PITTSTON TWP. — The search for the next permanent director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International airport remains up in the air after the man hired last month didn’t agree to a contract and withdrew from consideration.

Bicounty airport board members are still reviewing various options on how to proceed in the search for a new executive director, airport board Chairman Chris Belles said at Thursday’s board meeting. Board members met in a closed executive session prior to Thursday’s public meeting.

“We had a productive meeting this morning and decided that we’re going to digest everything. This just happened 48 hours ago,” Belles said after Thursday’s meeting, referring to the decision by Kim “Bill” Hopper to withdraw from consideration.

The airport board unanimously voted to hire Hopper as executive director last month, and board members thought that was the conclusion of a nationwide search that started in March. The board expected to approve Hopper’s contract at Thursday’s meeting, and Hopper was expected to start working at the airport Nov. 1.

“Our board is remaining dedicated to making sure we identify the best leader for the airport,” Belles said at the public meeting. “We are considering the path forward and the options that are before us, and at this point, we’re not going to divulge anymore than that. But just know that we are working on it, and we will get the best possible leader for this airport.”

Belles, a Luzerne County councilman, disclosed after Tuesday’s council meeting, that the airport and Hopper were unable to reach an agreement on contract terms. Lackawanna and Luzerne counties share ownership of the airport in Pittston Twp. and Avoca, and each county has three representatives on the airport board.

Stephen Mykulyn, the airport’s director of engineering, has been serving as interim executive director of the airport since March. The interim appointment doesn’t have an expiration date and can continue indefinitely until a selection for a permanent director is made, Belles said.

Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak chaired the airport board before confirming in June he was a finalist for the job as airport executive director. The Lackawanna County commissioners voted July 15 to temporarily replace Chermak on the airport board with attorney Chris Munley, who continued as a member of the airport board at Thursday’s meeting.

On Wednesday, Chermak said he thinks he is entitled to be offered the job. Chermak claimed he was one of “the top two of most-qualified people in a nationwide search” and “could do the job better than anybody.”

Belles said he has to “go back and look at the scoring sheets” to see who was ranked second. Five finalists participated in virtual interviews Aug. 13, and Hopper and Chermak were the only finalists identified.

Hopper was the only applicant who was interviewed in person, Belles said. The board could look at interviewing applicants from “the existing applicant pool” or readvertise the job and conduct another national search, Belles said.

A contract snag with Hopper involved him “hesitating on a 5-year agreement,” Lackawanna County Commissioner Chairman Thom Welby said. Hopper served as executive director of the Pitt-Greenville Airport Authority in Greenville, North Carolina, from February 2019 through June 2026, according to LinkedIn.

The next director will succeed Carl Beardsley Jr., who was director from January 2015 until late 2025, when he went on sabbatical leave for a non-disciplinary reason. The sabbatical became a permanent leave in March.

In March, the board approved a $47,574 contract with ADK Consulting and Executive Search to facilitate the process of finding a new executive director. The annual salary range advertised was $135,000 to $150,000.

ADK Consulting reviewed 20 applications and shortlisted the top seven applicants, airport co-solicitor Donald Frederickson said at the board meeting on May 28. The application deadline was May 10.