Transportation: JOHN E. ‘JACK’ POTTER

More than two years after the pandemic stalled air travel at Virginia’s two largest airports, passengers have surged back. Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports reported a 117.9% increase in domestic and international passengers in April, compared with April 2021. Concessions, too, are back to nearly 100% at both airports.

Potter has led the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages and operates the two airports, since 2011. The authority also has overseen management and construction of Metro’s 23-mile Silver Line extension to Dulles, which was initially scheduled to open in 2018. The $5.8 billion project, which was handed over to Metro in summer 2022, is expected to conclude later this year.

Potter has overseen a $1 billion capital improvement program to add a 14-gate concourse at Reagan, which opened in April, and a pair of security checkpoints expected to open later this year. In April, the MWAA proposed a similar, $500 million to $800 million, 14-gate concourse expansion for Dulles.

A Bronx native, Potter has a degree in economics from Fordham University and was a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.