Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport CEO Terry Hart says the easy part was landing new United Airlines service to the New York City area. The hard part, he says, will be to sustain it.
"United needs to be profitable for us to keep and grow the service," Hart said earlier this year just before the airline began nonstops between Chattanooga and Newark Liberty International Airport in September.
The airport, already on pace for a record-breaking year in passenger boardings, is expected to gain a big lift from the new United service.
The nonstops, along with new flights between Chattanooga and Chicago on the carrier, may help the airport top 400,000 passenger boardings for the first time ever this year if figures stay on course, according to Hart. The airline added about 200 seats a day to the Chattanooga market with the new flights, he says.
Meanwhile, Hart is shepherding a potential multimillion-dollar expansion at Lovell Field by West Star Aviation, which opened a new corporate aircraft maintenance facility at the airport.
The company plans to build a 45,000-square-foot paint facility on a 13-acre parcel that includes the former Air National Guard site on the passenger terminal side of the main runway. Also on the site, the aircraft maintenance and equipment firm plans to build a 55,000-square-foot maintenance facility.
West Star plans to invest $22.5 million in its air maintenance facility after buying a 40,000-square-foot hangar on the west side of the airport last year.
"West Star has arrived and is positioned for growth," Hart says.
Hart came to the Chattanooga Airport in 2008 as vice president of operations, and he became CEO in 2012.
Most Valuable Players
What business leaders were the most influential in shaping the local economy in 2016? In the Chattanooga region, 2016 was a year of building for the future. The first new nuclear reactor of the 21st century and the biggest plant construction project ever in the region was completed, while a record amount of new housing, hotel and retail development was launched in downtown Chattanooga to soon double the number of residents in the central city. One of the biggest floorcovering plants took shape in North Georgia as two carpet companies combined and Chattanooga's airport added another airline and parking facility. Tennessee's biggest heath insurer prepared to implement its biggest rate hike under the so-called Obamacare program, while the business trio that built one of Chattanooga's most successful startups in the past decade began a fund and program to bring more logistics companies to Chattanooga. The individuals who led such efforts and did the most to reshape the regional economy are our Most valuable Players in business in 2016. Our top list of MVPs includes both seasoned veterans and newly named heads of local businesses and reflects the diversity of Chattanooga's changing economy. * Tennessee American Water President Valoria Armstrong pushes new boundaries * Dynamo Accelerator's founders get back to their trucking industry roots * River City President Kim White helps bring record investment to Chattanooga's central city * Developer Chris Curtis revitalizing MLK with Douglas Heights, other projects * Terry Hart charts a growth course for Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport * Stacy Lightfoot helps students 'Step Up' and learn through internships * Bob Shaw grows Engineered Floors to four plants, 3,000 employees * DeFoor brothers embark on $88 million of new projects in central city * Mike Skaggs leads startup of first new nuke in America in two decades * BlueCross CEO J.D. Hickey scales back individual coverage amid tumult in Obamacare* These are Chattanooga's most influential business leaders