Ramona Airport Manager Bo Donovan — From the Airwaves to the Skies

For Bo Donovan, manager of Ramona Airport, there’s no such thing as a typical workday. But then, Donovan hasn't led a typical life.

On any given day he spends time inspecting hangars. The next day he’s issuing maintenance requests. The day after that he might be trying to catch a lost dog that’s running up and down the runway.

“There are a lot of moving pieces, and many of them have nothing to do with airplanes,” Donovan said. “Running an airport is more like running a small city.” 

Law enforcement issues, environmental concerns, tenant requests, community relations and regulations all come into play. And then there are the two things that rise above everything else: safety and compliance.

Regardless of what each day brings, those are the two unchanged absolutes and most important things to Donovan and his client—the county of San Diego.

Donovan, who lives in Ramona, manages the Ramona and Fallbrook airports under a contract with the county. He spends Monday through Thursday in Ramona and Friday in Fallbrook. Assistants operate as manager at one when he’s at the other.

He became the manager of the Fallbrook Airport in 2004. The opportunity to also manage Ramona Airport came in 2006. The journey to both began with … mortician school.
 
From Embalming to Aviation
Donovan was born and raised in Imperial Valley. He went to the California College of Mortuary Science and became a licensed embalmer. However, he didn’t spend a day employed as an embalmer. Instead, he went into radio.

“My next door neighbor owned a radio station,” Donovan told Ramona Patch. “He said, ‘You have a nice voice. Why don’t you try it out in radio?’ After two days, he told me to forget it and to get a chinchilla ranch or an ant farm—anything. He didn’t think I’d make it in radio.”

Donovan went on to work at radio stations in El Centro, Yuma, Palm Springs, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego. After four years, he was working at the then No. 1 station in Los Angeles, KDAY, a top-40 station, he said.

Then he transitioned into a role focused on creative services, such as writing and producing radio and TV commercials. In 1984, he started his own creative services business, Silvertree Inc. At that time, it offered services on a very limited basis to a select client list and began to focus on airport management for the county, starting with the Fallbrook Community Airpark.

Fast forward to 2000. Donovan’s grandson lived in Ramona, and Wednesdays were what Donovan referred to as “Grandpa Day.” 
 
“We’d have lunch, and we’d go to an airport or something aviation-centered,” he said. “Sometimes we’d go to French Valley Airport in Temecula or Lindbergh Field in San Diego to watch the planes land. And a lot of times we’d come to the Ramona Airport.”

He got to know the then-manager and many people at the airport. That led to Donovan helping with the marketing for the Ramona Air Show.

“Next thing you know, I’m a three-day-a-week unpaid volunteer,” he said.

During that time, he was also studying to get his pilot’s license.

Today, when he’s not managing two airports, he flies a single-engine, four-seater Piper Archer III for fun.

Atypical Is the Norm
Nearly 90 percent of Ramona Airport’s operations—take offs and landings—are done by students learning to fly. Some corporate aircraft and charter flights also fly out of the general-use airport.

During fire season, it’s used as an air attack base for Cal Fire and a helitack base for the U.S. Department of Forestry. In 2007, during the Witch Creek Fire, Donovan said it was the busiest airport in Southern California. Because of the intense coordination efforts required during that time, he slept at the airport for five days.

Although he doesn’t sleep at the airport every day, he often spends 10 hours a day during the week. And he stops by to check on things during the weekends.

“Bo is the ideal airport manager,” said Julie Keane, owner of Julie Keane Aviation, which offers professional flight training at Ramona Airport. “He is reliable, accessible and understands the needs of the airport users.”

Their needs often require Bo to do the whatever, whenever—everything from tending to maintenance issues to picking up basketballs off the runway to enforcing the rules, to visiting each hangar simply to say “hi” to whoever may be around.  

“I’m a people person, so I enjoy the interaction,” Donovan said. “I enjoy serving the community.”

The workdays are less than typical, but Donovan said he wouldn’t want them any other way. He loves what he does.

For more information about Ramona Airport, click here.