David Katz must turn around
a multimillion-dollar business.

•

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to The Jewish News

Metro Airport's
new boss won't let
the problems keep
him down.

■

3/20
1998

124

hat more could possibly
go wrong for David M.
Katz? On the very day
in January that news of
his appointment as director of Wayne
County Airports was leaked to the
media, there was a security breach at
Detroit Metropolitan Airport and
7,000 people had to be moved out of
the airport and be rescreened.
In mid-February, Metro Airport,
the sixth busiest in North America in
terms of landings and takeoffs and
14th in terms of passengers, was
ranked as the worst airport in America
in a selective national survey. Metro,
and Katz, quickly became the butt of
jokes on the Mitch Albom, Dick Pur-
tan and David Newman radio talk
shows.
Then, one of WDIV-TV's

"Gotcha" investigative reporters was
able to sneak a fake pistol through a
Metro security checkpoint. The sta-
tion gave Metro a five-day prime-time
public flogging during sweeps week.
When some of Metro's parking lots
flooded during a big El Nino rain
storm, Katz finally was faced with
something he could look upon as a
minor problem.
When he took the job, Katz
thought "I'd just be worried about
why the roof was leaking, or finding a
way to widen Rogell Drive."
Is the worst over? The official party
honoring his new job is scheduled for
April Fool's Day. And all of this has •
occurred in an election year with
Katz's boss, Wayne County Executive
Edward H. McNamara, facing the
voters in November.
"This last month has been like hav-
ing lemon juice rubbed in your paper
cuts, said Katz.

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