and a high school aviation program ranked third in the state. The airport is now arguably a major economic engine fueling the region generating close to $11 million annually.The evolution of the airport did not happen by accident. Rather it is the result of strategic focus by airport staff and a long term economic outlook. Former Airport Manager Chase Tindle orchestrated the pivot on his first day in June 2021, successfully arguing for the facility’s transfer to Economic Development.The move reframed how city leadership approached the airport’s 257 acres and 5,602-foot jet-capable runway. Rather than viewing operations through the lens of infrastructure burden, the city began leveraging the airport’s position as the only facility capable of handling business jets within a 50-nautical-mile radius. Annual operations hover around 8,000 to 9,000, generating an estimated $11 million in economic impact. The new terminal nearly doubles the footprint of the original 1951 structure it replaced, incorporating conference rooms, aerospace classrooms, and a covered patio designed to make the airport a community gathering place. Funding came through a coalition approach: federal infrastructure grants, state aeronautics funds, and a donation from the Choctaw Nation Development Fund. The project is the first major construction at the facility in more than a decade, signaling McAlester’s intent to compete aggressively for aviation-dependent business investment across the region. TRAINING TOMORROW’S AVIATORS Flight training accounts for 40 percent of operations at McAlester Regional, drawing student pilots from universities across Oklahoma and flight schools in Tulsa who find the facility less congested than metro alternatives. The airport’s most ambitious training initiative, however, happens not in cockpits but in McAlester High School classrooms, where over 200 students are enrolled in a four-year aviation curriculum that has earned recognition as the state’s third-ranked program. The curriculum’s capstone project puts students to work constructing a Van’s RV-12iS Light Sport Aircraft through partnership with Tango Flight, a Georgetown, 95 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 13, ISSUE 02 MCALESTER REGIONAL AIRPORT
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx