Tullahoma airport brings in $21 million annually, second in region to Chattanooga's $910 million

The airport in Tullahoma, Tennessee, is second only to the Chattanooga airport in its annual economic impact among the 24-counties in the Tennessee Department of Transportation's Region 2, according to a state study.

TDOT's year-long Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study analyzed the economic impacts at Tullahoma Regional Airport and found the facility contributes $21 million of the $40 billion all 78 of Tennessee's airports pour into the state's economy annually.

"I was pleasantly surprised," Tullahoma airport manager Jon Glass said. "I know we're one of the bigger general aviation airports in the state, but to come in second behind the Chattanooga Airport was a shock."

Outpacing the relatively new airport in Cleveland was also a surprise.

"I mean Cleveland's more than twice the size of Tullahoma," Glass said.

The study - using data collected in calendar year 2019 as an economic snapshot of the year - analyzed the economic impacts of on-airport activities, off-airport activities, multiplier impacts and freight or cargo. Examples of on-airport activities include economic impacts from business tenants, airport construction spending and airport employment. Off-airport impacts include visitor spending.

Statewide, public airports contribute $40 billion to the state's economy and support 220,936 jobs, $13 billion in payroll and $21 billion in value-added, according to the study. The estimates are made based upon the economic productivity of each aviation-related business, calculated as the revenue earned minus the cost of purchasing goods and services from other businesses.

Close behind Tullahoma in the top five in Region 2 is the Upper Cumberland Regional Airport in Sparta at $19.7 million, followed more distantly by the Winchester Municipal Airport at $9.7 million and the Cleveland Regional Jetport at $8.2 million.

"I am very happy to see the economic impact the airport contributes to Tullahoma," Tullahoma Mayor Ray Knowis said in a release on the analysis. "I look forward to the airport attracting more business and employees for our area with the 100-acre Airport Business Park."

(READ MORE: Tullahoma, Manchester ranked among the strongest micropolitan areas in Tennessee)

The Tullahoma Regional Airport, originally built in 1942, has one 5,500-foot-long runway, another 4,200-foot-long runway and a grass runway that's 2,700 feet long. It has undergone improvements in recent years including a new terminal building, 19 new hangars completed in 2008 and four more in 2010. The airport was also got $2 million in upgrades in 2014 to drainage, lighting, ramps and a maintenance hangar.

The Tullahoma airport is the closest general aviation airport to the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival when jet traffic increases 80% at the airport as performers and concert-goers pour into Coffee County every June since 2002. The festival was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus but is currently planned for Sept. 2-5, a timing change of three months.

Visitor spending at Tullahoma Airport generated $1.5 million in revenue to the state in 2019, according to the study. And the analysis found that on-airport impacts generated 149 jobs, $7.5 million in payroll and $11.5 million in business revenue.

At Region 2's largest airport in Chattanooga in 2019, 215,000 visitors arrived at Lovell Field which saw a 10% increase in passenger boarding between 2018 and 2019. The facility's $910 million annual contribution to the state's economy ranks fourth behind the airports in Tennessee's three larger cities - Nashville at $9.9 billion, Memphis at $6.4 billion and Knoxville at $2 billion, according to the study.

Tullahoma Regional Airport graphic

Region 2 which stretches from the Kentucky state line to the Alabama and Georgia state lines and contains 19 of the state's 78 airports and accounts for approximately $4 billion in annual economic impact for the state, the study said.

Other recent developments are aimed at boosting business at the airport in Tullahoma.

In January, a private company announced it was refurbishing a World War II-period hangar for business space in Tullahoma, which is also home to the Arnold Engineering and Development Complex and Arnold Air Force Base. The hangar at the Tullahoma Airport harks back to the days when the town was the site for basic military training for U.S. Army recruits during World War II, according to a 2007 Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation report. A boiler room and storage building also still stand at the airport.

Despite the pandemic and loss of Bonnaroo in last year, Glass said 2020 still wasn't too bad a year for the airport.

"2020 was slightly down and that was because of no Bonnaroo and no Beech Party," he said, noting the loss of the festival and the annual event at the airport held by the Beechcraft Heritage Museum, also located at the airport. "We're seeing more private airplane flying as I believe people are trying to avoid airlines during this COVID situation.".

(READ MORE: Tennessee engineer recalls work on Apollo at Tullahoma's Arnold Air Force Base)

That noted, rising fuel costs are one concern in the future, as aviation fuel prices increased by $1.30 since early November, he said, but looking ahead, "we're right on track with where we've been the last couple of years," he said.

"I expect it be even better than last year."

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.