Shelbyville Airport hires new manager

The Shelbyville Municipal Airport will soon be getting a new manager.

Manager Jordan Bullard made the announcement that he will be returning to Columbus to work as the Fixed-Based Operator (FBO) manager during the Aviation Board meeting Friday morning.

The position came about after Aero Management Group (AMG), who supplies FBO services for the Shelbyville airports, began supplying services for Columbus. Bullard previously served as the airport manager for Columbus until he came to Shelbyville in June 2019.

AMG hired Krissy Dupree to replace Bullard. Dupree worked for AMG in Illinois as an undisclosed FBO Assistant Manager. Dupree will move here from Illinois Nov. 16 and will train under Bullard for the next six to 12 months.

Even though the plan is for Bullard to travel between Shelbyville and Columbus to train her for 6-12 months, he told the aviation board that he will not leave Shelbyville until Dupree and the board are comfortable with her training.

Dupree told the board she was “beyond grateful” for the opportunity.

In other aviation business, the runway construction has been completed. The board lightheartedly asked incoming pilots to snap photos of the redone runway on their approach, because “it will never look as good as it does now.”

Lastly, AMG is planning to temporarily supply one of its own planes to the Shelbyville Airport for the flight school. The Cessna 172 will be used until AMG can get a leaseback on a plane from another company.

The school is in search of local pilots to become flight instructors.

The next aviation board meeting is Dec. 4.