"Massport chief will retire in June; Kinton to keep pay for unused sick time" by Katie Johnston Chase and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff / February 17, 2011
Thomas J. Kinton Jr., who overhauled Logan International Airport after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, announced yesterday that he is retiring as executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, three months after a dispute with Governor Deval Patrick’s administration over his pay.
The 35-year employee, who worked his way up from part-time soil-testing engineer, will retire with a $295,000 salary and a lump-sum $459,000 payout for unused sick time. The policy that allowed the payout was phased out by the agency in 2006 amid public criticism, but Kinton’s benefits were grandfathered. Kinton has also earned other perks, including more than $17,000 last year for selling back three weeks of vacation time.
Kinton, 59, served as aviation director from 1993 until 2006, when he was appointed to run the entire agency, which oversees Logan, as well as the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field, Worcester Regional Airport, and, until recently, the Tobin Bridge. After Sept. 11, 2001, when two jets from Logan were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center, Kinton helped direct efforts to upgrade security and rebuild the agency’s confidence....
Kinton is eligible to receive a pension of at least $195,000 a year. (Officials last night said they believed his unused vacation benefit would add thousands of dollars to that total, but could not confirm that.)
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