The Mobile Airport Authority has reached an agreement with the State of Alabama to take over management of St. Elmo Airport, a general aviation facility in south Mobile County, marking the first phase of a plan that will eventually transfer full ownership of the airport to the authority.
Under the arrangement, the Mobile Airport Authority will oversee day-to-day operations at the small airfield while a second phase, which still requires sign-off from the Federal Aviation Administration, moves toward completion. Authority officials said they expect that federal approval within the next two months, clearing the way for an outright acquisition of the property.
Mobile Airport Authority President Chris Curry credited a coalition of state and federal officials for helping broker the deal, saying the authority worked closely with Governor Kay Ivey, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, FAA regulators and leaders at the Alabama Department of Transportation, including John Cooper and Dr. John Eagerton, to reach the agreement.
“We appreciate the confidence placed in MAA and pledge to the community that we will manage and we will grow this airport to serve our community,” Curry said, adding that the authority views St. Elmo Airport as a long-term asset for the surrounding area.
Mayor Stimpson said he expects the second phase of the transfer to be finalized soon, calling the property a valuable piece of infrastructure for the Mobile area going forward. “The St. Elmo Airport property will be a very meaningful asset for the Mobile area in the years to come,” he said.
St. Elmo Airport has long served small aircraft owners, flight training operations and other general aviation users in the southern part of Mobile County. Bringing the facility under the Mobile Airport Authority’s umbrella would align its management with the authority’s other properties, including Mobile Regional Airport and Mobile Downtown Airport at the Brookley Aeroplex.
The announcement came as the Mobile Airport Authority also reported early signs of a rebound in air travel across its network following the sharp drop in passenger traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Curry said Mobile Regional Airport has begun to see enplanements tick upward after the pandemic drove passenger volumes down by 80 percent to 85 percent earlier this spring.
At Mobile Downtown Airport, Frontier Airlines resumed commercial service over the weekend with a flight to Orlando International Airport, the airport’s first major commercial flight since the discount carrier discontinued its nonstop route to Denver. The Orlando flight had originally been scheduled to launch April 18, but Frontier canceled two earlier attempts to get the route off the ground because of weak demand tied to the pandemic.
Curry said passenger loads on the inaugural Orlando flight were modest but represented a positive step for the airport’s commercial air service ambitions. He said he expects Frontier to keep the route flying at least through September, giving the airline a chance to capture demand during the summer travel season.
The developments come as airports across the region continue to navigate the economic fallout of the pandemic, balancing efforts to restore commercial air service with plans for longer-term growth, including the potential addition of general aviation assets like St. Elmo Airport to the Mobile Airport Authority’s portfolio.