Greaud keeps Memphis airport operating smoothly

Memphis Standout profile for The Memphis Daily News

Aug. 30, 2013

As Memphis International Airport expands and contracts depending on the time of day, the state of the airline industry and the financial climate, much of the responsibility of keeping the facility running smoothly falls to John Greaud.

The vice president of operations for the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority and his team of approximately 240 employees are charged with seeing that day-to-day functioning of the airport remains at a constant.

The MSCAA owns and operates three airports – Memphis International, General DeWitt Spain north of Downtown and Charles W. Baker in Millington – yet most of the focus of Greaud’s work and resources are on Memphis International.

FedEx, UPS, Wilson Air Center, Tennessee Air National Guard and Signature Flight Support all lease ground from the Airport Authority but are responsible for managing and maintaining their own facilities.

Three divisions fall under Greaud’s purview.

The maintenance division includes maintaining the structure and public spaces of the terminal, the landscaping, runways, taxiways and road systems, but not the detail maintenance of space leased by individual airlines and concessionaires. This division is also responsible for vehicle fleet maintenance for Memphis International, Baker and Spain.

The development division handles environmental, planning, design and construction of the facilities.

The third of Greaud’s divisions is operations, which covers the airport’s police department, communications center and ID office. It is responsible for emergency planning, certification through the Federal Aviation Administration and the coordination to ensure they meet those requirements daily, Transportation Security Administration coordination, and aircraft rescue and firefighting.

In addition to these three divisions, Greaud also oversees the customer service department and its 65 volunteers, and the Dorothy L. Bobbitt Health Station, which is contracted out to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center . . . (read more)