Paula Jessup first started working with airports in 2004 in a rural county in the northeastern corner of California. Managing small General Aviation airports with no support staff available provided the opportunity to learn all aspects of airport management. In 2010, working at Alturas Municipal Airport, a small GA airport, she experienced her first fire helibase and could not imagine a better place to work after that! Paula Jessup has been the Airport Manager for the City of Tracy, which encompasses Tracy Municipal Airport and New Jerusalem Airport, since 2018.
Paula held the Vice President position with the California Pilots Association for Region 1 for multiple years working with pilots and airport managers to provide better relationships between both. This experience further strengthened her love of aviation and small General Aviation airports.
Paula has continually expanded her knowledge of airports by learning from other respected airport managers such as Steve Datema from Susanville, an amazing airport engineer- Mr. Brandley, pilots on the airfield, and very patient fire crews such as Tahoe Helitack. All were willing to share their knowledge to make the airport a better place and her a better airport manager. She hopes to provide the same opportunity to new up and coming airport managers throughout her career.