Alexis Higgins

What she can decide—and where approval is required

Higgins’s remit includes daily airport administration, organizational policy and annual and longer-term business planning. The trust’s current operating description covers Tulsa International and Tulsa Riverside; its 2019 appointment announcement also included Okmulgee, so that older three-airport scope should not be read as the current portfolio. Trustees consider budgets, rates, major purchases, construction changes and property agreements in public meetings. The June and September 2026 agendas illustrate that division of responsibility; they do not establish the outcome of the scheduled votes. The trust’s financial statements identify the City of Tulsa as its sole beneficiary, state that TAIT cannot levy taxes, and require airport-generated revenue to be used for airport purposes. Those constraints limit what airport management can finance or redirect.

A career built inside the airport system

The airport’s December 2018 announcement described Higgins as a 19-year employee, with the preceding 12 years spent as deputy airports director overseeing marketing and air-service development. That is evidence of long institutional tenure, not an exact hiring date. Her work included disadvantaged-business requirements, parking and concessions. The Oklahoma Airport Operators Association’s 2022 speaker biography reports a University of Tulsa marketing degree, minors in management and Russian, and professional airport accreditation in June 2010. It also records an advisory role with Tulsa Community College’s aviation program. That advisory role connects her airport work to workforce education; it does not establish membership on the college’s governing board.

Career & public service

1. June 2010

   Professional accreditation

   Attained the American Association of Airport Executives’ Accredited Airport Executive designation, according to her institutional biography.

   Oklahoma Airport Operators Association: 2022 speaker biography ↗
2. By December 2018

   Long-serving deputy director

   TAIT reported 19 years of employment and 12 years overseeing marketing and air-service development; exact starting dates were not supplied.

   TAIT appoints COO / interim CEO ↗
3. December 6, 2018

   Interim leadership announced

   Promoted to COO and interim CEO after the previous chief executive resigned.

   TAIT appoints COO / interim CEO ↗
4. March 18, 2019

   Permanent CEO appointment announced

   TAIT announced her promotion after the interim period.

   TAIT: Alexis Higgins named CEO ↗
5. January 1, 2023

   National airport association board service

   Effective date of her ACI-NA board election; end date not established.

   ACI-NA announces new board members ↗
6. March 18, 2026

   New airline service launched

   The airport announced Alaska Airlines’ first Seattle and San Diego service from Tulsa.

   TAIT: Alaska Airlines service begins ↗

People, institutions and the relationships between them

Following the connections

Each step below represents a documented relationship. Dates and roles belong to the individual links; a path can span different periods.

Documented relationships

11 documented relationships · Historical and current roles remain distinct.

Business and industry connections

The Chamber’s current roster lists Higgins as a director affiliated with TAIT. This places her in a regional business forum alongside leaders from employers, colleges, health systems and tribal institutions, without establishing that they coordinate individual decisions. ACI-NA separately announced her election to its board effective January 1, 2023; the association represents commercial airports in the United States and Canada. That dated election is retained as historical evidence because continuation through October 2026 was not verified. The South Central Chapter of AAAE currently lists her as vice chair of its Airport Peer Council and, in its national-positions list, vice chair for Air Service. These are distinct professional roles, not airport trustee seats.

The scale of spending brought before trustees

For the fiscal year July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027, the June 11 agenda proposed a $76,050,391 annual budget: $34,432,014 for operations, $1,548,380 for operating capital purchases, $12,531,089 for debt service and $27,538,908 for capital projects. Its $2,567,250 parking-management budget is already included in operations and must not be added again. These are dollar-denominated proposed authorizations in item 4, page 1, filed June 8—not actual expenditures or Higgins’s compensation. The September 10 agenda’s page 3, item 16, listed a proposed tower construction change order with Flintco: a $76,900,000 original contract, $1,573,623.19 in previous changes and a further $5,745.12, producing a proposed $78,479,368.31 contract total. This is one construction contract’s running total, not the total cost of the airport’s capital program. Neither agenda alone proves approval or payment.

Reported policy dispute

A consequential dispute: airport fire services

In November 2020, Public Radio Tulsa reported that the airport authority awarded a five-year aircraft rescue and firefighting contract to Pro-Tec, replacing Tulsa Fire Department service. Higgins attributed the change to pandemic-era revenue pressure and said it did not reflect poor fire-department performance. Then-Mayor G.T. Bynum cast the lone dissenting vote and sought further talks with the firefighters’ union. The board proceeded, with renewed negotiations described as requiring a restart of bidding. An airport-authored May 2021 announcement hosted by the contractor confirms that Pro-Tec began service on March 1, 2021. This establishes implementation of the decision, while the announcement’s promised savings and assurances about service quality remain institutional claims rather than independently measured results.

Air service and construction in 2026

At the January State of the Airport event, Tulsa Flyer / Oklahoma Eagle reporting described Higgins presenting an agenda of new airline service and major construction. The report distinguished plans for the control tower and customs facility from completed work; it later clarified the tower’s expected construction timing. A separate airport announcement records an achieved milestone on March 18, 2026: Alaska Airlines launched nonstop service to Seattle and San Diego. That launch provides an observable outcome beyond a recruitment target. It does not by itself establish route profitability, permanence or the amount of public support behind the service. The later tower change-order agenda shows construction administration continuing into September; it is not a completion certificate.

Check the record

Sources & corrections

Research checked 2026-10-02. Roles and financial figures retain their source dates. Sections appear only when supported material is available; an omitted section is not a finding that no such relationship exists.

1. TAIT: Alexis Higgins named CEO ↗

   Official appointment announcement · Source date 2019-03-18 · Checked 2026-10-02

   Appointment and responsibilities paragraphs

2. TAIT appoints COO / interim CEO ↗

   Primary institutional record · Source date 2018-12-06 · Checked 2026-10-02

   Tenure, prior responsibilities and interim appointment

3. Oklahoma Airport Operators Association: 2022 speaker biography ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   Alexis Higgins biography; dated conference page, self-description

4. TAIT: About us ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   Opening paragraph: currently operates TUL and RVS

5. TAIT: current board and meeting archive ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   TAIT five-member roster; checked October 2, 2026. Conflicts with City roster noted privately.

6. Tulsa Regional Chamber: board of directors ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   Board of Directors: Alexis Higgins, Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust

7. ACI-NA announces new board members ↗

   Primary institutional record · Source date 2023-01-11 · Checked 2026-10-02

   Election effective January 1, 2023; no verified end date

8. South Central Chapter AAAE: leadership roster ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   National Committees: Air Service vice chair; Chapter Committees: Airport Peer Council vice chair

9. TAIT financial statements: years ended June 30, 2025 and 2024 ↗

   Primary institutional record · Checked 2026-10-02

   Printed p.16 / PDF p.18, Note 1: public trust, City beneficiary, airport revenue restrictions; posted February 2026 path, exact posting date unconfirmed

10. TAIT/TAA June 11, 2026 agenda ↗

    Primary institutional record · Source date 2026-06-08 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Filed June 8, 2026, 4:14 p.m.; p.1 item 4; USD, FY2027 proposed budget. Table visually inspected. Agenda is not a voting record.

11. TAIT/TAA September 10, 2026 agenda ↗

    Primary institutional record · Source date 2026-09-04 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Filed September 4, 2026, 3:35 p.m.; p.3 item 16, contract F24-096. USD contract/change-order table visually inspected. Approval outcome not established.

12. Public Radio Tulsa: airport fire-service contract dispute ↗

    Independent reporting · Source date 2020-11-13 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Matt Trotter; award, Higgins explanation, Bynum dissent

13. Airport announcement: Pro-Tec begins service ↗

    Primary institutional record · Source date 2021-05-11 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Airport-authored announcement hosted by contractor; service began March 1, 2021; promotional savings claims not treated as audited outcomes

14. Tulsa Flyer / Oklahoma Eagle: State of the Airport plans ↗

    Independent reporting · Source date 2026-01-22 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Ismael Lele; updated January 23; announced 2026 plans, not completion certificate

15. TAIT: Alaska Airlines service begins ↗

    Primary institutional record · Source date 2026-03-18 · Checked 2026-10-02

    Opening paragraph and CEO identification; launch-day service description, not October timetable