- July 9, 2025
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Beginning this fall, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport will be under new leadership.
On Tuesday, the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Board of Directors announced the unanimous selection of Paul Hoback Jr. as the incoming president and CEO, succeeding Rick Piccolo who will retire this year.
Tentatively scheduled to begin at SRQ on Oct. 19, Hoback is currently executive vice president and chief development officer of the Allegheny County Airport Authority (ACAA), operator of Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). He has served in various leadership roles in aviation for 25 years.
“Leading Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is an incredible opportunity and I’m so excited to follow Rick’s amazing tenure and continue the legacy he has built over three decades,” Hoback said in a news release. “Thank you to Rick, the board and the community. I am truly honored to have been selected and I look forward to serving the region as we continue to grow SRQ together.”
In his role with ACAA, Hoback provides leadership, oversight and strategic direction for all capital development projects in addition to operations and maintenance. Most recently, he has guided PIT’s $1.7 billion new terminal program that is credited for generating $2.5 billion in economic impact for western Pennsylvania.
In his current role, he oversees several departments within ACAA where he has advanced a variety of regional initiatives including the Neighborhood 91 additive manufacturing campus, a world-leading airport energy micro grid and the expansion of airport cargo facilities.
Hoback also serves on several community and charitable boards in Pittsburgh, as well as aviation and construction industry committees. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Geneva College in Pennsylvania.
“The board, with the assistance of the professional search firm Korn Ferry, did an extensive search and review of potential candidates and Mr. Hoback was a unanimous choice,” Biter said in the release.
Piccolo will officially retire as president and CEO on Nov. 30 and will continue in an advisory capacity to the Airport Authority until June 30, 2026. He was to step down originally in June and fully retire at the end of 2025.
When he took over as president and CEO three decades ago, SRQ was $115 million in debt and losing passengers in part because of its proximity to Tampa International Airport to the north and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers to the south.
The airport faced waves of controversy, Piccolo told the Observer in November 2024, as the eight-member board of directors — elected by voters — four from Sarasota County and four from Manatee County, each serving four-year terms with half of them up for election every two years. Those electees stirred constant issues for the airport director.
“The Sarasota airport had a terrible reputation in our industry, and the reason for that at the time was the board was one of only two boards in the country directly elected by the populace,” Piccolo said at the time. “Every two years the airport director was spending time fending off criticism from its own board, regardless of performance.”
That changed in 1995 when voter approval of a public referendum in both Sarasota and Manatee counties changed the composition of the Airport Authority Board of Directors from elected representatives to governor appointees.
Most recently Piccolo has overseen rapid growth of the airport in passenger count, facilities and an aviation industry ecosystem surrounding the airfield. Since the pandemic, SRQ has become the fastest-growing airport in the world, leaping from 1.3 million passengers in 2018 to more than 4 million per year currently.
To help accommodate that growth, SRQ opened its new Concourse A in January 2025, all five gates leased by Allegiant.
Piccolo has also led the diversification of the airport’s revenue sources with the addition of multiple aviation industry companies and organizations, most recently announcing plans by Swiss business jet manufacturer Pilatus to build a plant and offices on the east side of the airfield.
The ecosystem includes fixed-base operators including Sheltair, which is currently building a new facility near the Pilatus site, as well as education facilities such as the Manatee Technical College airframe and powerplant program, and the Team Success charter school for grades 6-12.
“We are very pleased that (Hoback) has accepted the challenge and we look forward to him and his family relocating to our community,” said Biter in the news release. “We are extremely grateful to Rick Piccolo for his three decades of service to the airport, the community and industry, and his impact on SRQ cannot be overemphasized. We wish him a long and enjoyable retirement.”
