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Susan M. Baer August 9, 2016 Obituary
Memorial Service
Hugh M. Moriarty Funeral Home
Obituary of Susan Baer Director - Aviation Department - The Port Authority of NY & NJ
Susan M. Baer is
responsible for the safe and efficient operation of one
of the world’s busiest airport systems—John F. Kennedy
International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia,
Teterboro and Stewart International airports. She
oversees a staff of more than 930 Port Authority
employees, more than
3,500 contract staff, a $2.3 billion operating budget
and a $500 million capital budget. About 100 air
carriers operate at the agency’s airports, which served
109.4 million passengers and handled more than two
million tons of cargo in 2012. The Port Authority’s
airport system supports more than 450,000 jobs paying
more than $23 billion in annual wages and generating
more than $63 billion in annual economic activity.
Ms. Baer is a 37-year veteran of
the Port Authority. She began her career with the
bi-state agency as a management analyst. In 1985, she
was promoted from manager of the Public Services
Division of the Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals
Department to manager of the Lincoln Tunnel—the first
woman to hold that job. The following year, she became
manager of the midtown Manhattan Port Authority Bus
Terminal, the world’s busiest—the first woman promoted
to that position as well. In 1988, she moved from buses
to planes, joining the Aviation Department as General
Manager of Aviation Customer and Marketing Services.
Ms. Baer is the first person in
agency history to manage all of the major Port Authority
airports. She was appointed General Manager of LaGuardia
Airport in 1994, General Manager of New Jersey Airports
(Newark and Teterboro) in June 1998, and General Manager
of Kennedy Airport in 2007. She was named Deputy
Director/Chief Operating Officer of the Aviation
Department in 2008 and became Director of Aviation on
September 25, 2009.
Ms. Baer is active in the
communities surrounding the airports, serving on the
Board of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and the Newark
Museum. In addition, she was one of only three airport
representatives among the 19 members of the Future of
Aviation Advisory Committee created by U.S.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and she is a member
of the NextGen Advisory Committee—one of just two
airport operators on this advisory panel to the Federal
Aviation Administration. She has been honored by the New
Jersey AFL-CIO; the Newark International Airport Airline
Managers Association; the Newark Regional Business
Partnership; Barnard College; the YWCA of New York; the
Boy Scouts, and the Aviation Institute, among others.
Ms. Baer holds a bachelor’s degree
in urban studies and anthropology from Barnard College
and a master’s degree in business administration from
New York University. She resides in Upper Montclair, New
Jersey, with her husband and three children.
Note from Webmaster: Susan
passed away yesterday and as no information is available
yet, I thought it would be appropriate that I post her
Bio and a message from the PA until I get the Obituary information. May she
rest in peace.
A Message
from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Susan M. Baer, who shattered
longstanding gender barriers at the Port
Authority of New York and New
Jersey by becoming the agency’s first female aviation
director after becoming the only person to manage all
three major NYC metropolitan area airports, died on
Tuesday, August 9, 2016. She was 65.
Ms. Baer, a natural leader
who was persuasive without ever being overbearing and
firm without ever making others feel threatened, was
compassionate to her core. Her illustrious
transportation career that spanned four decades began at
the Panama Canal with a non-governmental
agency, where she worked until the United States turned
the facility over to the Panamanians.
After returning to the United
States, Ms. Baer started her 37-year
tenure with the Port Authority in 1976, managing the
Port Authority Bus Terminal and the Lincoln Tunnel
before moving to the agency’s Aviation Department, where
she would leave her greatest mark on the agency and the
region, holding every top job in the nation’s largest
aviation system. She was the first female appointed as
general manager to
-
in succession
-
LaGuardia, Newark Liberty
International and John F. Kennedy International
airports, before being named Aviation Director in 2009.
Succeeding at a time when the Port Authority was a male-dominated
agency, Ms. Baer understood the importance of being a
role model and mentored other women who would eventually
follow in her leadership roles at the airports.
“The first is fine, but I
don’t want to be the only,” Ms. Baer told USA Today in a
2013 interview about her career and role as the agency’s
first woman aviation director. “What I’ve tried to do
with it is give other women opportunities and that’s
something all women should be doing. It was hard for us
to get here but we ought to be making it easier for the
people who are coming behind us.”
Patrick J. Foye, Executive Director of the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey said, “Sue Baer's
career was one of many firsts; first woman to run many
of our major transportation facilities and first female
Director of Aviation. She left a legacy of
professionalism, integrity and leadership at the Port
Authority. Her colleagues responded to her service with
fierce loyalty. Sue was a great public servant.”
Airport modernization
efforts, including overseeing the revamping of old and
building of new terminals at Newark Liberty and Kennedy
airports, was one of Ms. Baer’s priorities. She had a
ready response for those who asked her when all the work
would finally be done.
“I tell them: I hope never,
because that means we’ve stopped working and we’re not
really meeting the needs of the future,” Ms. Baer also
told USA Today. “You’ve always got to be doing
something.” |
