Gay SF Airport Director to Retire

San Francisco International Airport director John L. Martin recently announced his retirement from the post that he's held for 20 years.

"It's been an honor and a privilege to guide SFO through massive changes and unprecedented growth for the past two decades," Martin, a gay man who will retire next summer, said in a December 2 news release. "... The time has come for me to retire from the city and to move on to other interests. I am confidant SFO is in a strong position to continue as a leader in the aviation industry."

Mayor Ed Lee said Martin's leadership of the country's seventh busiest international airport "has left a legacy for residents and visitors for generations to come. SFO as our city's gateway to the world has been transformed under his direction, passion, and dedication to being the best."

Airport spokesman Doug Yakel declined requests to arrange an interview with Martin.

A search for the airport's next director "will be conducted in coming months," Yakel said in the news release.

Then-Mayor Frank Jordan appointed Martin as airport director in 1995. Martin, who previously served as the airport's business and finance director, has spent a total of 35 years at SFO.

In an emailed statement, Tom Horn, chairman of BAR Media Inc., which owns the Bay Area Reporter, said, "I have known John since we were both tapped to be part of the [Mayor Dianne] Feinstein administration. He is one of my favorite people. I believe that he has been one of San Francisco's best department heads. SFO is a huge operation, and he runs it like a clock. He is very Eastern (Zen) in his approach to everything, and he brings that serenity to the high-pressure job of director of one of the country's busiest airports. He will be very difficult to replace."

In the 1990s, Martin oversaw the completion of a $3.5 billion capital plan that included the building of the international terminal, a BART extension to the airport, and the Air Train people mover, among other projects.

His tenure also included the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which helped lead to a 26 percent decrease in airport traffic from 40 million passengers per year in 2000 to about 26 million several years later, "just as many of the new facilities were coming on line," Yakel said.

Martin said, "We responded by cutting costs, finding new sources of non-airline revenue, and increasing the number of international and low-cost carriers. It was a difficult period for SFO."

Since that period, the airport, which now sees almost 50 million passengers a year, has brought in 25 new international carriers, among other progress.

"Through it all," Martin said, "we maintained our commitment to providing excellent customer service and a 'sense of place' for our guests and to being an excellent steward of the environment."

SFO is now undergoing a $4.4 billion capital project that includes plans for a new Terminal 1 and a 350-room hotel. A new air traffic control tower has already been completed.

Under Martin's direction, the airport has also instituted "fair and living wages" for all its service and security personnel, starting in 1999, Yakel said. The current standard is $13.52 an hour.

One task that hasn't been completed yet is the naming of one of the airport's facilities after slain gay icon Harvey Milk.

Milk's election to a supervisor seat in November 1977 marked the first time an out LGBT person had won elected office in both San Francisco and California. Yet less than a year into his first term, Milk was killed inside City Hall the morning of November 27, 1978 along with then-Mayor George Moscone by disgruntled former supervisor Dan White.

Gay Supervisor David Campos in 2013 floated the idea of naming the entire airport after Milk but faced steep opposition and dropped the plan.

In a deal he struck with Campos, Lee agreed to form an advisory committee that would recommend which of the airport's four terminals should be named after Milk. The panel could also suggest names for the three other terminals, if it chose, as well as other airport facilities.

Whose name would be attached to the various airport terminals and other areas would ultimately be up to the supervisors and the mayor to decide.

While the supervisors had named their four picks to the nine-person airport naming advisory body by early 2014, Lee has yet to announce who his five picks will be.

Campos said Monday he and his staff have "repeatedly asked" the mayor's office whether the others have been named to the commission, and "to my knowledge they haven't."

Martin's age wasn't immediately available. His compensation is listed at $330,156.