The Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport is feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Executive Director Tom Heanue is excited about the bright spots on the horizon.
Soon, the airport will offer two daily nonstop flights to Houston, Texas, and renovations to the terminal are almost ready to begin.
The flights to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport will begin on July 1 and will be through United Airlines on one of their 50-passenger regional jets.
Daily service to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will end on June 30, and Heanue and his staff are currently addressing customers who may have flights booked after those dates.
“The Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport Authority commissioned a study in 2018 to evaluate whether a move to United Airlines would benefit the area in the long run,” said Heanue. “While United Airlines connections worked very well, there was no reason to ask SkyWest - the airport’s airline partner - to change to United at that time.”
However, in early March, SkyWest notified Heanue that American Airlines, which provided the Dallas/Fort Worth flights, planned to reduce or eliminate service to nearly a dozen communities around the U.S., including Hattiesburg-Laurel.
“SkyWest immediately approached United Airlines, which agreed to partner to serve the Pine Belt effective July 1,” said Heanue. “United brings a global airline to the Pine Belt with a strong network.”
Heanue said approximately 2,600 people per month used the Dallas/Fort Worth flights, and he looks forward to continued success with the Houston flights.
Right now, Heanue is focusing on the pandemic and its financial impact on the airport. There has been a 90 percent reduction in traffic at the airport, he said, which is consistent with air travel being down roughly “90-something percent across the globe.”
The airport is due to receive some of the federal money allotted through the CARES Act, a $2 trillion stimulus package signed into law on March 26.
“We’ll get some monies from the relief package,” said Heanue. “It won’t be a lot, but we’ll get a little bit.”
Some of that cash will go toward the airport’s terminal renovations, which were planned prior to the pandemic.
“We’ll be replacing the roof, the furniture and signage,” he said. “We’ll freshen the terminal up a little bit.”
Heanue is currently advertising for bids on the project, so costs are not yet known.
He added that the CARES Act mandates that some projects - like the terminal renovation - will be 100 percent federally funded.
The airport serves a 10-county region and offers both commercial and general aviation services.
In addition, the airport has a business park encompassing 750 acres.
Building sites are available in the business park, said Heanue, and he is always trying to grow its capacity and fill those spots.
