Glacier Park International Airport Director Cindi Martin will retire Aug. 31, the Flathead Municipal Airport Authority announced Wednesday.

The airport authority board has appointed Robert Ratkowski as interim airport director. He has served as deputy airport director since 2007.

During Martin’s 10 years at the helm of Glacier Park International, she developed and managed an aggressive, nine-year $34 million airport capital improvement program.

“Cindi Martin has been a very strong leader and one who has managed the authority and Glacier Park International Airport through challenging times and changes in the industry,” authority board chairman Dennis Beams said in a prepared statement. “A great deal was accomplished during Cindi’s tenure at GPIA.”

The expansive capital improvement program included the rehabilitation of the primary and crosswind runways and taxiways, the air carrier and general aviation ramps, a terminal remodel with security checkpoint enhancements and airport access and road improvements.

When Martin began as director of Glacier Park International, the airport had three carriers with shared service to three hub cities. The airport now has direct service on four carriers to five year-round hub cities and five seasonal hub cities. Airport passenger numbers are at a record high.

Martin is wrapping up a nearly 30-year career in operations and administration of commercial service and general aviation airports.

She was the director of the Casper, Wyoming, airport before moving to Kalispell in 2006.

Martin holds a degree in professional aeronautics and airport management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.

During a 2011 Daily Inter Lake interview regarding the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Martin recalled the aftermath when she was the director of a new airport in the Washington, D.C., area that was three months away from opening when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred.

Martin recalled seeing thick black smoke rising from the Pentagon attack, and remembers the “eerie quiet” when air traffic was halted for a time immediately following the attacks.

She continued as director of Stafford Regional Airport, south of Washington, D.C., until 2003 when she moved to the West.

Martin said during the 2011 interview that as an airport director she has dealt with the aftermath of Sept. 11 every day since the attacks. The Transportation Security Administration was created in the wake of 9/11 to bolster security and within a year took over responsibility for security at the nation’s airports.

Airport security has been a continual work in progress, she said.

Martin said it’s now time to transfer leadership of Glacier Park International to the next generation.

“It’s my privilege to serve the authority and to work alongside the professional and dedicated staff who work tirelessly to operate a safe and compliant airport each and every day,” she said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.