Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Margaret E. McKeough announced Wednesday that she plans to depart after a 20-year tenure that has included management and oversight of Reagan National and Dulles International airports.

In addition to directing operations at the Washington, D.C., area’s two major airports, McKeough also is responsible for the Airports Authority’s Public Safety division, which includes the airport police, fire and emergency medical response functions—all of which total more than 1,300 employees. She also manages corporate relationships with the 38 airlines serving the two airports as well as the Airports Authority’s emergency preparedness functions. 

McKeough will remain at the Airports Authority through the end of January 2019 before joining Paslay Management Group of Fort Worth, Texas, a professional management firm specializing in advising and representing airport owners on large, complex capital development projects. 

“While I am excited by this new opportunity, I will always be grateful for the privilege of working with the talented and dedicated men and women of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority,” McKeough said. “I have been fortunate to have enjoyed the work and the people who have been with me, behind me and beside me through the years, which makes my decision to leave, even after two decades, very difficult. I will certainly miss working with this amazing team, and I wish each of them and the Airports Authority great success.”

Airports Authority President and CEO Jack Potter praised McKeough’s service and contributions to the airports’ growth and progress.

“Throughout my tenure at the Airports Authority, I have always depended on Margaret’s institutional and industry knowledge and her unwavering dedication to top-quality performance and service to our customers,” Potter said. “Her unique skills and experiences have been instrumental in moving our business forward. Margaret has been a valuable colleague, and I will always be grateful for her collaboration, integrity and leadership. We will miss her greatly, and we wish her all the best.”

McKeough came to the Airports Authority in 1998 from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. She served as the Airports Authority’s vice president for business administration before being named chief operating officer in 2004. 

In addition, she serves as the 2018 president of the Aero Club of Washington, one of the nation’s oldest and most active aviation industry groups, and on the board of directors of the Airport Cooperative Research Program, an organization sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration to develop solutions to issues facing the airport industry. She also has served on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which advises the Secretary of Commerce on matters relating to the travel and tourism industry in the United States. In addition, she was honored by Washingtonian Magazine in 2017 as one of the “Most Powerful Women in Washington.”

About the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority 

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority operates the U.S. Capital Region’s gateways to the nation and the world, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport, as well as the Dulles Airport Access Highway, the Dulles Toll Road and construction of the Silver Line project, a 23-mile extension of the Metrorail public transit system through northern Virginia. A record 46.6 million passengers passed through the two airports in 2017.