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RAREFIED AIR Jeff Kloska’s career path looks a lot like the trajectory of a jet: gaining momentum down the runway, then lifting off and climbing confidently into the sky. After earning his bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2007, Kloska moved to Texas for a job as an airport operations specialist. He earned a promotion to senior specialist in 13 months. Three years later, he was named director of Meacham International Airport in Ft. Worth. In January, he returned to Colorado after being tapped as the director of the Colorado Air and Space Port (formerly Front Range Airport in Adams County), which has been dubbed America’s hub for commercial space transportation, research and development. This is rarefied air in the field of aviation management. But Kloska has remained grounded. “I had no idea that my career would take me to the level of space port director,” he said. “I had my sights set on airport director as the pinnacle. It’s been quite a journey.” Kloska’s interest in aviation started when he was growing up near Morrison. “My dad flew for business a lot, and I remember going to the old Stapleton Airport to meet him at the gate when he’d fly back into town,” Kloska said. “He also took me to a road near a runway to watch planes take off and land.” Kloska also watched his older brother operate the original Microsoft flight simulator. His time at MSU Denver solidified his career. “The Aviation Management program got me to where I am today through its course structure and various preparation activities,” he said. Kloska will rely on that education as he leads the Colorado Air and Space Port’s strategic direction. He said CASP, which became the nation’s 11th facility of its kind in 2018, will continue to handle general aviation aircraft but is also looking to the future and the coming age of reusable spaceplanes. “We’ll be working to develop an aerospace ecosystem based on CASP’s master plan,” he said, “which includes routine launches of next-generation space vehicles that can carry satellites and tourists into suborbital space.”
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RED MAGAZINE | S P R ING 2022
AS DIRECTOR OF THE COLORADO AIR AND SPACE PORT, ALUMNUS JEFF KLOSKA IS SHAPING THE STATE’S AEROSPACE FUTURE.
