Ethan Croop, A.A.E.
Age: 33
Program Manager, Maintenance
Lee County Port Authority
- Alma Mater: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Something people may not know about me is: I share a birthday with my son
- Favorite book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
- Favorite TV show: Law and Order
- Favorite movie: Big Lebowski
- Favorite hobby(s): Golf
When Ethan Croop was growing up, he always wanted to be in aviation. Even on career day in fifth grade, he dressed up as a pilot.
When he graduated high school, Croop enrolled in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s aeronautical science program with ambitions of being an air carrier pilot. It was August 2001 and just one month later, the entire industry changed significantly with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
After changing courses and enrolling in an airport management course, Croop learned about airport management as a career and changed his major to professional aeronautics.
“I really enjoy helping people,” he said. “My role within our department and organization here is a lot of that. It’s helping people identify more efficient procedures or an easier way to do things.
Croop designed and implemented tools that have enhanced efficiency within Lee County Port Authority (LCPA) departments at no cost to the organization by utilizing existing LCPA-owned applications and hardware. His non-movement area training solution delivers training content, comprehension tests and tracks training results for approximately 1,500 non-movement area drivers.
He played an integral role in the development of a resource management system for gate management to assist in the assignment, use and scheduling of common use gates at RSW terminal. The system allows for comprehensive planning and utilization of common use gates as well as the ability to schedule preventative and corrective maintenance outages for all jet bridges.
He has also developed a system application that tracks the status of fuel safety training required by FAR Part-139.
This system also tracks the training for all line service employees and their supervisors and sends automatic e-mail notifications when recurrent training is required.
Croop also assisted in the development of an airfield predictive maintenance program that allows for the planning and forecasting of airfield marking replacements as well as assisting with the creation of an airfield markings and lighting GIS database for the airfield technicians to access via iPad while in the field.
