Oct. 17—Chattanooga Airport passenger boardings are up 20% in the first three-quarters of the year versus 2021, and Delta Air Lines is expected to hold onto its No. 1 ranking at Lovell Field, officials said Monday.

The sharp climb in boardings comes as travelers return to the skies nationally in droves after a couple of pandemic-stricken years, pressuring airlines amid a pilot shortage, said Terry Hart, the airport's chief executive.

Hart said commercial flights at the airport in September had load factors, or the number of filled seats, at about 91%. He told a meeting of the Airport Authority that 90% is generally considered full.

The airport CEO said he expects boardings at Lovell Field to finish at about 430,000 passengers, up from about 377,000 in 2021, or more than 12% higher.

He said if airlines added more seats into the market, boardings would rise even further. An airport official currently is in talks with airlines to bolster service, Hart said.

"We're telling the Chattanooga story," he said. "The airlines need to see the pilot issue subside."

Jim Hall, the Airport Authority's chairman, said he's encouraged by the increasing boardings.

"We appreciate the continued growth," Hall said at the meeting.

While boardings are returning, they're still not back to pre-pandemic levels.

In 2019, the Chattanooga airport had 554,050 passengers climb into commercial aircraft.

But boardings plunged 59.3% in 2020 over the prior year to 225,289, airport officials said. Not since 1983 in the aftermath of airline deregulation had passenger levels stalled to such a low when boardings that year were 212,955, figures show. The 2020 number ended six consecutive years of record increases at the airport.

Also in 2020, for the first time Chattanooga officials could recall, American Airlines was the top carrier of passengers at Lovell Field, flying past perennial front-runner Delta. In 2021, Delta barely edged American by less than 2,000 passengers.

Delta boardings through this September were up 43% over the prior year, according to the airport, even though the carrier hasn't returned nonstops between Chattanooga and New York. American's traffic is up 8.1% so far this year.

Atlanta-based Delta has captured nearly 46.9% of all traffic at the airport through September, followed by American at 37.2%, according to the airport. Next is United Airlines followed by Allegiant Air, Lovell Field figures show.

Hart said he expects October, typically the busiest month at the airport, to see strong boardings. He cited both business and tourist travel.

"Overall we're on a good path," Hart said.

Earlier this year, Chattanooga Airport embarked on the most extensive revamp to the passenger terminal since the 1990s, increasing the number gates for planes, adding another security lane for boarding passengers and putting in a new restaurant and more restrooms past the security checkpoint.

In all, more than 60,500 square feet of new terminal space and renovations are planned by the airport in the roughly $28 million project that's to finish in about two years.

Contact Mike Pare at [email protected] or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.

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