Airports across the state of Alabama are being critically impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Aviation Council of Alabama has gathered data from both commercial and general aviation airports throughout the state that all paints a very bleak picture.
Commercial service airports have reported a range of revenue loss from a minimum of 50 percent all the way up to 85%. The hardest hit appear to be Dothan Regional Airport and Huntsville International Airport. "Huntsville International Airport projects that we will lose 75 percent of revenue for the next three months or a total of $7-$10 million dollars," said Rick Tucker, CEO. "Our airport is operating in mission critical mode and without emergency assistance the outlook for us seems grim." Just a few miles away in Decatur the sentiment is similar. "Pryor Field Airport Authority is seeing a drastic decrease in business traffic," said Adam Foutz, airport manager. "Tenants are not flying very much and none of the airport's regular business travelers have utilized the facility in the last week."
Other general aviation airports across Alabama like Tuscaloosa National Airport report losses in the 20-30 percent range. Auburn University Regional Airport is now experiencing a 95 percent reduction in flight school operations and a 50 percent reduction in itinerant aircraft operations, resulting in a projected revenue loss of nearly $600,000 in the next three months. In Gulf Shores at Jack Edwards National Airport the impact has been slower coming with losses reported of only about 10 percent, but with Alabama beaches now closed, revenue there too will decrease further.
“The abrupt decline in air travel that has resulted from the COVID-19 outbreak has forced Alabama airports, like our counterparts across the country to quickly and decisively implement alternatives to our operations”, said Todd Storey, Aviation Council of Alabama president. “While, all of our airports operate independently, the challenge we are facing right now is the same- an immediate decline in revenue that was expected. Despite revenue declining, we have continued operational costs in order to continue running our airports and to clean our facilities in order to ensure the health of employees, passengers and tenants. We urge the federal government to provide emergency assistance in order to help offset these unexpected losses that are constraining our budgets. Airports are a vital component to the country’s transportation infrastructure and without assistance now we could be critically crippled.”
Funding to support airports across the country, to include Alabama airports, has been requested by Airports Council International- North America and the American Association of Airport Executives. The request is for the federal government to provide emergency assistance to airports in the amount of $10 billion. "The operational costs for airports continue despite the steep downturn in revenue, creating challenges and forcing operational changes. MGM is experiencing an average 60% decline since Monday of this week. This includes both our aeronautical passenger counts and non-aeronautical revenue categories such: as parking, terminal concessions, and rental car revenues," said Marshall J. Taggart Jr., Montgomery Airport Authority executive airport director. "We continue to prioritize the safety of our employees and passengers and have measures in place to thoroughly clean the facility while remaining open. These critical measures to operate the airport daily and continue safe service for passengers cost money, and without assistance the outlook is dire."
