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1973 — present
Since the 1970s the airport has been run by its own authority: The St. Joseph County Airport Authority is a municipal corporation and a component unit of St. Joseph County, governed by a four-member bipartisan board appointed by the St. Joseph County Commissioners, with a staff of about sixty. Its own financial reports give its birth twice: the FY2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report states in one passage that the Authority was "established January 1, 1974, by the St. Joseph County Council" under Indiana Code 1971 19-6-2, Public Law 304 — the statute since superseded by IC 8-22-3 — and in another passage that it was "established August 1, 1973" under IC 19-6-3.5. This record prints the pair as the authority's own documents state them: created in 1973, in effect from 1 January 1974, the day the airport also took the name Michiana Regional. Two executive directors span most of the authority's life in the record reached: John Schalliol, executive director from 1981 to his retirement in 2012 — thirty-one years, across the 1981 terminal, the rail station, and the 2010–12 concourse — and Mike Daigle, an accredited airport executive styled chief executive officer and executive director in the authority's 2025–26 releases, under whom the airport set its passenger record and finished the $105 million airfield rebuild.
Sources:
- St. Joseph County Airport Authority, FY2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (Indiana State Board of Accounts, in.gov/sboa) — the Authority established 1 January 1974 by the County Council under IC 1971 19-6-2 / Public Law 304, superseded by IC 8-22-3; and, in a second passage, established 1 August 1973 under IC 19-6-3.5; the four-member bipartisan board appointed by the County Commissioners; staff of about sixty.
- Airport Improvement Magazine, "South Bend Airport Completes Expansion & Changes Leadership" (2012) — John Schalliol, executive director 1981–2012; St. Joseph County Airport Authority releases, 2025–26 — Mike Daigle as CEO and executive director.