L.A. airport agency’s chief is stepping down

Capping weeks of speculation about her plans, the city’s veteran airports director announced Tuesday that she will resign her high-profile post Jan. 31.

Lydia Kennard, who oversees Los Angeles International Airport and facilities in Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys, said in an interview late Tuesday that she is eager to become chief executive of a new aviation-related real estate company and to spend more time with her family.

“We’ve accomplished a lot -- I credit the mayor and the commission for that,” Kennard said. “It’s a good time for me to move on.”

The 52-year-old executive emphasized that she’s not leaving for good, saying she will serve as a paid consultant to the city’s Airport Commission to maintain momentum on a long-awaited modernization plan for LAX and on an effort to distribute passenger traffic among the region’s airports.

One of the city’s most visible executives, Kennard was highly sought after by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor is fond of telling the story of how he called Kennard even before he was sworn in, trying to woo her back to city government. Citing unfinished business, she returned as executive director of Los Angeles World Airports in October 2005, after having served in the post from 1999 to 2003.

“Lydia Kennard is a consummate leader,” Villaraigosa said Tuesday in a statement. “Her invaluable leadership and consensus-building skills set a course for our airports for this generation and beyond.”

The mayor added that he’s asked the commission to “conduct an international search to recruit and hire a world-class leader who will keep L.A. World Airports on its current trajectory.” Officials had hoped to announce a replacement at the same time Kennard announced her resignation but were unable to do so.

Kennard was little known outside City Hall until she took steps to secure LAX after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Ivy League-educated executive brought a background in urban planning, law and real estate to her post.

Kennard, whose annual salary is $298,315, made it clear when she returned that she wouldn’t stay for long, saying that during her two-year hiatus from government she built a “pretty full private life,” serving on corporate boards and a state commission.

“It’s been a tough year for me to balance it all,” she said Tuesday, noting that she maintained her numerous outside commitments during her tenure at the airports agency.

Rumors swirled around City Hall in recent weeks that Kennard’s departure was imminent, with some even speculating that she was taking a job in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration in Sacramento. “There was lots of misinformation out there,” she said Tuesday.

Kennard succeeded in making changes at the airports system that have eluded officials for decades. In her most recent term, she is recognized for settling a lawsuit with airport-area cities that allowed the airports agency to begin a $333-million project to move the southernmost runway at LAX.

The project is designed to reduce close calls between aircraft on the ground. The effort, which began in July, is the first major construction project at LAX since preparations were made for the 1984 Olympics. Under Kennard’s most recent tenure, the agency is also poised to begin a $723-million refurbishment of the Tom Bradley International Terminal and a $390-million overhaul of LAX’s complex baggage system.

But much remains to be done.

Part of the settlement required the agency to shelve Mayor James K. Hahn’s $11-billion LAX modernization plan and devise a new blueprint. This set of projects has yet to be announced and is mired in controversy.

Airport Commission President Alan Rothenberg said there was concern that Kennard’s departure could stall progress made over the last 15 months.

“Obviously that’s something we’re sensitive about,” Rothenberg said. “The good news is she’s agreed she will help us ... and there’s some great people under her.”

Kennard also leaves a department on the verge of a protracted battle with carriers over a recent decision by the Airport Commission to nearly quadruple rents and other fees. The airlines are expected to take their objections to the increases to the City Council this month.

“That debate ... just has to work its way out,” Kennard said. “And through it I’ll stand ready to help the commission.”

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jennifer.oldham@latimes.com