Business View Magazine | February 2019

100 decades. We also support the Meridian Na- val Air Station and we support Fort Rucker. We also serve quite a bit of transitional air- craft as they come in from other units or use our Airport for training needs. That’s about 30-40 percent of our operations. So, we’re very appreciative to be able to contribute to the military’s needs, and hope to be able to maintain that in the future. “We’re also looking at our airfield layout to make sure that we’re ready for ‘game day events’, which is a significant operation for Tuscaloosa, as well as any other need that we have – air shows are also another big event for us, and we’re trying to be diversified in how we can be an asset for the community and listen to what it needs, so that we’re pushing the Airport in the right direction.” One direction that Powell is aiming toward is becoming a more self-sufficient operation, and less dependent on operating funds from the City of Tuscaloosa. “We have five employ- ees directly related to the Airport, but we’re supported by numerous staff throughout the city,” he remarks. “We have a fire station on the Airport and that’s around 12-15 employ-