James G. Howes

James Guerdon Howes is an American businessman in the aviation and communications fields. He is best known as announcer and producer of the weekly Sacred Classics radio program, which currently originates on WBVM, in Tampa, Florida, and live streamed on the internet. His company, Atlas Communications, based in Baltimore, Maryland, produces private label CD's of various choirs and organists appearing on the show. Howes previously was active as an aviation industry executive.

Early years
James G. Howes was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to James Harold and Edna Esther (Lowman) Howes. He is the grandson of radio evangelist Rev G. E. Lowman and related by marriage to Emmy Award-winning video editor Walter Balderson. His early childhood interest in broadcasting was sparked by watching the control room engineers producing his grandfather's worldwide radio broadcast in the 1950s. He also became interested in the transportation industry by watching the local Baltimore television program of the 1950s about the maritime shipping industry, The Port That Built A City, hosted by Helen Delich Bentley, and Arthur Godfrey's televised anecdotes about flying. After attending Towson High School, he graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in transportation. In 1969, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. While an undergraduate, Howes received an Air Force ROTC scholarship, going on active duty from 1969 to 1972 as a traffic management officer at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. He was discharged as a captain. He served as an intern for United States Senator Joseph Tydings from 1965 to 1968.

Career
After leaving the Air Force, Howes first worked for The Hertz Corporation as a Regional Manager of Marketing from 1972 to 1975 before he began working in airport management. His career has enabled him to meet several political leaders, including many recent American presidents and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He also was a campaigner for the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., from 1974 to 1984.

Broadcasting
Howes' involvement in the communications business primarily focuses on radio and music. He originally began producing both King of Instruments (1983–1985) and Choral Masterpieces (1985–1995), for the old WXCR radio station. Production moved to WBVM and in 1986 the choral and organ programs were combined into the program Sacred Classics. Sacred Classics is now broadcast around the world. This led to the formation of Atlas Communications in 1991, which also produces CDs and concerts in addition to broadcasting programs, including Sacred Classics. Howes has been president of Atlas Communications since 2001.

Aviation
Howes got a background in airport management as the Commissioner of Aviation, Poughkeepsie, New York (1975–1980), and then as executive director of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida (1980–2001), as well as working at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. When Howes was appointed director of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in 1980, the airport had less than 100,000 airline passengers annually. By 1993, passenger volume had increased to 721,977; beginning in 1995, it surpassed one million passengers yearly. In response to the growth, major improvements to the airport's terminal were completed in the 1990s. Howes also negotiated a 15-year lease with United Parcel Service in 1994 for its Florida air freight hub and expanded the airport's 2000 acre industrial park.

Howes' business-related awards include: the FAA Southern Region's Airport of Year Safety Award for 1998 and the Bermuda Hotel Association's "Man of the Year" for 2004. He is a member of the American Association of Airport Executives and the Southeastern (U.S.) Airport Managers' Association (president 1993–94). He was president of the Florida Airports Council (1989–1990) and is currently a director of the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society.

Howes took over Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport as General Manager in May 2002, when the airport was struggling and handling only 98 flights a week. The air carriers at the airport were expensive and had little competition and most tourists were going to Caribbean destinations. He and the Bermuda Transportation Ministry developed a strategic plan to attract low-cost carriers and increase traffic. Arrivals soon increased over 15 percent—over 124 a week in the summer. While Howes was manager, passenger traffic steadily increased. In August 2006 it increased 20% over the previous August. Howes also improved access for handicapped passengers and obtained Doppler weather radar for the airport.

In 2002 and 2003, the Bermuda International Airport placed highly in the International Air Transport Association's survey of overall passenger satisfaction, winning its North American Region both years and rising from ninth to fourth worldwide. Bermuda Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown celebrated the 2002 result by throwing a party for all airport employees and their families.

There was an air traffic controller strike at the airport in September 2002 that had been brewing for two years. In December 2002 labor issues began with the airport firefighters, which erupted into a strike in February 2003. When Hurricane Fabian struck in 2003 and did over $15 million in damage to the airport, Howes had it operating again in three days.

Before departing the airport on May 1, 2007, to take over his radio syndication company in Florida, In 2005–2007 Howes assisted in developing, with HNTB, a 20-year master plan for the Bermuda International Airport, including future runway and airline terminal facilities. Howes continues to work as a consultant to the transportation industry and in broadcasting.

Other interests
Howes holds a commercial pilot's license with instrument and multi-engine ratings. Other interests include scuba diving, playing the pipe organ, and photography.

He has also been active in Scouting for many years, starting when he was a Cub Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). While a Cub Scout, his unit visited Friendship Airport (now BWI). The group toured a Martin 4-0-4 airliner, including its cockpit; which began his lifelong interest in aviation. He served as vice president of the BSA's West Central Florida Council, Largo, Florida, from 1987 to 1991 and is a recipient of Scouting's Silver Beaver Award in 1990. He is also a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, serving as a Lodge Advisor from 1974 to 1987. He was also a National Council Representative from 1992 to 1996. While residing in Bermuda, Howes was a member of the executive committee of the Bermuda Scout Association.

This connection to Scouting led to him being lampooned by a Bermuda newspaper, The Royal Gazette, in a cartoon on February 14, 2003, during an airport firefighter's strike, by showing him atop the control tower in a Boy Scout uniform controlling the airplanes with signal flags.

A Methodist, he joined the interdenominational Riverside Church in 1976, serving on the Music Committee, and continues to be a member of the New York City church. He is also a sponsor of musical events at the Ocean Grove Auditorium in New Jersey. In 2012, he commissioned a significant addition to the Auditorium's historic pipe organ.