Houston airport executive lands job at Sea-Tac

The Port of Seattle on Tuesday named Lance Lyttle, a Houston airport executive with extensive experience in capital improvement projects, as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s new managing director.

Lyttle will inherit leadership at Sea-Tac from Mark Reis, who is retiring early next year.

As the airport’s chief executive, Lyttle will face challenges handling Sea-Tac’s rapid growth. The airport has been North America’s fastest-growing major airport in passenger volume for the last two years. The airport last year handled a record 37.5 million passengers. This year, it is expected to see more than 42 million customers.

In Houston, Lyttle is chief operating officer for that Texas city’s three airports: George Bush International Airport, Hobby Airport and Ellington Field. Together, those three airports handled 50 million passengers last year.

Lyttle has helped manage $3 billion in expansion projects in Houston, and before that $6 billion in upgrade efforts at the nation’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfeld International.

“Mr. Lyttle brings with him a breadth of experience and depth of knowledge of airport operations, having worked in both Atlanta and Houston, and is well acclimated to the rigors of major airline competition,” said Port of Seattle Chief Executive Officer Ted Fick. The Port of Seattle owns and operates Sea-Tac.

In the past two years, Sea-Tac has become a battleground of two airlines, SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines, and Atlanta’s Delta Air Lines. Alaska handles more than 50 percent of Sea-Tac traffic. Delta, which has rapidly expanded its repertoire of flights from Sea-Tac, is No. 2 at the airport. Delta is making Sea-Tac into its West Coast hub for overseas flights.

The rapid growth of Alaska and Delta at Sea-Tac have put a strain on facilities there. The airport is planning a major expansion of its international arrivals facility mainly for Delta and of its North Satellite Terminal for Alaska flights.

During his tenure, Reis oversaw creation of a third runway, the building of a rental car terminal and remodeling of the A Concourse and Central Terminal.

Lyttle is expected to take over the job Jan. 26. Reis is expected to stay on for several weeks to help him make the transition.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Houston airport executive lands job at Sea-Tac."