in the next year or so will be a major runway project we have coming. Design is in the works. That's going to be a big project, very significant infrastructure, which will shut down the runway for approximately 30 to 45 days. But at least then we'll have a nice, new, working runway. Really the other task would be to look into economic development on or around the airport property. Typically, you want compatible uses around airports and that usually means commercial or industrial-type warehousing or businesses. If we get more business on airport grounds, that means more revenue toward the airport, which then helps the airport become financially self-sustainable."

What's the biggest challenge for Redding's airports?

"The challenge would be updating all of the infrastructure, over time, at both airports, both Benton and Redding. We plan to have town hall meetings with tenants of both airports in the near future so that we could talk about their concerns or operations, as well as what we have planned in the upcoming five years. And lease updates — we have outdated leases that the staff have been working on, but that's one of those things that keeps us very busy. We have a lot of tenants. That's a lot of contracts."

What drew the Minneapolis, Minnesota native to the North State?

"What really attracted me was the position. I wanted to be within a reasonable distance to Reno, Nevada because I have my mom there and I have very close friends there. I saw the position was posted and I talked to a friend in the industry and that person said, 'It's a great area. It's a good position.' It was a really good opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I really saw the value here and thought I could do a very good job and really lead this airport in a good direction."

Can he fly a plane?

"I wanted to be a pilot when I was in college, it was sort of my first career path idea. I received my private pilot license in 1998, when I was in school. I haven't flown since the year 2000, so it's been a long time. I do find the value in understanding a pilot's perspective when operating at an airport. In general, it's just kind of fun to fly. I would love to see the area from the sky when I have the opportunity. I would love to get back into flying. It's just a very expensive hobby."

Solsvig's spare time pursuits

"I like to get out and hike and camp, mountain biking, I enjoy a round of golf once in a while. I enjoy downhill skiing quite a bit. I like the fact there are two large reservoirs of water here. Coming from Minnesota, I was on the lakes quite a bit. I look forward to enjoying Lake Shasta."

Michele Chandler is Local Managing Editor at the Redding Record Searchlight /USA Today Network. She welcomes story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom's commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: What Redding Regional Airport's new manager has planned for his first year and beyond