10 to Vie for Job as Airports Chief : Government: List of candidates narrowed in nationwide search. Only two applicants are from outside City Hall.

The Los Angeles Airport Commission--reluctantly pushed into launching a nationwide search for a new Airport Department general manager--has narrowed the list to 10 finalists, but only two are from outside city government.

On Wednesday, the commission began interviewing the candidates in closed-door sessions. The interviews, expected to conclude today, could allow the commission to decide as soon as Monday who will replace Clifton A. Moore as general manager of the Airport Department, which oversees Los Angeles International, Van Nuys, Ontario and Palmdale airports. LAX is the world’s third busiest airport and Van Nuys is the nation’s busiest general aviation facility.

Moore, 70, announced in September that he will retire after 24 years as general manager.

While the list of candidates to succeed Moore is confidential, personnel officials have said that all but two of those vying for the job already work for the city. Interviews with various officials show the group includes the following:

Randall Bacon, who has directed the city’s General Services Department for four years and has 36 years of government experience, most of it with the County of Los Angeles.

William McCarley, chief legislative analyst, who has worked for the city 27 years.

Donald Miller, the Airport Department’s second-in-command and a 24-year city employee.

Faye Washington, head of the Department of Aging for five years and a 24-year city employee.

Stephen Yee, a 34-year city employee who now manages Los Angeles International Airport.

Also in contention for the job, sources said, is Personnel Director Jack Driscoll, who did not return telephone calls requesting an interview. Driscoll has worked for the city 14 years.

Names of the remaining candidates could not be confirmed, although officials said the list includes at least one other woman candidate.

The search for Moore’s successor has generated considerable interest at City Hall, both because the high-paying post is a plum appointment and because commissioners initially wanted to limit their search to only city employees--a plan that ran afoul of the City Council.

Insisting that a world-class Airport Department demanded a nationwide quest for a new general manager, the council prevailed upon the commission to broaden its search for candidates. To do anything less, the council argued, would suggest that commissioners had struck a back-room deal to name a City Hall insider to the job, which will pay $131,231 to $196,856 a year, depending on the appointee’s qualifications and current salary.

After the council’s action last month, the city’s Personnel Department invited applications from managers and assistant managers at the nation’s 50 largest commercial airports, according to Phil Henning, assistant general manager of personnel.

That invitation, Henning said, led to about a dozen applications from candidates outside the city. A similar number of city employees also submitted applications, he said.

While Henning and Airport Commission President Robert Chick expressed some surprise at the small number of applicants from outside the city, they and aviation industry officials said there are several factors contributing to the lack of candidates.

For one thing, several industry officials noted that Los Angeles is one of many cities--among them, Atlanta, Denver and Orlando--looking for airport department managers. “I’ve been in aviation for 30 years and this is the most openings I’ve ever seen at one time,” said Paul B. Gaines, Houston’s director of aviation.

Another factor--a perennial problem in recruiting for Los Angeles--is its higher cost of living compared to other cities, said officials both inside and outside the city.

But the most significant factors, officials added, may be the city’s budget crisis and the looming change in political leadership with Mayor Tom Bradley’s departure next year.