ROMULUS — Army veteran and former Wayne County deputy sheriff Chad Newton was elected chief executive officer of the Wayne County Airport on Wednesday, bringing with him a security background and a focus on diversity hiring.

Newton previously served as VP of public safety at the airport and was appointed to his current post in November. He will make $280,150 per year as part of his new three-year employment contract.

The airport authority currently operates Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports and served nearly 35 million passengers in 2017 according to a report from Freep.com.