NEWS |
152-99: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , December 21, 1999
"When people are depending on you, you must rise to the occasion," said Mr. Kelly, 57, the Port Authority's Director of Aviation since August 1996, who became known to the world earlier this year when he appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" and other television programs to update the public on the Oct. 31 EgyptAir crash.
Mr. Kelly, who is retiring from the Port Authority this month after nearly 30 years of service to the bistate region, leaves a legacy of energetic leadership, say his current and former coworkers.
"Bob Kelly's knowledge, competency and dedication are not exceeded by anyone at the Port Authority. This is an astute, hard-working, wonderful man who will be sorely missed by all of us for many years to come," said Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle. "The Kelly cogent comment and sense of humor are as unique as his signature, and will ever remain in the annals of Port Authority lore."
During his three decades at the Port Authority, Mr. Kelly developed a reputation as the agency's "go-to guy," accepting challenging assignments at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, John F. Kennedy International Airport and the bistate agency's Information Services Department.
"Bob was always willing to do the tough stuff," said Ernesto L. Butcher, the Port Authority's Chief Operating Officer, who has worked with Mr. Kelly for 18 years. "He cared so much, he inspired everyone around him to care."
"He's among the best public-sector managers I've ever worked with," said former Port Authority Director of Aviation David Z. Plavin, who used to be Mr. Kelly's supervisor.
Mr. Kelly summed up his management philosophy in three ways: respect for coworkers, dedication to detail and commitment to customer service.
"Our customers rightfully expect our facilities to be clean and efficiently run. If we do not pay attention to the smallest details, it leaves the impression that somebody doesn't care as much as they should," he said.
Robert Joseph Kelly was born on April 29, 1942, in Jersey City. His father, Patrick Kelly, worked as a mechanic for the Port Authority for more than a quarter-century - maintaining and repairing heavy equipment at Newark International Airport, the Holland Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel.
Although his father died on the job, Mr. Kelly has fond childhood memories of the Port Authority - particularly the agency's summer softball league.
"The Port Authority has benefited for many, many years from a tremendously loyal and dedicated workforce," Mr. Kelly said. "I've never known anybody in the Port Authority who did not have the best interests of the region and its people in mind."
After graduating from St. Peter's Preparatory School in 1960, Mr. Kelly attended St. Peter's College in Jersey City, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 1964.
During college, Mr. Kelly worked his first job for the Port Authority - shoveling snow at the Holland Tunnel. That left him with a lasting appreciation of the Port Authority's maintenance crews - "the people who really make the place run," he said.
Mr. Kelly also participated in St. Peter's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, which led to six years of active duty as a U.S. Army officer. He served in Germany, then commanded a unit of 17 tanks in Vietnam - serving in the Demilitarized Zone just after the Tet Offensive. He earned two Bronze Stars and an Air Medal.
"I learned an awful lot about managing people," Mr. Kelly said.
Mr. Kelly also taught at Officers Candidate School at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and in the ROTC program at Indiana University in Pennsylvania. Mr. Kelly left active duty in 1970, then served in the U.S. Army Reserves until he retired in 1987 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
His decision to join the Port Authority in 1970 "was more of an accident than a plan," Mr. Kelly said. Married with three small sons, Mr. Kelly entertained other job offers, but those might have required him and his family to move around the country.
After six years of military moves, "my wife and I thought we should get something stable," Mr. Kelly said. "We decided that the stability of the Port Authority was very attractive at the time.
"I've never regretted the decision.''
Mr. Kelly began his Port Authority career as an economic analyst, conducting surveys of various agency functions. He was so dedicated to the agency, Mr. Kelly asked his wife, Arline, to delay the induced labor of their fourth child for one day, so he could finish a survey on PATH turnstiles.
Their daughter, Kathleen, was born on April 30, 1971 - rather than on April 29, which was Mr. Kelly's 29th birthday.
"I've heard about it on every birthday since," he said with a grin.
Mr. Kelly quickly rose through the ranks, serving in leadership positions throughout the agency: Manager of the Holland Tunnel from 1979 to 1981; Manager of the Port Authority Bus Terminal from 1981 to 1986; Deputy Director of Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals from 1986 to 1989.
Mr. Butcher, who was the Bus Terminal's Assistant Manager during Mr. Kelly's tenure, said they "went through a difficult time together" running the facility. He credited Mr. Kelly with launching the Port Authority's efforts to deal with the homeless humanely.
Mr. Kelly's proudest achievement during that period came in 1984, when he served as founder and first Director of the Transportation Operations Coordinating Committee (TRANSCOM). This consortium of regional transportation agencies was created to coordinate the planning and operations of the metropolitan area's highway and mass-transit network, to improve communications and incident response.
After a stint as Acting Director of the Information Services Department in 1989, Mr. Plavin hired Mr. Kelly to serve as the Aviation Department's Chief Operations Officer from 1990 to 1994.
"I wanted him to be in aviation because he had a reputation as an excellent manager. That turned out to be true," said Mr. Plavin, now President of Airports Council International-North America, an industry group that represents airports on issues around the world.
From 1994 to 1996, at the request of the Executive Director, Mr. Kelly served as General Manager of John F. Kennedy International Airport - overseeing what was then a $4.3 billion redevelopment program.
The JFK redevelopment program has since surpassed $9 billion - part of the unprecedented $15 billion in public and private money being spent by the Port Authority and its airline partners to redevelop and expand the region's three major airports. JFK, Newark International Airport and LaGuardia Airport served more than 86 million passengers and handled nearly 2.8 million tons of cargo in 1998.
Mr. Kelly said these improvements are vital to ensure that the three airports remain economically competitive.
"We need the airlines and the customers more than they need us," Mr. Kelly said. "If we don't make these airports attractive to our customers, we might as well toss in the towel."
Mr. Kelly has been named Man of the Year by Aviation High School in Queens and the Kennedy Airport Airlines Management Council's Cargo Operations Committee.
He also received the World Trade Center Exceptional Service Award in 1993 for helping to direct the evacuation of One World Trade Center following the terrorist bombing in February of that year. He has received two Port Authority unit citations for exceptional service.
Mr. Kelly's commitment to the community has not been confined to the Port Authority. For eight years, Mr. Kelly served as head football coach of the Old Bridge Rams, a Central Jersey champion Pop Warner football team.
Mr. Kelly also was the founding chairman of the Plainsboro Juvenile Conference Committee - a group of residents that meets with first-time juvenile offenders and their parents. The goal is to keep these offenders from committing more crime.
"The police chief lived down the street from me. He asked me to do it,'' said Mr. Kelly, who also served on the Middlesex County Juvenile Conference Committee. "It's very gratifying work, helping teenagers turns their lives around."
He is considering a continuing career in the aviation industry once he leaves the Port Authority, but added: "My two priorities are my family - specifically my grandchildren - and golf." Mr. Kelly and his wife will remain in Plainsboro. In addition to their four grown children, they have four grandchildren.
After his retirement from the U.S. Army Reserves, Mr. Kelly began organizing golf outings to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As many as two-dozen friends paid their own way to attend.
"It really began on a lark. I'd never really played golf before," Mr. Kelly explained. "My wife said, 'You've got to do something to take your mind off the Port Authority.'
"Unfortunately, my game never gets better."
Mr. Butcher, who regularly attends these golf outings, said Mr. Kelly "pulled us all together, made all the arrangements. He had awards set up so everybody got something. That's the way he thinks about people. "He's the nicest guy," Mr. Butcher added. "Behind this gruff exterior, he's a very amiable, very understanding, delightful person. He remembers people's names; he remembers everything about them. He knows everybody, and he has a kind word for everybody. He really cares about people."