Oil Patch Bits: Cudney appointed director of Deadhorse Aviation Center

Fairweather LLC has announced the appointment of Tim Cudney as the director of Deadhorse Aviation Center at Prudhoe Bay. DAC is a multi-faceted aviation facility operated by Fairweather to support oil field operations on the North Slope, as well as offshore oil and gas exploration and development activities and U.S. military operations in the Alaska Arctic.

Arriving in Alaska in 1978 after working in Colorado and Wyoming for the National Outdoor Leadership School and Outward Bound as a climbing instructor, Cudney accepted a position operating several remote fly-out hunting and fishing lodges in Bristol Bay. From 1997 to 2013 Cudney was employed by Era Helicopters, formally Era Aviation, where he advanced from Denali Park helicopter base manager to director of business development for the Million Air/Era fixed-base operation in Anchorage. In 2013, Cudney joined Fairweather as the interim facility manager of DAC.

In addition to overseeing the operations of DAC’s hangars, passenger terminals and 23-acre laydown yard, as director Cudney is responsible for managing DAC’s tenant offices, dining facility, accommodations and equipment leasing operations, as well as coordinating the actions of Fairweather’s MedEvac staging facility. Cudney will also oversee DAC’s planned expansion encompassing a 13-acre cargo and logistics facility with a 28,000-square-foot hangar designed for C-130s, 737s and other large aircraft, along with offices and sleeping quarters for 200 workers.