City appoints Dan Bandel as Airport Manager
The City of Pendleton and Pendleton Regional Airport have appointed Dan Bandel as Airport Manager, effective February 15, 2023. Bandel succeeds current acting manager Steve Chrisman, who will continue as Airport Director.
Dan Bandel joins the Pendleton team from Serco North America
Dan's career includes more than three and a half decades of experience across military air traffic management, VFR (visual flight rules) control tower supervision in the continental United States and Alaska, instrument flight rules (IFR) radar facility management, both domestically and abroad. He is known as an aviation educator, public speaker and safety stakeholder.
Dan joins the Pendleton Airport Management team after dedicating 17 years of his career to Serco North America, where he served most recently as Air Traffic Manager (ATM) at Pendleton. As ATM, Dan oversees safety, technology and the local Federal Contract Tower operations, which covers all lines of business, including General Aviation, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commercial Air Carrier operations and military aviation activities.
Dan also served as Terminal Instrument Procedures Specialist at Nellis AFB, Nev., and at USAFE Headquarters, Ramstein, Germany, where he led the development of standard arrival and departure routes, minimum vectoring areas and oversaw the data and development of numerous upgrades to civilian and military facilities which directly enhanced flight safety.
Dan Bandel will lead airport safety, support, and engineering teams
At the Pendleton Regional Airport, Dan will be tasked with facilitating the general aviation, UAS and military support and engineering teams. He will be working to advance the airport’s position as a leader in identifying ‘best practices’ for building a sustainable airport model well into the midcentury and beyond.
Steve Chrisman commented: “I’m thrilled to welcome Dan to the Pendleton team. Dan is an outstanding leader with a proven ability to build and lead high performing teams that drive new and innovative ideas and leadership strategies. Developing new relationships that engage customers and developers through an exceptional user experience requires a unique combination of talents, and we’ve truly found these in Dan.”
Dan Bandel said: “I am incredibly excited to continue working with the passionate and dynamic team at Pendleton Airport. We stand alone at the intersection of mixing UAS technology with traditional manned aircraft. The scale of Pendleton’s UAS Range and our reputation of excellence in research, development, testing, and evaluation are true differentiators. I have been inspired by conversations with Darryl Abling, Wayne Green, and other members of the airport leadership team. I am eager to work collaboratively in my new capacity to help drive our next phases of growth and help enable future generations of aviation innovators.”
