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Profile: Truman Cummings

Truman keeps power flowing to the FAA’s landing lights and Hobby’s more than 3,000 runway lights.

Houston’s Hobby Airport is the first choice of many commuters and business travelers flying short trips around Texas. Hobby is well-run, convenient and J.D. Powers ranked it the number one airport in the United States in customer satisfaction for two years running.

Hobby earns its high rank through the work of people like electrician Truman Cummings. Truman is the man to call when you absolutely, positively must keep the juice flowing. Truman learned his craft in the steel mills and has honed his skills over forty years’ of tough assignments, including rewiring electric motors an pumps on working oil platforms from the Texas coast to the freezing North Sea.

At Hobby, Truman makes sure regulators are maintained, the runway lights are on and the power is flowing to the FAA-controlled landing lights — all under the screaming jet engines of approaching Southwest Airlines flights.

This is no small task: There are more than 3,000 runway lights on the 1,300-acre field. The work is technical and precise, and Truman must earn annual recertification by the FAA.

Despite Truman’s experience and his nearly eight years of service at Hobby,
the City of Houston has more than doubled his healthcare premiums for less
coverage.