In the spring of 2019, the Federal Aviation Administration conducted a routine, annual inspection of T.F. Green International Airport and made an important discovery: The Warwick air travel hub’s three fire trucks were not up to par.

In fact, one of the airport’s nearly 20-year-old fire trucks was unable to properly pump the required ratio of water to foam necessary to create an emergency, fire-suppressing concoction, three sources with knowledge of the matter told the Beacon.

While the airport was able to reach an agreement with the FAA to remain in operation as it addressed the issue, the failed inspection quickly spelled trouble for employees of the T.F. Green’s fire department.

Iftikhar Ahmad, T.F. Green’s president and CEO, without proof, made a serious accusation: The facility’s fire department failed the federal review on purpose to try to mar his leadership and professional reputation – and they needed to be disciplined, sources familiar with the situation said.

And even after an internal review and, later, an unorthodox third-party investigation ordered by Ahmad yielded no evidence to support those claims, the CEO still believed the firefighters were to blame, according to one of those sources, now a former T.F. Green executive who worked closely with Ahmad.

“He swore up and down that we needed to find the smoking gun and there was nothing,” the former executive said.

“He wasn't happy with the outside report,” the executive added in a follow-up interview, before paraphrasing what Ahmad told him: “Find something. I know they did it.”

Two executives who had pushed back on Ahmad’s directives eventually resigned, both sources said.

The incident, according to those sources, is indicative of the state of the working environment at T.F. Green, where dozens of senior staff have either left, been fired, or retired since Ahmad took the reins in 2016.

In reporting this story, the Beacon learned of more than 50 administrators and executives who have passed through the exit door in the last eight years – an unusually high rate of turnover for the airport industry, the sources said.

As of late July, approximately six positions were still open, including the chief of police position, after Joseph Ottaviano, the most recent chief, resigned in June, the Beacon confirmed. Ottaviano declined to comment for this story.

Airport employees and sources who spoke to the Beacon allege the catalyst for these departures has been – at least, in part – a hostile work environment Ahmad has perpetuated – one in which staff are routinely belittled and humiliated by the chief executive himself.

Parting words

“I can no longer accept working in the hostile work environment you have established here,” Yilmaz Surehan, then the airport’s vice president of property and business development, wrote in his November 2022 resignation letter to Ahmad that was obtained and verified by the Beacon.

“I have been witness to numerous occasions of you publicly belittling, harassing, and humiliating my co-workers – often on a daily basis,” he continued before adding, “To do nothing would make me an accomplice, which is why I must resign in protest.”

When contacted, Surehan declined further comment.

In a February 2023 letter to the governor’s office also obtained and verified by the Beacon, Thomas Martin, then-chief steward of the airport worker’s union, Local 2873 Council 94, wrote Ahmad “has a reputation of verbally attacking, belittling, and being condescending to [Rhode Island Airport Corporation] employees.”

“The work environment at RIAC is toxic,” Martin wrote. “That is evidenced by the number of executive employees that have left in such a short period of time.”

He added: “More senior management personnel have left RIAC employment since Ahmad took power in October 2016 than from the creation of RIAC in 1992 to October 2016.”

The Beacon gave RIAC more than a week to respond to these allegations, having sent multiple requests for comment – including a request for an interview with Ahmad – to John Goodman, a spokesman for RIAC. None of those emails and phone calls were returned.

Jonathan Savage, chairman of RIAC’s Board of Directors, and other board members also did not return inquiries from the Beacon.

Ahmad is among the highest paid airport executives in the country, having earned nearly $800,000 last year. RIAC’s Board of Directors renewed Ahmad’s contract for another three years in November.

Backed by the board

“We believe we have one of the best airport leaders in the country and we want to make sure we do everything in our power to ensure Iftikhar stays at the helm of RIAC,” the board said in a statement announcing the new contract earlier this year.

Under Ahmad’s leadership, T.F. Green has certainly grown. Over the years, the airport has picked up a bevy of new direct flights and established itself as an operations base for burgeoning budget airline, Breeze Airways.

Yet, tensions among employees and leadership may come to a head later this month: An anonymous letter dated June 28 addressed to Gov. Dan McKee and sent to several media outlets – including the Beacon – warns T.F. Green employees will walk off the job on Aug. 13, should the governor take no action against Ahmad.

The letter – signed, “Banning Together to Stop the Abuse” – calls for Ahmad’s termination and says a walk-out demonstration is “the only way to combat this toxic environment.” The document came quickly on the heels of resignations of two high-level employees – Ottaviano and the vice president of operations and maintenance – and the termination of the vice president of building maintenance.

Notably, the anonymous letter also includes other allegations about airport leadership the Beacon has so far not yet verified.

Steve Parent, president of Local 2873 Council 94, the union that represents 129 airport employees, said the union has “absolutely no involvement with that letter” and pointed to the no-strike clause in the union’s contract with RIAC that forbids workers from walking off the job.

Warwick police are also aware of the anonymous letter and said the department is paying close attention to the situation.

A spokesperson for the governor did not return requests for comment.

Alleged fire truck inspection failure fallout

Upon T.F. Green failing the 2019 fire truck FAA inspection, Ahmad quickly blamed the failure on firefighters’ intent to “sabotage” the review and directed a then-vice president to discipline them – a directive the vice president refused to do, according to both the former executive who spoke with the Beacon and another source familiar with the situation.

Still, the accusation spurred an internal investigation, which ultimately found the age of the equipment was to blame, not personnel, the former executive said.

In a recent interview, Parent, the union president who also serves in the fire department and was present during the FAA inspection, said “it would be fairly impossible or, at minimum, very difficult to sabotage all three trucks.”

Ahmad was unhappy about the findings of the report, as essentially, “we were blaming the executive team for failure to replace those pieces of equipment,” the former executive said.

According to the executive, Ahmad then ordered for an outside investigator to look into the situation – a move the executive confirmed is unusual.

“The investigator came back and, basically, he had the same outcome,” the executive said. “Iftikhar wasn’t accepting of the document.”

The source paraphrased what Ahmad said: “Well, I'm not accepting [the investigator’s] report because I know there’s a smoking gun. You need to tell him he … needs to find something on these employees.”

According to Parent and a source familiar with the situation, the union has so far been unable to procure a copy of the outside investigator’s report.

In a response to a public information request for the report filed by the union in July 2023, RIAC said the document was exempt from public disclosure, citing in part, because of a “client/attorney relationship.”

Alleged employee interactions with CEO

According to the sources who spoke to the Beacon, the incident over the failed inspection is only one example of the work environment under Ahmad’s tenure.

The former executive described how advice from staff is often dismissed by Ahmad, and refusal to follow his directives can “create issues for you.”

“You’re on the constant list of being questioned and berated on stuff and undermined by the CEO,” the source said.

The former executive also detailed two occasions in which Ahmad instructed him not to greet or acknowledge rank and file employees.

 “He goes: I am the CEO. I don't lower myself. I only acknowledge my executive team. I do not acknowledge my lower staff,” the source said.

Weeks later, Ahmad took issue after the executive said hello to another employee in his presence, the source said.

“He was literally upset – standing there rigid, upset,” the executive said.

The executive also described how Ahmad would often “dress down” employees in front of others, adding how senior staff “dreaded” management meetings with the CEO.

The executive explained how, “plenty of times,” he saw Ahmad pick up one of his business cards and hand it to employees, and tell them to read it aloud.

He would then say “What does it say below my name,” the source said.

President, CEO.

“Exactly,” the executive recalled Ahmad saying. “Don't ever question me. I am the president, CEO of this company. You need to remember that.”

In his letter to the governor’s office early last year, Martin described how an airport police officer added an image of the airport police shoulder patch to his business card – a design that was not included in RIAC’s given business card template.

“Ahmad became aware of the change this officer had made and began to berate him during a staff meeting, accusing him of trying to distance the police department from the airport corporation and trying to take over the police department as his own,” Martin wrote.

Martin also expressed concern for public safety, as a notice was sent out that “no individual department logos” were to appear on uniforms across the airport either, according to his letter.

Ahmad thinks “it is more important to assert … power over RIAC employees than it is for the public to be able to readily and visually identify a RI Airport Police officer,” Martin wrote at the time.

(Notably, officers’ uniforms currently include a re-designed patch that reads “RIAC Airport Police.”)

A former vice president at RIAC who spoke with the Beacon described his experience working at the airport as “unique.”

The source recalled Ahmad “berating” him over a particular employee.

After Ahmad noticed the vice president was getting irritated, he pulled out a pen and paper, the vice president said.

“He looks at me and he says, there’s 2,080 hours in a work year. Tell me everything that person did,” the vice president said. “And I’m thinking in my head: You have to be (blanking) kidding me right now.

“The other two people in the room, their heads are down looking at the floor. They couldn’t even look at me. They couldn’t even look at him,” the vice president continued. “And I’m like, this is absolutely, utterly ridiculous.”

More letters

A second anonymous letter allegedly penned by a RIAC employee dated July 11 sent to Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi and shared with the Beacon describes how employees “have routinely and personally experienced erratic behavior resembling temper tantrums and bullying tactics in meetings with the President and CEO.”

The letter goes on to urge Picozzi to address those concerns with the governor, state leaders, and “anyone with the ability to effect positive change.”

Additionally, the Beacon, other media outlets, and Picozzi were copied on a third anonymous letter addressed to the director of the FAA’s New England region and dated July 20. The missive was allegedly written by a RIAC employee, who noted his or her name was withheld out of “fear of retaliation” from Ahmad.

The letter includes allegations about airport leadership the Beacon has not yet verified and implores the FAA to investigate operations at T.F. Green. The document also mentions high turnover at the airport under Ahmad’s tenure and the potential for an Aug. 13 employee walk-out “unless the RIAC CEO is terminated and proper leadership is installed.”

Ahmad’s track record

After opting to renew Ahmad’s contract for another three years, the RIAC board said in January Ahmad’s “leadership has been superb.”

The board’s statement referenced how since 2016, air service has grown from seven airlines and 17 direct flights to nine airlines with 34 direct flights under Ahmad’s tenure. The airport has also landed Breeze Airways, the budget airline that selected T.F. Green as one of its bases of operations in 2022.

Breeze said earlier this year it expects to eventually offer 35 nonstop routes, including three international destinations, over the next five years. The expansion, the company said, will create 400 local jobs and push the number of travelers passing through the airport to over 1 million annually.

“Busy” days at T.F. Green are considered to be those when more than 7,000 travelers pass through security checkpoints – a threshold most reached eight times over a 12-day stretch between June 27 and July 8 this year alone, TSA regional spokesperson Daniel Velez said in July.

“T.F. Green’s throughput has been trending in the upward direction with some travel days seeing a 25% increase compared to the previous years,” Velez said.

In speaking to the Warwick Rotary Club in November, Ahmad explained how he has focused on reducing the cost for airlines operating in Rhode Island and on improving customer experience at the airport. He also boasted how T.F. Green was ranked among the top 10 airports in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in October 2023.

Overall, he said, the airport was “doing well,” adding how its mission “is to connect Rhode Island to the rest of the world…that’s what we’d all like to see.”

Before arriving here, Ahmad led airport operations at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. His resume also includes stops at the City of Houston’s Department of Aviation, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, the City of Dayton’s Department of Aviation, and the New Orleans Aviation Board.

He began working at T.F. Green in October 2016 following a six-month national search to find the airport’s next chief executive

In an interview, House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D, District 23) said he has heard grumblings from airport staff over the years, but also highlighted the growing roster of flights at T.F. Green, especially with Breeze Airway’s plans for the airport.

As for addressing any potential issues with airport leadership, Shekarchi said he believes that matter falls on the governor to handle, given RIAC’s quasi-public status.

Turnover at the airport

Several sources who spoke with the Beacon contend the working environment cultivated by Ahmad has had a negative impact on airport operations and professional culture, however.

“Is he successful in terms of generating business? Absolutely, hands down. He may even be one of the best – I don’t know,” a former vice president said.

“But again, the turbulence within that management and everything else absolutely trickles down,” he added. “And you would hear the frustration coming from staff.”

Among nearly two dozen people hired for executive and senior staff positions at T.F. Green during Ahmad’s tenure, more than a dozen relocated for a job here from other parts of the country.

Many of those who did move also resigned within a few months to a year’s time, with only a handful staying longer than two years, LinkedIn profiles show.

Asked about the impact the turnover has on the airport, the former executive, who has worked in airports for more than three decades, said: “You have no stability in leadership or the foundations. You have one individual, but you have no culture developed and you have no stability.”

In his February 2023 letter, Martin wrote that over the previous 12 months, RIAC had conducted “nine senior management employee searches, four of them are still active.”

“One of them, senior vice president chief infrastructure officer, has been filled twice in the past year and three times since 2016,” Martin wrote.

He called on the RIAC board of directors to investigate.

“Each time one of these positions is vacated it takes months to replace the employee,” the letter continues. “Work goes undone and even when the position is filled, there is a learning curve period and training that the new employee needs. The lack of stability in the senior management of the airport has a negative effect on RIAC, other agencies doing business with RIAC, and all of RIAC employees.”

Tom Kravitz, director of Warwick’s Planning Department, said in recent years, it seemed as though there was a new airport employee every month in the city’s regular meetings with airport staff.

The monthly gatherings are a key opportunity for officials to discuss matters involving city affairs with airport personnel. With the constant turnover, officials would have to take time to bring new employees up to speed, according to Kravitz, who noted in recent months, however, the makeup of the airport’s delegation has appeared to be more consistent.

At least several of those hired in recent years who quickly passed through T.F. Green either came from or went to well-respected employers.

For example, one hire who was brought on to serve as assistant vice president of operations and maintenance worked at the airport for seven months before returning to her previous employer, the Massachusetts Port Authority, her LinkedIn profile shows.

Surehan, who detailed T.F. Green’s “hostile work environment” in his 2022 resignation letter, is now a manager at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“I have had people in the airport industry tell me that most people know not to go there, not to touch Rhode Island anymore,” the source familiar with the situation at the airport said, when discussing the RIAC’s ability to attract talent.

And the former executive told the Beacon: “[Ahmad] gets people from the West now, because on the East Coast, everybody knows of him and nobody will touch any of those jobs.”

Parent, meanwhile, put it this way: “Word’s out there that it’s not the most fun place to hang around.”

–Editor John Howell contributed to this story.