Mojave Air and Space Port CEO Stu Witt (Credit: Bill Deaver)

“2014 will be a fun ride. We welcome you to get onboard, strap in and hold on!”

Stu Witt
CEO & General Manager
Mojave Air and Space Port
Jan. 9, 2014

Stu Witt had a lot of reasons to be optimistic as 2014 began. The Mojave spaceport was on a roll. On Jan. 10, Scaled Composites conducted the third powered flight of SpaceShipTwo in less than 9 months. XCOR was making steady progress on the Lynx and a new hydrogen engine for ULA, Stratolaunch was busy building the world’s largest aircraft, and other tenants such as Masten and Firestar had successes over the past year.

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Mojave Air and Space Port CEO Stu Witt (Credit: Bill Deaver)

Mojave Air and Space Port CEO/General Manager Stu Witt is postponing his retirement by six months.

Witt had planned to step down no later than July 1, 2015. However, last week the Mojave Spaceport Board of Directors approved a six month extension until January 2016.

The extension is apparently related to the board’s meandering effort to replace Witt, who announced his intention to step down last year. Board President JoAnn Painter told the Antelope Valley Press the board is still working on a “template for managing the succession” that would be put into place six months before Witt departs.

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Long-time Mojave Air and Space Port board member Dick Rutan has resigned from that body, citing a business opportunity he had become involved in that could present a conflict of interest with his governing duties. “It has been challenging and rewarding to be part of this team as we have transitioned from an airport to a Space Port, and it is with a heavy heart that I separate myself from […]

The Mojave Air and Space Port Board of Directors has filled an open position left by the departure of Marie Walker with local activist Bill Deaver. Walker resigned from the board last month, citing pressing business concerns. Below is an announcement from the spaceport: Bill Deaver is the newest member of the Mojave Air and Space Port Board of Directors. He is the Board Secretary. Bill Deaver is a public […]

The fate of Plane Crazy Saturday remained up in the air Tuesday as the Mojave Transportation Museum (MTM) and the board of the Mojave Air and Space Port came no closer to resolving their differences over the monthly event.

At issue is a new $100 monthly fee that the spaceport has imposed upon MTM to cover security and liability costs. Officials say that the fee is more than fair because other groups that use the airport are charged much more. Officials from the transportation museum say they will not pay to volunteer their time for an event that promotes the airport.

That’s where things have stood for months — and nothing changed on Tuesday during the spaceport board’s monthly meeting.  Both sides restated their positions without budging an inch. As a result, this week’s Plane Crazy Saturday could be the very last one in Mojave.

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WhiteKnightTwo and a Stratolaunch 747 on display during a Plane Crazy Saturday event in 2012. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

The Mojave Air and Space Port Board of Directors has appointed an ad-hoc committee to deal with a simmering dispute that threatens the future of the monthly Plane Crazy Saturday events held at the desert facility.

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