The pressure is on as Mobile enters its final approach toward relocating commercial airline service downtown, and the people responsible for the move are treating the timeline like a flight plan: multiple checklists, tight sequencing and no room for a late pushback.
The Mobile Airport Authority has launched a broad transition effort as teams brief and coordinate with construction crews, airlines, service providers and federal agencies ahead of a long-awaited grand opening for the Mobile International Airport in spring 2027. The $381 million project will shift scheduled passenger service from Mobile Regional Airport, out near Tillman’s Corner, to theBrookley-area site just south of downtown — a move local leaders have chased for years because of its proximity to the city center, the cruise terminal and the city’s growing downtown residential and entertainment districts.
Four Missions, One Deadline
Vasey Aviation Group, an aviation consulting firm, is helping orchestrate the transition and is now several weeks into a partnership with the authority. Andy Vasey, the firm’s president and founder, told authority board members that the work has been divided into four primary missions: closing out construction, moving operations from Mobile Regional Airport, determining what it will cost to operate the new facility, and helping develop additional air service.
“Everybody’s got sort of one mission here: just get this wrapped up, have a good party the day before the opening and move forward,” Vasey said.
Among the most immediate concerns is the terminal’s low-voltage systems — the security card access, surveillance cameras, flight information displays, airline ticketing systems and the power and data infrastructure that ties them all together. Vasey said staff identified a roughly 12-week startup constraint associated with that work that could interfere with operational readiness testing if the systems are not brought online early enough.
“We heard that that’s like three months. Not going to work,” Vasey said.
The contractors on the project, JESCO, Inc. Construction and Hoar Program Management, have agreed to an amended approach to avoid delays, Vasey said, which would include preinstalling and testing power and data connections before additional work is done. Temporary tables could be used if necessary so airlines and other users can begin testing equipment without waiting for the final build-out of their spaces.
Security Screening, Rental Cars and Simulations
Transportation Security Administration readiness is another major puzzle piece. Vasey said getting screening equipment into the new terminal has been discussed with the agency, and that TSA initially wanted to move a single X-ray machine from Mobile Regional. Coordinating the checkpoint build-out with the federal agency’s own deployment schedule is one of the many interdependencies the transition team is managing as opening day approaches.
The authority has continued to coordinate with rental car companies, and Vasey said it has collaborated with local public safety agencies to ensure simulations and emergency procedures are fully developed before the airport opens. He said an additional 300-space parking lot and more amenities for rental car operations need to be finalized, including better lighting in the lower parking deck.
“We really want to get them into a facility for opening day, so that they can wash and service their cars in and out,” Vasey said. “That’s a hot-hot issue for us.”
Many of those punch-list items will be formalized in the authority’s fiscal year 2027 budget. Airport officials are expected to present an initial spending plan using updated revenue projections, staffing estimates, service agreements and annual debt costs — the clearest picture yet of what it will cost to run a downtown terminal that is smaller than Mobile Regional but sits far closer to the heart of the city.
MAA Board Chairman Sandy Stimpson, the former Mobile mayor who now leads the authority’s board, suggested officials may move to more frequent meetings — even weekly — through the fall and winter. He said that would ensure rapid approvals as construction and transition decisions pile up.
“From the very beginning, people have recognized that there’ve been challenges, opportunities, or problems, and we are solutions-oriented, and we will continue to do that and make sure that we open this airport and open it the way that’s expected by the public,” Stimpson said.
Milestones Already in the Books
Vasey’s team is stepping in as airport officials have already begun a determined sprint to have the facilities ready. Caty Watts, a project manager for Hoar Program Management, said several major milestones have been completed: passenger bridges have been delivered and installed over the past month, baggage handling equipment is on site, parking garage systems are operational and the fire alarm system is installed. Elevator installation is also nearing completion, with only final leveling work remaining.
Adam Hayes, the authority’s acting director, added other items to the completed column. TSA re-federalization paperwork has been completed and approved. A roundabout at the terminal entrance is effectively complete and was scheduled to officially open on Monday, Aug. 24 — significantly ahead of schedule. Two new customer service and communication staff members have been hired.
Hayes noted the authority will use a $4 million federal Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting grant to purchase new firefighting trucks and apparatus, an investment required as part of the federal certification process that allows commercial service at a new airport. More work is also slated to begin on a second roundabout at the end of Michigan Avenue to improve access to the terminal from the north.
The authority board also cleared additional construction-related items, approving 16 change orders tied to the terminal project — 13 increases and 3 decreases — at a combined cost of $506,000. Change orders of that scale are routine on projects of this size, but each one represents scope that must be absorbed into the schedule between now and the opening.
A Project Years in the Making
The relocation of commercial air service from Mobile Regional to the downtown Brookley field has been discussed for most of the past decade. Supporters have argued that a downtown airport puts passengers minutes from hotels, restaurants and the Alabama Cruise Terminal, and that it positions Mobile to capture more business travel and convention traffic. Critics over the years have questioned the cost and whether airlines would embrace the smaller field. The authority has pushed forward, funding the project through a combination of federal grants, state support and local resources, with the terminal design anchored by five gates.
As of June, the project was estimated to be running about $6 million under budget — a notable position for a public construction project of this scale, and one that gives the authority some cushion as change orders and transition costs accumulate.
The runway at the downtown site has already been serving general aviation and cargo traffic, and the terminal itself rises along Michigan Avenue just off Mobile Bay. Once airlines complete the move, the Mobile Regional Airport site will continue to serve general aviation and other functions while the authority evaluates its long-term use.
What Travelers Should Expect
For local travelers, the practical effect of the transition will be a change of address: flights currently booked out of Mobile Regional will operate from the downtown terminal once the switch happens, and airport officials have said the move is expected to happen all at once rather than gradually. No exact opening date has been announced, though officials continue to describe the target as late spring 2027.
Between now and then, the authority’s weekly rhythm will be dominated by the four missions Vasey outlined: finishing the building, moving the operation, pricing the budget and growing the flight schedule. The board’s willingness to meet more frequently signals how compressed the remaining timeline has become.
“The pressure is on” may be the simplest summary of where the project stands. But with construction closeout underway, federal paperwork approved and the airlines coordinating their own move plans, the finish line for one of Mobile’s most consequential infrastructure projects is finally — visibly — in sight.