the Port Authority Airports
of wonderful personal experiences
2021 AIRPORT VOICE WOMAN OF ACHIEVEMENT 27
swapped and no one picked it up!
My first position was on the ramp
where baggage destination tags were
identified by color so as not to confuse
the ramp folks.
The world of flying was beginning
to pick up as we moved Quonset huts in
mid‑60s to the JFK 2000 redevelopment
to the now planned A New JFK redevelopment.
In a redevelopment mode the
airport then allocated separate check
in for the foreign flag carriers as the US
domestic carriers began building Unit
Terminal buildings.EAL was the first
terminal followed by Pan Am, American,
Unite and Delta to name a few.
Before computers we had manual
seat charts located at the check in counters.
Passenger seats were distributed
with stickers that would be affixed to
the passenger boarding pass.That was
fun until you ran out of stickers and still
had passengers with no seats available.
Of course I could go on and on. I was
fortunate to see the world through my
work at JFK. Back when I was GM but
my career gave me the opportunity to
visit the other countries with assignments
in Bermuda, Miami, Europe, and
the Caribbean.
My Pan Am experience was a big
help when I joined the PA as a consultant
managing EAL and Pan Am buildings
after their bankruptcies.I also enjoyed
assignments with the he Port in
maintenance, operations and security
before running the JFK airport as GM.
Francis A. Di
Mola, Executive
DirectorTerminal 4
Airlines Consortium
(TFAC)
The Port Authority has been a substantially
positive influence on my entire
life. In the mid‑1950’s my father was
a Port Authority police officer retiring
37 years later as a police sergeant. I recall
always being surrounded by the
aura of the Port Authority, whether it
was the annual Christmas party or simply
spending time with my father while
he worked. The Port Authority provided
well for my family.
The Port Authority valued the employment
of family members. Today
some may cynically call it “nepotism”
but the Port Authority correctly understood
that employing family members
of career employees — was a very good
bet in terms of inspiring commitment,
dedication and honoring the family legacy.
Fresh from my military obligations
I followed by fathers’ footprints and
proudly became a Port Authority police
officer. The Port Authority strongly encouraged
its employees to cross-train
into different career paths and so during
my 35-year career I worked in various
operations, administrative and mobility
assignments retiring as Director
of Real Estate for the agency. Similar to
my parents, my wife and I raised our 3
children under the familiar umbrella of
the Port Authority.
Aside from making a decent living,
the greatest value of the Port Authority
to me was and continues to be the
lifelong friends that we make along the
way. The February 26, 1993 and September
11, 2021 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center, Pentagon and on
our airlines brought us much closer
than ever before and we lost so many
friends and colleagues. It was in the immediate
aftermath of the September 11
attack that the Port Authority leadership
prioritized the care and comfort of
its employees — especially the families
of those who were lost.
I for one will always remember the
Port Authority of NY & NJ with tremendous
fondness and respect.
Sharon DeVivo, President
Vaughn College
Vaughn College and The Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey
have been neighbors at LaGuardia Airport
since 1941 when the institution
moved from New Jersey. The story goes
that Fiorello LaGuardia was building
the airport and wanted a training institution
to serve the needs of the airlines.
Eighty years later, as this world-class
airport has grown so too has Vaughn
now offering master’s, bachelor’s, associate
and certificate programs in all
aspects of aviation, engineering, technology
and management. Key to this
relationship has always been the incredible
people who work for The Port
including past employees — William De-
Cota, Susan Baer, Morris Sloane, Patty
Clark, Ralph Tragale, Lysa Scully and
Al Graser — as well as current staff including
Rick Cotton, Huntley Lawrence,
Hersh Parekh, Anthony Vero, John
Vicinanza, Shanel Thomas-Henry, and
Larry Gallegos, just to name a few. The
Port has also been active participants
in developing and sustaining the institution’s
airport management curriculum
at both the bachelor’s and master’s
level as well providing critical support
with internships, scholarships and employment.
So many Vaughn graduates
have gone on to be Port Authority employees
building and strengthening this
important relationship. No matter who
I have reached out to over the years, The
Port Authority has always been eager to
serve Vaughn students who come overwhelming
from New York City’s five boroughs
and who want to contribute to the
vibrancy of this borough. Congratulations
to all of the staff at The Port Authority
on your incredible milestone
of providing service, investment and
commitment to the people of New York
City and for your steadfast support of
the next generation of contributors to
Queens and the metropolitan region.
Shea Oakley, The
Commercial Aviation
History Consultancy
I do not remember it, but my first
flight ever was out of Kennedy International
Airport in June of 1968 and it was
there my long passion for commercial
flight began. It was a short flight to Bermuda
on British Airway’s predecessor,
BOAC, and my dad received a children’s
logbook for me. I was four months old
on that first trip out of a Port Authority
Airport and was soon old enough to give
the book to the flight attendant and often
get invited up to the cockpit. So began
my nearly life-long passion for airlines,
airliners and airports.
Growing up in Northern New Jersey
our family used all three major airports
in the region, EWR, JFK and LGA.
I have so many wonderful memories of
flying through of each of them, especially
out of the architecturally unique
buildings that made up what was once
known as “Terminal City” at Kennedy.
Little did I know as a starry-eyed child
that I would find myself working at that
very same airport as a teenager during
the 1980’s. The story of how, at 16, I got to
become a sort of “human mascot” of the
Port Authority JFK Operations Unit is a
story too long to be told here, but it eventually
led to a paid official internship
at Newark in 1989 and a job offer a year
later, upon my graduation from college
with an aviation management degree.
While my stint with the Port at LaGuardia
turned out to be a short one due to
a major change in life priorities, I have
never forgotten the six years I was privileged
to work for the PANYNJ, as both a
volunteer and later as an employee.
Many years later, in 2006, I became
Executive Director of the Aviation Hall
of Fame and Museum of New Jersey at
yet another world-class Port Authority
airport, Teterboro. In my 11 years in
that position the PANYNJ was a true
friend to the only aviation museum in
Northern NJ, and my respect for this
great organization continued.
I left that job three years ago to go
into aviation history media consulting,
but today I’m proud to add my
small contribution celebrating the
Centenary of the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey. Thank you
for a hundred years of service to this
region, and over fifty years of being a
blessing in my life.
Former Queens ASDO Program Manager Dolores Hofman at a JFK Rotary Golf event. She
broke the sex gap by being the first fenale warehouse fork life operator at JFK. Dolores has
been the cheerleader for all good things Port, stakeholdes and organizations.