Wheeling airport has new chairman

The co-owners of Chicago Executive Airport have selected a new chairman for the embattled board.

E. Allan Englehardt, a Federal Aviation Administration pilot examiner and former pilot, has been appointed to the job by Wheeling interim President Judy Abruscato and Prospect Heights acting Mayor Pat Ludvigsen.

"I've been associated with the airport for 40 years," Englehardt said. "I'm looking forward to a cooperative arrangement with the two (towns) and the board."

Abruscato said Englehardt initially caught her eye when he spoke up at a meeting earlier this year about Runway 6/24, which airport officials wanted to close.

"He's very well-rounded," Ludvigsen said. "He's experienced with the FAA and aviation in general."

Englehardt is taking over for Kevin Dohm, the former chairman who resigned in September after others on the board questioned the work he had been doing with an airport consultant.

Board Vice Chairman L. James Wylie resigned soon after Dohm.

Wheeling and Prospect Heights each have three members on the airport board, and Abruscato and Ludvigsen must choose a new chairman together.

"There's going to be ups and downs in terms of politics at the airport," Englehardt said. "I look at the improvements at the airport and in the taxiways. These are incredible things that have been accomplished."

Englehardt, chosen from a pool of four candidates, said he applauds the airport for the improvements that have been made so far and wants to build on them.

"Personally, I'd like to see the airport provide opportunities just for the average person in the community," he said.

That includes a restaurant where the community can watch the planes.

Englehardt, who lives in Lake Bluff, worked as a pilot for United Airlines for 40 years. He said he started at Chicago Executive Airport, formerly known as Palwaukee, as a flight instructor.

He said he also spends a lot of his time at the airport in his current job for the FAA.