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Mary Gasper's job is part receptionist, part travel agent, part manager - and all about the customer.

Gasper is the new manager at Dodge County Airport. She started working at the airport in 2002 and was offered the manager position in May.

She said her main focus throughout it all has been the customer.

"In the morning, we count the drawer and we prepare the coolers with ice for the drinks that we sell," Gasper said. "If anybody needs to be pulled out of the hanger early in the morning, then we do that. When people start coming in, we take care of the customers."

In addition to the pilots flying into the airport, Gasper also keeps track of the instructors and student pilots who are taking planes out for lessons.

Taking care of the customers can mean anything from answering telephones to making car reservations to greeting pilots as they fly in.

"I make hotel reservations or car reservations," Gasper said. "I put food out when people start coming around late morning. We get the vehicles when they come in for their cars. I have to make copies of their driver's licenses and credit cards and have them sign the contracts. I do invoicing in between and whatever else the customer requests that we can help them out with."

She said taking care of the pilots who come in starts before they have landed. She greets them before they hit the runway and gives them advisories.

Hundreds of pilots have been greeted with the words, "Welcome to Dodge County Airport. Will you need any services today?"

Pilot requests include fuel, tie-downs, hanger space when it is available, car rentals and sometimes just a simple bathroom break.

"I love customer service," Gasper said. "I like doing whatever I can for the customer."

Service becomes more challenging when the weather can dictate having no customers, or suddenly having a rush of pilots needing to land.

"Mother Nature plays a big part in when people actually get here," Gasper said. "What we do depends upon the weather and customers and the planes coming in or leaving. We had a student that was supposed to fly this morning, but that got cancelled because of the cloud coverage."

She said another challenge is having a rush of people in line.

"I don't like to have a customer wait," Gasper said. "When I have several things going on, that's a challenge. I prefer taking care of the customers the best I can, as quickly as possible."

She said the best days are the ones when everything goes smoothly and her staff can accommodate most of the customers.

The worst day would be if they had an incident, crash or accident. None has happened since she has been there.

Gasper said she is finishing her last semester of classes focusing on health information technology: If she weren't at the airport, she would be working in the medical field.