As Terry Hart, President and CEO of the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport retires after being in that position since 2011, business has rebounded following the pandemic. Based on boardings for the first six months of 2023, enplanements are predicted to reach 480,000 for the year.
May and June were good months for the airport. In May, most flights leaving Chattanooga were 92 percent filled to capacity and deplanements were in line with enplanements. This is a 13 percent increase from May 2022. In June this year, the average capacity of planes leaving Chattanooga was up nine percent compared to the first six months of 2022, with 90 percent of the seats filled. Take-offs also were up by 13 percent for the last two months. A lot of that increase was credited to general aviation, said Mr. Hart.
Improvements continue to be made that will increase capacity and customer experience at the Chattanooga Airport. The biggest project underway is the terminal expansion that will add three passenger gates with jet bridges, expansion of security checkpoints, a restaurant, bar and new concessions and a connector from the old to the new concourse. And the décor of existing spaces will be refreshed. Approaching day 400 of the two-year project, the exterior is mostly complete and work on the interior is beginning.
West Star Aviation has just completed its fifth hangar. The company that specializes in repair and maintenance of aircraft has from 50-60 planes on the ground in Chattanooga at any one time, said Mr. Hart.
A taxiway connector is under construction that includes replacing an underground culvert. After this work is completed, the west side general aviation development will begin, with the expectation that general aviation’s growth will continue at an increasing pace.
Inspections and requirements for the airport have all gone well in the last few months, the outgoing president said. An annual week-long inspection by the Transportation Security Administration verified that the airport follows all requirements of the TSA security plan and there were no findings.
The annual Federal Aviation Administration inspection last week, also gave the Chattanooga Airport an outstanding review showing that it meets standards and regulations following FAA requirements.
The Chattanooga Airport board of commissioners approved $151,855 to relocate the security scanners from temporary locations to their new permanent locations in mid-September. The work is being funded as part of the terminal expansion project.
For continued growth, a master plan was created for the airport in 2019. It includes the development of the West Side of the airport where services are provided for private aviation from the fixed base operator managed by Wilson Air. The hangars there now are virtually full at 98 percent capacity and the demand continues, said Mr. Hart.
The new development plan will begin with site preparation and building a taxiway, ramp and lights this year. Phase 2 planned for 2024 will include a new hangar on that site. When finished, the new 20,000-square-foot hanger will hold around an additional 28 planes depending on their sizes. This work on the west side of the airfield, will make use of all the airport’s property. The board approved a contract with Tally Construction for the amount of $6,448,000 for Phase 1 of the west side development.
Allen & Hoshall Engineers will be paid $365,056 to provide construction and administrative services for the development project. The cost of both the site preparation and Allen & Hoshell’s fee will be 90 percent funded with federal money and 10 percent will come from Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
At the last board meeting that Mr. Hart will conduct, he thanked the board for giving him the opportunity to lead the organization 12 years ago saying during his tenure the airport had reached his goals including safe operations, had financial success and built customer relationships and is being left with a good path forward with April Cameron as president and CEO. Mr. Hart will be relocating to Chicago, his home, where he still has family and friends.
Jim Hall, chairman of the board, commended Mr. Hart saying that he represented the board well in his leadership role at the airport. He said Mr. Hart had maintained transparency and accountability, and his knowledge of the airport has set an example for Ms. Cameron whom he has impowered to lead the airport forward for success. He said the board is grateful for the teams that have been assembled during his tenure and thanked him for the years in Chattanooga.