In October of 2013 Andy Wirth and a few friends were going skydiving out in Lodi, California. Taking their regular routine it seemed like everything would be simple for the experienced and licensed skydivers. Wirth had become an avid fan of the sport and he had done hundreds of jumps over the years. However, something went terribly wrong on this jump and Wirth ended up disoriented and forced to put down his chute amidst a vineyard. The Squaw Valley CEO ended up clipping a steal beam and losing his arm before getting caught up by his chute.
With the danger of bleeding out prevalent, Wirth was forced to stay calm and make sure that he wouldn’t die while waiting for help to arrive. So mastering his shock, Wirth began humming a song and staunching the blood flow. Soon after he was saved. Then followed 50 days in a hospital and more than 20 surgeries in order to get his arm re-attached. You’d think that would give the man reason to calm his life down, right? Well, you’d be wrong. For Andy Wirth, working is a passion.
So it doesn’t surprise us to see the experienced CEO being sworn in as chairman of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Board alongside three other new members. Wirth brings a host of professional experience in the industry with himself to his chair and he has the vision and abilities to utilize the position appropriately, leveraging more traffic to the area. Wirth has already spent time as a liaison on the board and this is a sensible step up.
Alongside Andy Wirth we saw Lisa Gianoli, Jessic Sferraza, and Jenifer Rose all sworn in. Wirth spoke highly of their abilities and promised listeners that they would use everyone’s vision to “take our airport to a higher level”.