American Airlines Temporarily Suspending Flights While Fort Smith Repaves Runway

Jul. 28—American Airlines will suspend flights at the Fort Smith Regional Airport from Aug. 21 to Sept. 5 as the airport repaves its main runway.

This will leave the airport temporarily without a major air carrier. Delta Air Lines suspended flights to Atlanta in June 2020 with plans to resume flights last September. Delta, however, has yet to resume flights at the Fort Smith airport.

Runway 119, which is used by smaller aircraft for general aviation, will also be closed from Sept. 1-5.

American Airlines is expected to resume its normal scheduling on Sept. 6. Runway 7/25 is the only runway at the airport long enough for the American Airlines jets. Repaving of the runway takes place about every 20 years.

American Airlines passengers with tickets during these dates should be contacted by the airline. They can also contact the airline at 800-433-7300 or visit www.aa.com.

In June, the airport had 4,950 passengers, all from American Airlines.

Michael Griffin, director of the airport, said they decided to repave the runway during a time when school is starting and fewer people are vacationing.

Griffin doesn't expect significant revenue loss from the suspension of flights because of other sources of revenue including land lease agreements.

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