Chattanooga Airport Boardings Soared 31% In January as Pandemic Recovery Takes Hold

Feb. 21—Chattanooga Airport passenger boardings climbed 31% in January over the same period last year as air travel continues its recovery from the pandemic and airlines begin to add service.

Terry Hart, the airport's chief executive, said he's encouraged that he's starting to see the airlines bump up the number of available seats for passengers.

"That's what we need. You can only sell what you have," he said in an interview after a meeting of the Airport Authority on Monday.

Hart said January's boardings of 33,455 passengers reflect an uptick in seat capacity from the air carriers, all of which posted higher numbers at the airport in the month.

Next month, Delta Air Lines will add seats to its nonstops between Chattanooga and Detroit, Hart said.

In addition, United will boost service between Chicago and Chattanooga with three flights daily on larger aircraft, he said.

"We'll promote the heck out of that," Hart said.

Additionally, nonstop flights between Chattanooga and Miami will restart in June on American Airlines.

Delta, traditionally Chattanooga's busiest carrier, showed boardings 12% higher in January than the same month in 2022, airport figures show. Delta was followed by American, which trailed by just 769 passengers, and then United Airlines and Allegiant Air, according to the airport.

Jim Hall, the Airport Authority's chairman, said at the meeting that he believes more passenger growth is ahead for Lovell Field, including additional nonstops.

Hall said airport officials in 2020 moved ahead with a 1,300-space, $25 million parking garage, even when the pandemic was crippling air service worldwide. The four-level garage, the airport's first, opened in July 2021.

Then, Hall said, the airport agreed to expand the passenger terminal in mid-2022, the most costly such project ever with a price tag of $28 million.

The work will add 26,000 square feet, renovate 36,000 square feet and provide three more gates behind the existing baggage claim, officials have said. Hart has said 90% of the expansion cost will be covered by the Federal Aviation Administration or Lovell Field's existing passenger facility charge, a fee that is placed on each ticket. The airport will pay the remaining cost, he said.

Hall said he's hopeful the expansion, slated for completion in mid-2024, will spur more airline service. The timing should align with an easing of the airlines' existing pilot and equipment shortages, he said.

Also, Hall said he likes the growth in Chattanooga and the tri-state area in general.

"The airport will be poised to service that," he said.

In 2022, Chattanooga Airport reported that boardings rose nearly 15% over 2021, but the results still lagged pre-pandemic numbers. The airport's final 2022 boardings came in at 432,312 passengers, the airport said. While up sharply, the level was still 21.9% behind the all-time annual mark of 554,050 boardings in 2019 in Chattanooga.

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