James G. Howes

James Guerdon Howes (November 14, 1945 – September 14, 2021) was an American businessman in the aviation and communications fields. He was best known as announcer and producer of the weekly Sacred Classics radio program, which originated on WBVM, in Tampa, Florida, and was live streamed on the internet. His company, Atlas Communications, based in Baltimore, Maryland, produced private label CDs of various choirs and organists appearing on the show.

Early years

James G. Howes was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to James Harold and Edna Esther (Lowman) Howes on November 14, 1945. He is the grandson of radio evangelist Rev G. E. Lowman and related by marriage to Emmy Award-winning video editor Walter Balderson. Sacred Classics was broadcast around the world. This led to the formation of Atlas Communications in 1991, which also produced CDs and concerts in addition to broadcasting programs, including [Sacred Classics. Howes was president of Atlas Communications since 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. when the airport was struggling and handling only 98 flights a week. The air carriers' fares at the airport were expensive, having little competition, and most tourists were going to Caribbean destinations. Bermuda's Transport Minister at the time (and later Premier) Dr. Ewart Brown, wrote that the Ministry's objectives were the upgrading of airport facilities and increasing airline service, and Howes was "at the top of [the] short list" because of his success at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. Howes and the Bermuda Transport Ministry team 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. More than persons attending the beachfront event were given souvenir T-shirts and pins proclaiming "Bermuda Airport – #1 in Service", along with food and live entertainment. After the $35,000 cost for the event was criticized by the opposition political party and The Royal Gazette, Howes released a statement addressing the controversy, saying: "Astute management in any large organization realizes that there is far more to motivating employees in the pursuit of excellence than a paycheck alone".

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 Howes issued a statement saying that arrangements had been made to assure no interruption of service, the Royal Gazette lampooned him by showing the airport manager atop the control tower in a Boy Scout uniform controlling the airplanes with signal flags, with the ministers of transport and labour underneath. Howes was on Bermuda's Scout executive committee at the time. Before departing the airport on May 1, 2007, to take over his radio syndication company in Florida, Howes initiated the development, with HNTB, a 20-year master plan for the Bermuda International Airport, including future runway and airline terminal facilities. In his 2019 book, Whom Shall I Fear?, Brown provides a retrospective of his years in Bermuda government. He wrote that Howes' "leadership skills and managerial acumen ... proved his value to the airport and Bermuda's air service in myriad ways".

A Methodist, he joined the interdenominational Riverside Church in 1976, serving on the Music Committee. He was 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.

Howes was an editor on the English Wikipedia, where he authored 68 articles.