Ramped up funding for air service is a key part of Chattanooga Airport's future as officials seek to leverage a major terminal expansion and raise confidence by air carriers to help woo added flights.
Money for air service development is increasing from $467,000 in the current budget year to $684,000 in Lovell Field's new spending plan, up more than 40%, officials said at a recent meeting of the Airport Authority.
April Cameron, the airport's vice president of finance and incoming chief executive, told the panel that officials want to ensure there are available funds to seek out more air service with marketing and incentive dollars.
"It's going to be a primary focus for the upcoming year and we put in added dollars for that purpose," she said.
Also, the airport's new budget, which goes into effect July 1, keeps unchanged the fees that Lovell Field charges the air carriers to do business in Chattanooga, Cameron said. Rates for terminal rental and landing fees will stay level, she said.
"We know how important it is to keep costs low to the carriers," Cameron said. "If they're successful, we're successful."
For passengers, the airport is raising the rate to park in the new garage by $1 to $15 per day, she said.
"We think that's a comparable rate for that great amenity and more revenue for the airport," Cameron said.
She said the airport's total revenues in the new budget blueprint will increase about 1% over the current year's forecast.
A priority for the airport is nonstop flights to Denver, which is a hub to other destinations in the West. The airport already is seeking a $750,000 federal grant to help land that service, said Terry Hart, Lovell Field's longtime CEO who is retiring this summer.
Hart told the authority there are about $375,000 in pledges from the business community to support Chattanooga to Denver International Airport nonstops should Lovell Field receive the grant.
"We stand encouraged," he said, adding that a decision about the grant is expected in August.
Additionally, the airport is undertaking a $28 million expansion of the passenger terminal. The work, slated for completion by mid-2024, will add 26,000 square feet and renovate 36,000 square feet, according to the airport. The price tag makes the project the largest expansion ever to the terminal, Hart said.
Hart said airport boardings continue to bounce back from the pandemic-induced slow down. Through April, boardings hit 127,512 passengers, up 12% from the same period last year, according to figures.
All the airport's carriers had passenger loads on its planes at nearly 90% in April, figures show.
Hart said he believes the airport is on pace for close to 500,000 passenger boardings for 2023.
In 2019, before the pandemic hit and crippled air service worldwide, Chattanooga Airport posted an all-time high in boardings of 554,050.
While boardings jumped nearly 15% last year over 2021, the level was still 21.9% behind the record, according to the airport.
Air traffic is robust nationally, but the airlines have grappled with a shortage of pilots and other personnel. Some aircraft also have been idled by the carriers.
But Cameron said Chattanooga Airport is starting to see larger planes in the market with more seats.
"The carriers are starting to up-gage the aircraft," she said.
Authority member David Littlejohn said at the meeting that the airport serves the entire region and is "the life blood of the community."
"We're bringing business here," he said. "We're bringing people here."
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.