Cloud nine is where one might find Mid-Delta Regional Airport director Sam Washington as the goal of reaching 10,000 enplanements in 2022 has been met.
“We made it! We made it by the skin of our teeth,” Washington announced during Tuesday’s meeting of the City of Greenville’s airport committee which consists of Mayor Errick Simmons, Councilwoman Lurann Thomas-Kingdom and Councilman Vernon Greenlee. “We needed 630 enplanements in December and we got 697.”
The airport now qualifies for $150,000 in FAA subsidies having accumulated 8,000 enplanements and is on track to qualify for $600,000 subsidies in the next year.
Contour Airlines propelled the airport to 10,067 total enplanements for the year despite having to make cancellations in November and December due to the residual impact caused by other airline related conflicts.
“There were nine cancellations. I haven’t seen how many we had for December yet, but it may be in the same range,” Washington pointed out. “I agree that had we not had all of those cancellations, we probably would have been close to 11,000 because the numbers were there.”
Ever since landing an agreement with Contour Airlines in August 2021 to serve as its Essential Air Service (EAS) carrier, the Mid-Delta Regional Airport has been on a quest to reach 10,000 enplanements for two consecutive years.
Now, it has one year down and more to go to qualify for roughly $1 million in FAA subsidies.
Increasing the number of enplanements has been one of Washington’s top priorities since he assumed the airport director position.
The potential to get the airport’s numbers back up to where the market once was —10,000 enplanements — was one of the most significant reasons for the airport’s application for enrollment in the alternate EAS program.
Two consecutive years of at least 10,000 enplanements, as Washington pointed out, would not only position the airport for additional improvement projects, but eventually allow for self sustainability.
“If we can get that, that will not only take care of what we’re being supplemented, but it would probably put us a couple hundred thousand to the good beyond that (FY 2025). So the airport would have money to really work from. And as GKAM comes on board and some other things, we’ll start to see more and more revenue streams coming in. If we can hold that, then the airport would literally be self-sufficient,” Washington highlighted. “That’s the goal — to get the airport to self-sufficiency so that it won’t have to rely on subsidies from the City. That’s what the FAA wants.”
Simmons crystalized the incredible feat, noting, “Understand in 2015 with a prior carrier, it had only 757 enplanements for the entire year and we got 700 in one month.”
Washington added, “It speaks to the fact air service is needed here just like anywhere else. And, if you have reliable air service here and it’s at a reasonable price, the people will fly.”
