PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton has hired Dan Bandel as the new manager of the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport. Before accepting this position, Bandel was air traffic control tower manager at the airport.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Dan to the Pendleton team,” Pendleton Economic Development Director Steve Chrisman said. “Dan is an outstanding leader with a proven ability to build and lead high performing teams that drive new and innovative ideas and leadership strategies. Developing new relationships that engage customers and developers through an exceptional user experience requires a unique combination of talents, and we’ve truly found these in Dan.”

Bandel starts Feb. 15. He most recently served as air traffic manager at Pendleton, overseeing safety, technology and local federal contract tower operations, covering all lines of business. Among these were general aviation, unmanned aerial systems, commercial air carrier operations and military flight activities.

“I am incredibly excited to continue working with the passionate and dynamic team at Pendleton airport,” Bandel said. “We stand alone at the intersection of mixing UAS technology with traditional manned aircraft. The scale of Pendleton’s UAS Range and our reputation of excellence in research, development, testing and evaluation are true differentiators. I have been inspired by conversations with Darryl Abling, Wayne Green and other members of the airport leadership team. I am eager to work collaboratively in my new capacity to help drive our next phases of growth and help enable future generations of aviation innovators.”

Chrisman has been working as the interim airport manager and is to remain airport director. He said Bandel has been here for several years.

“His existing knowledge of our airport and Pendleton makes him an excellent addition to our team,” he said. “We’re very excited to get him on board.”

Bandel joined Pendleton airport management after dedicating 17 years of his career to Serco North America, which delivers air traffic control for regional airports.

He previously served as terminal instrument procedures specialist at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and at U.S. Air Force Europe Headquarters, Ramstein Germany. There he led the development of standard arrival and departure routes and minimum vectoring areas. He also oversaw the data and development of numerous upgrades to civilian and military facilities, which directly enhanced flight safety.

His career encompassed more than three-and-a-half decades of experience across military air traffic management, visual flight rules control tower supervision in the continental U.S. and Alaska, instrument flight rules and radar facility management both domestically and abroad. Bandel is known as an aviation educator, public speaker and safety stakeholder.

Bandel is to lead airport safety, support and engineering teams. At Pendleton, the city has tasked him with facilitating the general aviation, unmanned aerial systems and military support and engineering teams and to work to advance the airport’s position as a leader in identifying best practices for building a sustainable model well into the mid-century and beyond. The airport manager salary is $78,288–$98,640 depending on experiences plus benefits, according to the city’s postings for open positions.

The city fired the last airport manager, John Honemann, in June and has yet to provide a reason.