Magnificently Managing an Airport: Sarah Pagano’s Aviation Management and Operations Success

Posted by Tom Thinnes on

WMU Aviation Management Alumna Sarah Pagano wearing an Amelia Earhart scarf given to her by a mentor

Sarah Pagano kind of grew up near the airport that serves her home community of Midland, Mich., and today she is its "Top Gun" as manager. 
 
But she took a maverick-like path to get there -- an initial dive into a career in health care, a maneuver that made her a later-in-life nontraditional student, and a safe landing on her goal via an innovative knowledge-delivery system. 

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 Pagano was raised in Midland, located in what is called the "Tri-Cities" region of central Michigan.  Where is that?  Visualize the state's "Thumb" and Midland is roughly where the bottom of the thumb meets the bottom of the index -- or fore -- finger. 
 
With a population of 40,000-plus, Midland boasts of its own 500-acre aviation facility -- Jack Barstow Airport.  It is named after a local man who learned about aviation from Orville Wright and was something of a mentor to Charles Lindbergh.  Another reason for the naming honor was that the 29-year-old Barstow was killed in a 1935 plane crash near Corpus Christi, Texas. 
 
Barstow Airport entered into Pagano’s life in a major way when, because of her youthful interest in space and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), she took part in a summer aviation camp for high schoolers organized by the chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) based at the airport. "My mom enrolled me in it," Pagano recalls.  "At the end of the camp, we were invited to come to one of the chapter's Young Eagles Day and get a free flight.  I fell in love with it, and aviation."  In effect, the program didn't trap a young eagle that day, but it did attach a tracking device. 
 
Apparently at the start, it was more of a crush on aviation than love at first sight for Pagano -- because, after her 2005 graduation from Midland High School, she trained for a career in health care and for the next decade worked in a variety of occupations, including being a phlebotomist and pharmacy technician. For a time, she was a crew member for hot-air-balloon liftoffs, but something was still missing in her aspirations.  In order to find that void, she had to take a nontraditional approach: online -- or virtual -- learning. 
 
But where?  Her search took Pagano to the Western Michigan University College of Aviation (COA) based at the Battle Creek Executive Airport at Kellogg Field.  "It offered the program I wanted in aviation management and operations -- virtually.  Because of Western's excellent reputation in the world of aviation, I knew no matter where I went, my degree would be recognized as a quality education." 
 

The terminal building at Jack Barstow Airport, KIKW

While she never graced the COA's base in Battle Creek nor WMU's main campus in Kalamazoo, Pagano gained a sense of the environment even though she was 150-plus miles away and connected via computer.  "I loved the course in corporate aviation -- taught by Kyle Jehnzen -- because I enjoyed looking at specific companies and their missions, and how and why they chose the best aircraft for their enterprises.  (Instructor) Gail Rouscher also stands out because of how well she took complex topics -- such as systems and power plants -- and made them understandable." 
 
Also in line for kudos was Sharon Van Dyken, the college's director of academic advising.  "Since I was in the first group to do aviation management and operations online," Pagano says, "she was instrumental in my journey.  She helped me find equivalents to classes that weren't yet available online.  Sharon was just an all-around huge support." 
 
On the way to her degree awarded in 2021, she almost immediately began to apply course knowledge to practicality.  In 2017, she joined the Barstow team as an airport-terminal attendant -- doing the basic stuff such as answering phones, reporting winds on the radio, fueling aircraft, and offering assistance to pilots when she could.  Then came the advancements -- assistant airport manager when the person in the position retired in November of 2020 and the manager's post itself on July 1, 2021. 
 
"Since then," Pagano says, "I've learned a lot, such as exactly how much paperwork is necessary for the operation of an airport.  I've mowed grass and cleared snow myself.  I've had to deal with tree clearings at the ends of the runways, the reclassification of a runway, preparing a new ALP (airport layout plan), and updating the rules and regulations of the airport.  Being at a small general-aviation airport, I am very hands-on.  I get to talk to pilots and see all kinds of aircraft up close." 
 
These kinds of duties and others represent the challenges Pagano routinely faces.  She calls it "getting up to speed so that I can quickly address situations.  I had to learn to use a very large, complicated tractor to handle snow removal.  I was informed that trees were impeding the glideslope of the runway when the FAA called to tell me it was altering our instrument approach because of them.  I had a very tight deadline to remove the trees or risk losing the approach.  Our crosswind runway lost its classification and thus lost federal funding for it.  All of these required research on my part to learn more about the situations so they could be addressed."  Her College of Aviation courses gave her an awareness -- a leg up -- to face such challenges. 
 
Pagano seeks to advance aviation as a career choice by reflecting on her journey.  She is now the president of Barstow's EAA chapter and directs the summer camp that sowed a seed in her as a Midland teen.  When the chapter's Young Eagles initiative brings youths 8 to 17 in age to Barstow for their free adventure in the clouds, Pagano is there to share their first-of-its-kind experience. 
 
"I always encourage them to take a look at WMU for their education and training," she says.  "I am the primary contact for any youth organization that wants to visit the airport.  That has led to countless 'aviation days' for school, scout and church groups.  We have staged three 'Flight Nights' for third-grade classes at the airport.  More than 100 kids visited aviation learning stations that correlated with the science topics from their classrooms."  Barstow in the fall of 2021 hosted a College and Career Day and the Western program was one of the attractions. 

Pagano, husband Chris, and son Ryan on the Jack Barstow Airport mini runway located at the Aviation Discovery Area. Ryan is wearing a custom knit aviator hat and bomber jacket, crafted by Pagano

Any visit to the Midland airport might be a career spark, she believes, which is why she has been sampling the spectrum of activities for how to do that with such promotions as "Food Truck Fridays," "Airport Story Hour," "Props & Treats" for Halloween, and "Santa Fly-In" for Christmas. 
 
When she is off-duty, aviation also permeates her life that includes a spouse and a 6-year-old son.  "My husband is a student pilot," Pagano says, "and my son loves aviation.  Being able to share my love of aviation with my family means the world to me." 
 
Again reflecting on her path, Pagano says: "I am a nontraditional student.  I enrolled at WMU in my 30s, took classes year around and finished my degree in three years.  I am not a pilot, nor do I plan to be.  While I love flying with others, I more enjoy bringing people to aviation, and being on the ground making sure that they can continue flying.  My goal is to encourage and support a love of aviation -- and maybe someday move on to a carrier (passenger-airline) airport.  Right now, my greatest joy is when I see someone following his/her dream in aviation.  I love helping that person fulfil that dream." 
 
Pagano knows a thing or two about dreams, stemming from her connection with the EAA chapter that started when she was 16.  "I continued to be an active member even when I was working in health care.  One day, when I was telling the summer campers to always chase their dreams, I realized that I wasn't taking my own advice." 
 
She finally did.