Airport Operations general manager Jack Gordon will hand over the controls to an all Bermudian staff when he leaves the post this week.

Mr. Gordon came to Bermuda four and a half years ago from Canada to assist in the transfer of control of the Airport from the American Naval Base to the Bermuda Government.

He was attached to Vancouver Airport Services when they successfully bid for the management of the Bermuda facility.

He headed a three-man team who came to the Island to work with the Bases Transition Office in the handover.

And in a recent interview Mr. Gordon told The Royal Gazette that in all, 40 capital projects costing $23 million have been completed during his tenure.

In addition to this, Mr. Gordon noted that many Bermudians have been trained locally and overseas to fill the positions now available.

Mr. Gordon happily noted that after his departure, Airport Operations will be 100 percent Bermudianised and most of the rest of the departments at the Airport will also be almost completely staffed by Bermudians.

"The Airport should provide opportunities for Bermudians to get into the world of aviation -- which was not possible before with a military-style airport,'' he said.

When asked to describe the physical changes at the Airport from August, 1995 to the present, Mr. Gordon said: "It's hardly the same place. It has been totally altered in the way it looks and functions.'' And he said the operators of the Airport had the obligation to provide a hassle-free travelling experience for its passengers and that they had gone a long way to achieving this.

Mr. Gordon explained that the public was probably not aware of most of the improvements because they took place behind the scenes.

Some of the projects included the resurfacing of runways and taxiways and the installation of new lighting, a new power distribution system for the entire airfield and new navigation equipment.

Drainage from the airfield has been rehabilitated, the runways have been protected from storm damage by reinforcing the foreshore and more than 100 obstacles have been removed from the flightzone.

Also a new security fence has been installed, a courier terminal has been created, the processing of private aircraft has been relocated away from commercial operations, and an overhang has been built off the cargo terminal to protect perishable goods from inclement weather.

In addition, the parking lots have been realigned and long-term parking has been created. The US and international departure areas have been refurbished and now contain state-of-the-art "common use terminal'' computer equipment.

And the Customs and arrivals areas at the Civil Air Terminal have been enlarged, increasing the number of passengers who can be processed in one hour from 700 to more than 1,000.

New belts were installed in the luggage conveyors and new taxi and ground transportation pick-up areas have been built.

Another area where Mr. Gordon has been active is in making the Airport financially self-sufficient.

"We are about two thirds of the way there,'' he said.

He explained that all fees and charges had been revamped, negotiations with the carriers are ongoing and other initiatives to offset costs are underway.

"Fiscally, the Airport is in much better shape,'' Mr. Gordon added.

And on the administrative side, a new telephone system has been installed throughout the Airport, emergency procedure manuals have been written and policies and procedures have been established for airport operations.

When he departs Bermuda in the middle of August, Mr. Gordon will head to the Dominican Republic where he will be involved in the transfer of four airports from the government of that country to a private organisation.

He said he had found his time in Bermuda challenging but very enjoyable and wished to thank all those who helped him successfully transform the Airport.

"I was glad to be a part of putting a Bermudian group in charge of the Airport and I am confident that the Bermuda International Airport is in the hands of people who will serve Bermuda well,'' he said.