The Tuscaloosa Regional Airport

T he Tuscaloosa Regional Airport is a public-use airport, located a little over three miles northwest of the central business district of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The area on which the current airfield is situated was first used in 1939, when a brick hangar was built on the property by the federal gov- ernment’s Civilian Pilot Training Program for the licensing of pilots from nearby University of Alabama. It officially opened in April 1940 as Van De Graaff Field with four turf runways. “That hangar was eventually used through- out World War II by the Alabama Institute of Aeronautics that trained U.S. , French, and British pilots up until the end of the war,” says Airport Manager, Jeff Powell. After the war, the airfield was turned over to the City of Tuscaloosa through the War Assets Admin- istration. Over the next several decades, new, paved runways were built, as was a pas- senger terminal to facilitate jet service, and several commercial airlines operated out of Tuscaloosa, including Southern Airways, Re- public Airlines, American Eagle, Air Midwest, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and GP Express Airlines. However, the last commercial flight took place in 1997, “and we’ve been primarily a corporate and cargo airport since then up until now,” notes Powell. While Powell adds that a return to passenger service sometime in the future is “in the mix of things, it’s not our only interest. But, with the growth of the University of Alabama, with the growth in the number of out-of-state stu- dents, and the people who want to work here, it’s not so much of an issue of how to get people out of our community, but how to get people in here. So, as long as the economy is healthy, we will make that a priority. We want to look at what’s appropriate for the next 50 years and make sure that we have a plan, so we’re ready when the need arises.”