Mobile’s new downtown airport officially celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Brookley Aeroplex, even as one of the carriers that had been expected to anchor the terminal remains absent from the flight schedule.
Via Air, which had operated flights between Mobile Regional Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida, has not flown out of the Port City since mid-April, and the airline’s future plans locally remain unclear.
“They’ve canceled all their flights for the foreseeable future,” Mobile Airport Authority President Chris Curry said.
Via Air was the first carrier to say it intended to use the new downtown terminal when it announced plans to begin flying out of Mobile in February 2018. Even so, Curry said the airline was never expected to play a major role in the airport’s operations.
“They were scheduled to fly out four times per week on 50-seat jets,” Curry said. “So far, Frontier has five flights per week on 186-seat jets. So, Via was a small part of the plan.”
Curry said Via Air’s struggles appear to extend well beyond Mobile, as the airline reevaluates its overall business model.
“They’ve pulled back on flights out of Austin, Texas, as well as plans in Birmingham,” Curry said. “They’re looking system-wide to re-address what they’re trying to do.”
In the meantime, airport officials said their attention is focused on supporting Frontier Airlines and pursuing expansion opportunities, as well as recruiting additional low-cost carriers to serve the region.
“We never did slow down on our pursuit to get more carriers,” Curry said.
The downtown terminal is currently a modest facility with only two gates, meaning slow, steady growth will be necessary to make the best use of the space until the authority can move into the second phase of construction, according to Curry. Officials said they are working to boost the number of inbound passengers traveling to Mobile from Frontier’s current destination cities, Chicago and Denver.
“We’re working with Visit Mobile to market to destination cities,” Curry said.
Despite being open only a short time, the Mobile Downtown Airport is already the subject of expansion discussions among Mobile Airport Authority leadership. Authority Chairman Elliot Maisel told a crowd gathered for the ribbon-cutting that expansion could move forward once Airbus vacates half of the building it has used as a logistics center, a move expected by June 30.
Maisel said the airport’s long-term plans could ultimately include two or three separate terminals as the facility grows.
“This is a temporary terminal,” Maisel said. “We’ll have a primary and a main terminal in a few years.”
Maisel also told the crowd that the authority has already fielded inquiries from a primary carrier currently based at Mobile Regional Airport about the possibility of relocating downtown, though he said the new terminal isn’t ready for that kind of move yet.
“We’re just getting started,” Maisel said. “Stay tuned and come support it. We want it to transform the city and we think it can, but you have to support it.”
Maisel urged the public to back the airport by booking flights on Frontier Airlines’ routes from Brookley Field, known by the airport code BFM, to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and Denver International Airport.
“We’ve got to support Frontier in order to see more flights to more destinations,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said at the event.
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bill Sisson also encouraged residents to choose Frontier and the downtown airport when booking travel.
“The phrase is ‘use it or lose it,’ and we need to use it,” Sisson said. “If we can do that, we’ll get more flights to more destinations, and I think we can.”
Sisson said the nonstop flights to Denver, which open access to West Coast markets, and to Chicago have already begun to benefit the local business and economic development community.
“Having nonstop flights to Denver and Chicago is important for the business community,” Sisson said. “It’s already getting interest for economic development.”
David Clark, president and CEO of Visit Mobile, said the new airport has already played a role in landing 1,400 hotel room nights from a Midwest group scouting locations for a 2022 convention.
“No pun intended, but this will give us a major lift in travel and tourism,” Clark said. “It’s a major game changer in travel and tourism.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony also included the swearing-in of Rod Young as the Mobile Airport Authority’s new police chief. Young, a Theodore native, joins the authority after more than two decades of service with the Tallahassee Police Department in Florida, from which he recently retired.