Airport Security Manager
AvPORTS / Westchester County Airport
Laura Etre Airport Security Manager – Westchester County Airport Mrs. Etre began her career in 2009 at the Westchester County Airport as an Airport Operations Coordinator and quickly developed her background in Airport Safety and Security; she was promoted to the Duty Supervisor position and became successful in managing all airfield activities, including maintaining safe aircraft operations during major winter weather snow removal events. In 2015, Mrs. Etre was promoted to the Airport Security Manager position and over the course of this time; she has managed the Airports Security Plan and coordinates directly and effectively with TSA officials. With the ever challenging and changing security requirements for TSR1542, her education and background provides the company confidence in delivering airport security compliance. Mrs. Etre is happily married and raising her two children in nearby Harrison, NY.
2005 – B.S. Airport Management, S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale 2009 – M.P.A. Transportation University of Nebraska Certified Private Pilot – Instrument Flight Rules Certified Weather Observer
Meet Laura Etre
Andrew King: Why don’t you tell me what you do?
Laura Etre: I’m the Security Manager at HPN and I am in charge of making sure that the airport is in compliance with all TSA regulations, like badging. If there are any construction projects where we need to make an update to our ASP, airport security program, that’s how the airport complies with TSR 1542, I’m the one to send in those changes and liaison between the TSA and HPN.
Andrew: Were you always interested in aviation?
Laura: Yeah, I went to school to become a pilot and got my private pilot’s license, instrument rating. At that time, the industry was not doing well. There weren’t many jobs, so I pivoted and switched my major and got a degree in airport administration.
Andrew: What was your first job in aviation?
Laura: Right out of college, I got the job at Westchester starting out as an Operations Coordinator.
Andrew: And what was that like?
Laura: It was great. I loved that position, and HPN is just an incredible place, especially to begin a career in aviation because they teach you so much from weather observer, to getting a CDL with snow removal, you do the firefighting. It’s just a great place, so you get your feet wet in just a lot of different things.
Andrew: How long have you been at the airport?
Laura: 11 years.
Andrew: How did you go from Operations Coordinator to where you are today?
Laura: I was an Operations Coordinator for a few years waiting for a supervisor position to open, and I think after three and a half years, I was able to obtain that position. And then, the position for a Security Manager opened up and it just seemed like the next logical step.
Andrew: I’m wondering what your experience was like coming into a male dominated ops?
Laura: I guess I was just always used to being around men in a male dominated career field, whether it was at school or flying, so I didn’t have a problem working here in the position.
Andrew: What’s been the most critical elements for advancement in your career?
Laura: I find the hardest thing is really men in certain agencies, don’t like to include me or don’t take me seriously. I’d say that’s the biggest challenge.
Andrew King: And how do you respond to that?
Laura: Well, I’ve voiced my concerns. I’ve had the backing of my boss who reiterates that I need to be included. It’s just really changing those old school mindsets of people wanting it to just be the good old boys club, as I’ve been told.
Andrew: Have you had a mentor through your career?
Laura: Yeah, I can say that John and Steve have both been mentors and they always have my back and they’ve taught me a lot – one in ops, one in security, and just how things go.
Andrew: You’ve been security manager for a while, is it still challenging?
Laura: It’s not that I don’t love it, but I don’t feel challenged and I’m looking for the next step to advance.
Andrew: And what would that be?
Laura: Upper level management.
Andrew: What challenged you earlier in your career?
Laura: I think that snow removal was always challenging. There were just so many different aspects and something was always changing, whether it was an aircraft emergency or just learning security from scratch. I didn’t have a background in security. That was all challenging, but now I’m looking on to what’s next.
Andrew: And why is airport upper management important to you?
Laura: Well, it’s the next logical step to just learn the whole industry from all the different levels.
Andrew: Thank you, Laura.
Laura: Thank you.