Airport_Business_November_2020 - 19

UNDER

WINNERS BY STATE

1

1

1
7

2
1

1

2
1

4

2 1
1 1 2 1
Average Age:
1 1

34.8

Youngest winner:

3

28

5

Blake Astran, J.D.

Hometown: Rockville, MD
Alma Mater: University of
Florida
Fun fact about yourself: I
was on the University of Florida
basketball practice squad.
Someone I look up to in
the industry: Doug Kuelpman,
boss and President/CEO of ADK.
My favorite thing about
aviation is: Connectivity, the
ability for people to go from one
place to the next.

Blake Astran started his career as an attorney, but when a
friend showed him a job posting for an executive search firm,
Astran found himself on a career path he hadn't even known
existed before.
" I didn't even know the executive recruiting industry existed, "
Astran said. " I was taught the industry from scratch. "
The firm Astran joined worked heavily with transit agencies
and port authorities, notably the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey, and it was decided that Astran would
attend the AAAE conference that year to expand his network.
And as chance would have it, ADK Consulting and Executive
Search - Astran's current firm - was sponsoring at the event.
Astran reached out to introduce himself and found they had
an opening.
" It was a match made in Heaven, " he said.
Astran joined ADK in 2018 and is now the firm's vice president
of business operations. Utilizing his superb networking
skills, Astran has inspired some of the best transit leaders to
transition to the aviation industry, bringing fresh ideas and
concepts to the organizations where these executives have
been placed.
" I think of myself as a connector. I love finding executives for
airports and having that affect change through other people.
I love that I am changing someone's world in the sense that if
an airport hires our firm to put in their new general manager
or CEO, I'm calling people who are looking for jobs or finding
someone out of the blue who may not be looking, but it's a
position they haven't thought about and it would be great;

hopefully I am giving them a better position, " said Astran.
Holding a firm belief that the right candidate can make a
great difference to an organization, the local community and
the industry as a whole, Astran has partnered with leading
aviation organizations nationwide to help them find the very
best executives to join and enhance their teams.

" I love what I do and I think that I
am very fortunate to be able to say that. "
With the future in mind as more airports earn their spaceport
certification, Astran is preparing for the future by evaluating
requirements and characteristics of the future leaders who
will move that industry ahead. He is utilizing his close ties
with local governments and multimodal transit agencies and
port authorities to plan for new roles evolving from aerospace
operations.
" I think that could be the future - commercial space travel, "
Astran said. " As that becomes more common place, I think
that will be the future, having these airports set up to service
both domestic travel, in the sense of staying in the world,
but also be able to fly over the horizon and be able to see the
world from a much different perspective. "

www.AviationPros.com/21150356

NOVEMBER 2020 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 19
http://www.AviationPros.com/21150356 http://www.AVIATIONPROS.COM
Airport_Business_November_2020

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