Michael Christensen was appointed as Chief Airport Development Officer in March 2024. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Christensen served as the Deputy Executive Director Operations and Maintenance at Los Angeles World Airports, in August 2019. His responsibilities include overseeing both facilities maintenance and utilities along with operations and emergency management. Mr. Christensen has over 43 years of experience as a transportation professional. Prior to joining the Department, Mr. Christensen held senior executive positions at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Before joining the Port of Los Angeles in 2006, Mr. Christensen served as Vice President at Parsons Transportation Group, where he was responsible for a broad range of local, regional, and national airport, port, planning, goods movement, and rail projects. Before his Parsons assignments, he served as Vice President and Managing Principal for Nolte and Associates and as President of Summit/Lynch Consulting Engineers, both transportation consulting firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.

His career also included 16 years of service to the Southern Pacific Railroad where he held posts at eight different locations throughout the railroad’s 13-state system engaged in maintenance, construction, operations, and environmental remediation. Mr. Christensen earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Arizona State University and a certificate in Executive Education from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a professional civil engineer in California and nine other western states and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is a Certified Member of the American Association of Airport Executives. Mr. Christensen has served on a number of governmental, industry and technical advisory boards and is currently a member of the Redondo Beach Unified School District Board of education.