- December 13, 2025
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As a visit to Sarasota after becoming the new president and CEO of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport came to an end, Paul Hoback and his wife, Amy, were at the gate awaiting a return flight to Pittsburgh. That's when an epiphany offered confirmation of their career move choice.
“I’m a big fan of yacht rock,” said Hoback, ironically, the genre often heard from the airport’s audio system.
That’s when the song Almost Paradise from the movie Footloose broadcast over the terminal’s speakers.
“Almost” is descriptive of Hoback’s philosophical approach to his profession. No endeavor is ever complete. There is always room for improvement. And after an entire life and career spent in the Pittsburgh area, moving to the Sun Coast is surely paradise.
“I'll never say we're perfect because I think we’ve got to continue to fight, continue to elevate and continue to think differently, do differently and act differently to continuously improve,” Hoback said. “That’s why it’s almost paradise, because that's exactly the way I think.”
As for the area served by the airport, “This place is truly paradise,” he said.
Hoback’s first official day at SRQ came on Oct. 19, four months after being named as the successor to Rick Piccolo, the chief executive of the airport for the past three decades.
So far, Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority Board of Directors Chairman Jesse Biter said Hoback has validated the board’s choice.
“He is a thinker, and that's what I love about him. He’s not afraid to do things,” Biter said. “He's jumped in and has already gotten right to work doing what he said he would do. He's still drinking from the fire hose, but I'm impressed.”
A 25-year veteran of the aviation industry, Hoback had spent his entire career at Pittsburgh International Airport, most recently overseeing the completion of a $1.7 billion overhaul of its passenger terminal and other capital improvements. It’s that experience that attracted the attention of the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority as the airport's governing body considers a future expansion of its parking and rental car facilities.
Conversely, SRQ matched Hoback’s desire to manage an airport in growth mode. And why not, at the same time, include a chance to move to paradise?
“I pinch myself every day that I actually get to do this as a job,” Hoback said. “I’m in the field that I love. Aviation runs through my blood. It's in my DNA. It has been that way since I watched that movie Top Gun in the 1980s.
“Every day is challenging and exciting. You're out there fighting to try to make a better experience for our passengers, and for me as a leader trying to make a better experience for our team members because they're ultimately the ones out there dealing with our customers on the front lines.”
As he sits in a chair in the spacious office occupied by Piccolo for 30 years, boxes remain to be unpacked, furniture still to be assembled and mementoes of his career to be displayed. Customizing his workspace ranks in lower priority to absorbing all the knowledge he could from Piccolo over the two-week transition, learning the staff, studying all facets of the airport’s operations and assessing the remaining challenges presented by four years of unprecedented growth.
“There's a saying in our industry that if you've seen one airport, you've seen one airport, because every airport and every team is very different,” Hoback said. “I'm still learning the team, learning the airport and learning this community, but the first three weeks couldn't have been better.”
All welcomed him with open arms, he said, especially his predecessor, who worked several months longer than planned while awaiting Hoback’s arrival. He walks to the desk formerly occupied by Piccolo and removes a letter from the top drawer, the words on the paper remaining only between the two.
“I opened this desk drawer on day one and Rick left me a letter,” Hoback said. “I’m an emotional person and that just that hit home and it meant a lot. This position is not about individuals. It’s not about us. This position is about the position and how important it is to this airport, to this team, to this community, and I have a responsibility to take what Rick has done and continue to elevate it.”
Before the opportunity at SRQ arose, Hoback was one of two finalists for the top job at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Recognizing he had hit the ceiling at PIT his boss, Christina Cassotis, permitted executive placement firm Korn Ferry to include him in their recruitment. The proviso, though, was that he not accept a new position until the project at PIT was complete. Previously, Hoback said, her staff was off limits to the firm.
The five-month process at CVG ended in disappointment.
“There was one point where my wife and I stayed there for the weekend while I was in the final interview process,” Hoback said. “They were getting ready to go through a billion-dollar project as well. It's a Midwest airport, it's similar to the size of Pittsburgh.
"There was one moment when we were driving away, the interview was over, and my wife and I were both teary-eyed because I knew I got the job.”
Three weeks later, he learned he did not.
“I didn't know it at the time, but God has a greater plan for all of us. There’s a reason He didn't allow me to get that job, and it was because this one was coming down the line.”
Korn Ferry presented other jobs to Hoback in the following months, but none were suitable. He didn’t want to lead just any airport. He desired the ideal location and the right governance — such as an airport authority — because running a city- or county-operated airport, he said, stifles creativity. The governance of an airport authority, similar to the Allegheny County Airport Authority over PIT, was a requirement.
Then came word of Piccolo’s impending retirement at SRQ, for which Korn Ferry was retained by SMAA for the search.
The rest is serendipity.
His grandmother had lived in Zephyrhills, close friends live in Wesley Chapel, family members have lived in St. Petersburg, they have often vacationed in the area and the Pittsburgh Pirates hold spring training in Bradenton, drawing many fellow Pittsburghers as seasonal and even full-time residents.
“I didn't know much about SRQ at the time, but as soon as I started looking into this airport and I saw where they've been, where they're heading, the growth that they've had and that of this entire region, who they're looking for as a servant leader — they were really describing Rick,” Hoback said. “I thought, ‘They're looking for me.’ It was just a slap in the face that said, ‘Paul, this is meant to be. This is why things didn't work out at CVG. This is your moment.’”
Hoback’s moment now includes two primary challenges to the passenger experience. To nobody’s fault, he is quick to state, SRQ has grown faster over the last half-decade than its capacity to keep up. Passenger count has more than doubled since 2020, anticipating more than 4.5 million this year. With the opening of the new Concourse A in January, there are plenty of gates for now, and with the recent enhancements to Concourse B, there are now adequate options there for food and beverage.
Now it’s time to turn attention to outside the passenger terminal.
“We've got a parking problem here, and we've got a rental car problem,” Hoback said. “There are times during peak travel that our rental car partners turn away potential customers, and that's an issue. Our rental car partners do not have enough space here and we don't have enough parking on site during peak travel times.”
The solution to both is in a parking master plan to replace the short-term and rental car parking with a parking structure that includes rental car operations. To address a shortage in carousels, the master plan also calls for moving baggage claim to the first level of the parking deck.
“The team has done a brilliant job ensuring that our facilities are growing, but you can only focus on one thing, and the ground boarding facility in the new Allegiant concourse was the focus at that time," Hoback said. "Next up is baggage claim, parking and a rental car center.”
SRQ is, after all, a gateway to paradise.
