Norwood Airport Memorial Airport

Norwood, MA - OWD
BSU Aviation was fortunate to have the opportunity this spring to send an Aviation Management Intern to the Norwood Memorial Airport. Russ Maguire, the Airport Manager, has been showing student Ryan Ollis 12' everything there is to know about being an Airport Manager. Internships are the best way for our students to gain first hand experience within the aviation industry and make valuable contacts for future employment. Here is what Ryan had to say about the experience..

My experience at Norwood Airport was excellent.  Right from the first day I felt welcomed by Russ and Mark.  My first few days threw me right into several major blizzards.  I enjoyed this experience though because it taught me a lot about snow removal at small airports.  At Logan or bigger budget airports there are teams that only snowplow and are only focused on clearing the airport to resume operations.  However at the small airports like Norwood contractors and management staff clear the airport. 

It was during my first few days that I also learned one of the major lessons during my internship, which is that at small airports the management staff does everything.  They have to clear snow off of the runway one day, and the next they are accountants who make a budget for the airport.  Russ taught me a lot about multitasking and keeping track of everything.   

The best part of my internship by far was learning about project management.  In class project management was briefly discussed and it was assumed that we would not be very involved in the project management process.  At Norwood I learned that as an airport manager I would be heavily involved.  Between meetings with engineers, meetings with the town, grant applications, and communicating with contractors, project management requires a lot of effort from the airport manager.  I enjoyed the meetings regarding the airport's summer project to rebuild a main taxiway at the airport. 

Overall I feel that my internship at Norwood airport was an excellent learning experience.  I feel that the lessons I have learned during it will help me greatly in my professional future where I hope to be managing an airport someday.

Last Modified: May 2, 2011