Anderson made the announcement Monday, citing Williams' "tremendous achievements" in New Orleans, which include getting the airport back into operation the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated it last August.
Williams, 51, will start working May 30, pending City Council approval of his appointment. He replaces Tim Campbell, who last October left Utah to be the executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration, overseeing Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
"I've got first and foremost a lot of learning," Williams said during a telephone interview Monday.
Already, however, he has two projects in sight for Salt Lake City: Deciding whether the airport needs an entirely new passenger terminal and negotiating with airlines for nonstop service to Europe.
Both would depend heavily on whether Delta Air Lines remains solvent and whether the mayor and City Council agree with his goals.
"I wouldn't consider that a mandate, but I would welcome his input," said City Councilman Carlton Christensen, a member of the search committee. Christensen said he expected no significant opposition to Williams' appointment.
Williams was a top candidate in 2000 when Campbell was named airport director. This time around, he had more experience and had demonstrated strong managerial skills after Katrina, Christensen said.
Christensen recalled that during his latest interview, Williams commented that Louis Armstrong's post-Katrina efforts was a larger airlift than U.S. forces executed while evacuating Saigon during the Vietnam conflict. "To think of what he went through to get through what he did is pretty impressive," Christensen said.
The hurricane struck New Orleans on Aug. 29, causing $55 million in rain and wind damage to the airport.
At the time, Williams was directing an $83 million airfield reconstruction. He had decided raising the runways about 18 inches as a hedge against hurricanes was more important than remodeling the terminal. While the airport lost its electricity, navigational aids, water supply and telephone systems, the flood didn't touch any active runways.
By the next day, air lifts started under visual flight rules.
"I slept in my office for 34 days," Williams said. "But it only had a three-quarter-length couch. Finally, my staff got me an inflatable air mattress."
During that time, Williams supervised helicopter evacuations that peaked at 3,400 operations per day. He and his staff also saw to the needs of 8,000 evacuees living in the terminal.
But as a result of Katrina, Louis Armstrong International saw a 20 percent drop in air service in 2005, according to an Associated Press report, which said the airport reported about 7.8 million passengers passed through Armstrong's terminal in 2005, down from 9.8 million in 2004.
Williams received his bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University and his law degree from Georgetown University.
The Twin Falls, Idaho, native worked in Salt Lake City for Jones, Waldo, Holbrook & McDonough.
He assisted in developing the 1983 bond issue that paid for the Western Airlines hub expansion at Salt Lake City International.
Soon after, he went to work for USAir as a properties negotiator and served as aviation director for Dayton (Ohio) International Airport before going to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans.
