Lydia Kennard will step down at the end of the month as the executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that runs the city’s regional airports including those in Van Nuys and Palmdale. Kennard will serve as a special adviser to the Board of Airport Commissioners to find a successor, on the master plan for Los Angeles International Airport and other issues. This was Kennard’s second go around as LAWA airport director. She served in that position previously from 1999 to 2003. She returned in 2005. In a statement, Kennard said she achieved all of the goals the agency set upon her return and it was a natural time to depart. Kennard will take on executive duties with a new aviation-related real estate company. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa praised Kennard for her leadership. “With her capable hand and clear-sighted vision, she piloted LA World Airports to new heights, keeping operations running safely and smoothly while bringing us closer to our ultimate destination creating a truly regional approach to air travel,” Villaraigosa said in a statement.
