26
OPERATIONS      
September 2026      AirportImprovement.com
MKG 
An Outside-the-Box Hire
Ken Efting did not look like a promising airport 
executive on paper. He was just finishing a 20-
year career in the U.S. Air Force as a munitions 
systems specialist working with bombs, 
missiles and explosives supporting combat 
aircraft. None of his military service was 
spent in commercial airport administration. 
Regarding the list of traditional credentials for 
the job at MKG, “I checked relatively few of 
those boxes,” Efting acknowledges. 
What he did have going for him was local roots and a knack for 
solving problems. Efting was originally from the Muskegon area 
and wanted to settle with his family back home, which appealed 
to a county board that had watched other managers cycle in and 
out. Efting also framed his military background as an asset rather 
than a gap.
“Military people are very adept at just figuring out problems,” he 
says. “They’re very good at securing resources and finding a very 
pragmatic and efficient solution to complex problems.” 
Being a military veteran himself, Taig immediately recognized 
and appreciated this quality in Efting.
That Air Force outlook shaped how Efting 
approached MKG’s daunting to-do list after 
he was hired in November 2022. Rather than 
being overwhelmed by the scope, he broke 
it down into manageable pieces. “If you can 
simplify it to be a series of solvable problems 
that you can attack individually, things start to 
come together over time as you tick away at 
those tasks,” he explains. 
A lack of civilian experience did cut both 
ways. Efting had never worked in air service 
development or navigated the Essential 
Air Service program and candidly admits 
he did not fully grasp how big some of the 
problems were when he took the job. But 
the operational leadership—being in charge 
of people—was familiar ground, and he 
considered it the heart of the work.
Rowing Together
Having inherited a staff that had been through 
years of turnover and uncertainty, Efting 
made teambuilding a top priority. His hiring 
philosophy was simple and, by his own 
account, non-negotiable.
“I’m big on hiring for attitude and then 
training for aptitude,” he says. “I’ll take a guy 
that knows nothing about Part 139, but has a 
rock-solid attitude and is A+ reliable. I’ll take 
him over a fully certified guy that’s burning 
through his sick time.”
There was churn the first year while 
employees adjusted to a new work standard, 
but the culture soon shifted. “With the help of 
our Operations and Administrative managers, 
it didn’t take long for us to all be rowing in 
the same direction,” Efting reports. At a small 
essential air service airport, where budgets 
and headcount are tight, that alignment 
is not a nicety; it’s the difference between 
functioning efficiently and always feeling 
short-handed. Get it wrong, he notes, and no 
amount of hiring will ever make the operation 
feel fully staffed.
KEN EFTING
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