Gary Vogue, right, then-new Director of Public Safety at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, is congratulated by board solicitor Don Fredrickson earlier this year. Vogue, who maintained his position with the Pennsylvania State Police, has resigned from the airport.
Times Leader file photo
PITTSTON TWP. — The Bi-County Airport Board on Thursday quietly accepted the resignation of recently appointed safety director Gary Vogue and brought back his predecessor on an interim basis.
George Bieber, of Moosic, who retired in January following a lengthy career at the airport, was named Interim Acting Public Safety Director effective immediately.
The board unanimously accepted Vogue’s resignation.
The Pennsylvania State Police have opened an internal investigation into the status of Vogue, a PSP captain who was hired in February as the director of public safety at the airport, but aren’t saying why. Vogue never resigned his state police position, despite telling the airport he would.
Vogue gave notice on July 14 that he was leaving the airport position, said Carl Beardsley, the airport’s executive director.
Vogue was hired on Feb. 11. He began working at the airport on April, at a salary of $70,000. His state police salary is $146,883.
Earlier this week, Trooper Brent Miller, director at the communications office of the Pennsylvania State Police Department Headquarters in Harrisburg, confirmed there is an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Vogue’s status with the airport and whether there was any conflict with his work with the state police.
Miller did confirm that Vogue, the director of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Tactical Operations Division in the Bureau of Emergency & Special Operations, submitted for supplemental employment in March for the director of public safety for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
“Capt. Vogue’s supplemental employment was approved later in March with the provision that it would not interfere with his PSP related duties,” Miller said. “No PSP personnel ordered him to quit the airport job.”
On Thursday, Trooper Miller said, “At last check the internal investigation is still ongoing. We cannot comment any further at this time due to the ongoing internal investigation.”
Carl Beardsley, the airport’s executive director, said Vogue had resigned from the airport position and was remaining in position with Pennsylvania State Police. It was not known if Vogue had worked the same hours for both employers during his time with the airport.
Tim McGinley, chairman of Luzerne County Council and a member of the Bi-County Airport Board, said after Thursday’s meeting that it was clear to him that Vogue was to retire from his state police job.
“From my information, (Vogue) had indicated he was retiring from the state police and looking to continue on with his career and felt the airport would be a good place for him,” McGinley said. “And I’ve been told that the airport administration was pleased with his performance while he was employed there.”
McGinley said he was “shocked” when told Vogue had resigned.
“Like I said, it was clear he would retire from the state police,” McGinley said. “Looking back, hindsight is 20/20, we should have had that resignation. You just assume he would have.”
When he was appointed to the airport post in February, Vogue, 56, of Pittston Township, said he worked for the state police for 28 years.
“I just felt this was a great opportunity,” Vogue said after the February meeting. “I feel my past experience has prepared me for the position.”
Vogue’s appointment was unanimously approved by the Airport Board and he began working at the airport on April 3.
Director’s report
Beardsley reported that air travel at the airport remains down significantly, noting that 2019 was a record-breaking year for the airport.
Beardsley again attributed the dismal number to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
He also said that some airlines are restricting the number of passengers on flights.
Beardsley reported that passenger enplanements for the month of June 2020 decreased 78.2% to 5,721, down from 26,212 in the month of June 2019.
In June 2020, Beardsley said 393 departing flights were cancelled; all for the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this accounts for 22,906 (73.3%) out of a total 31,231 departure seats.
Also, Beardsley said 393 arriving flights were cancelled: all for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other business
The board authorized advertising a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and Experience from Firms or Groups interested in performing engineering/design, bid, and construction phase service for the General Aviation hangar and office space project.
The board also approved the solicitation of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for a marketing and communications consultant and for a qualified certified public accounting firms to perform the annual audit of financial statements of AVP for fiscal years Dec. 31, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2023.
The board approved the hiring of Thomas Swinick, 617 Shirley Lane, Dunmore, and Kirk Harrity, 500 Throop St., Dunmore, to the positions of custodian, effective Aug. 10.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
