President José Antonio Kast appointed architect Claudia Carvallo as the new national director of Airports, according to La Tercera. The president selected her from a shortlist submitted by the Senior Public Management Council. So far, no other source has confirmed the information.
The Airports Directorate reports to the Ministry of Public Works (MOP). Its leadership is a top-level position. It is therefore filled through the Senior Public Management System, which selects government executives through competitive recruitment.
Carvallo returns to a position she already knows. Between 2018 and 2022, she was national director of Airports, during Sebastián Piñera’s second administration. Her appointment provides continuity to a tenure that the current governing coalition had already endorsed.
Her career at the agency began earlier. Between 2005 and 2010, she worked as an architect and government inspector at the Directorate. Between 2010 and 2015, she headed the Airport Concessions Department, which oversees contracts with private companies at airport terminals.
She holds an architecture degree from the University of Chile and a diploma in Planning, Control and Management from the same university. According to La Tercera, she has more than two decades of experience in airport infrastructure and public management. She also worked at a private airport engineering company. Since March 2026, she had served as a ministerial adviser at the same Directorate.
The MOP defended the procedure. According to the ministry, the system seeks to select people through "merit-based selection processes", with the skills needed to lead public institutions.
Applications opened on June 21, 2026, and, following a deadline extension, closed on July 13. The process received 118 applications, of which 110 met the legal requirements. The Council advanced 21 candidates to the management skills assessment stage.
The Council then interviewed eight people, who made up the final shortlist. The Council sent that list to Kast on October 1. La Tercera does not report when Carvallo will formally take office.
