Chris Curry isn’t one to dwell on historical footnotes related to Mobile’s sometimes colorful aviation past. As president of the Mobile Airport Authority, Curry is charged with a forward-looking approach.

But the past will certainly loom over a historic flight from Mobile’s Downtown Airport (coded “BFM”) at the Brookley Aeroplex on Wednesday, when Frontier Airlines Flight 413 is scheduled to depart at 1:59 p.m. to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

It was the same day 91 years ago, in 1928, that Mobile entered the era of commercial aviation, according to research compiled in the 2011 book, “Mobile Aviation.” On that May 1, the city’s inaugural airmail flight landed at Mobile’s Legion Field, the city’s first municipal airport located not far from present-day Brookley beside Mobile Bay southeast of downtown.

“May is a big month in terms of aviation for Mobile,” said Billy Singleton, a Clanton resident and author of multiple historical accounts of aviation in Alabama, including Mobile’s history.

Brookley turnaround

Indeed, Mobile is bracing for a big month of celebrations to highlight its new $8 million terminal at Brookley, which airport and city officials believe is the first step toward a bigger goal of a complete shift of the city’s commercial aviation from Mobile Regional Airport (MOB) closer to downtown Mobile.

Brookley, named after a captain in the U.S. Army AirCorps who died during an aviation accident in 1934, long served as a military aviation installation and was the only military aviation depot in the U.S. during World War II with a deepwater port.

But from the 1960s until 2015, Brookley was more known for its sensational setbacks than advancements. The 1969 closure of the military base represented the largest base closure in U.S. history up to that time and left 13,000 people without work. About 40 years later, in 2010, a lucrative military contract to build the new KC-45 aerial refueling tanker was scuttled over formal protests from Boeing.

But a turnaround has quickly occurred this decade, highlighted by the 2015 opening of Airbus’s $600 million manufacturing plant for the A320-series of planes. The development made Mobile’s Airbus facility the largest North American manufacturing operation for Boeing’s biggest rival and thrust Mobile squarely into the fierce international battle for commercial airline supremacy.

But even as a massive airplane assembly plant sits in the city’s midst, the options to actually take a flight have been limited.

Mobile Regional Airport, in the western edges of the city, has handled commercial flights since 1986, but has long suffered a reputation for offering few direct flights and costly fares compared to nearby airports in Gulfport, Mississippi and Pensacola, Florida.

Mobile Regional is also far removed from the interstate highways. Trips to downtown can be a half-hour or longer depending on traffic along congested routes such as Airport Boulevard.

Brookley, by comparison, has two ready-made runways and is a mere four miles from downtown Mobile. It’s also in closer proximity to the Eastern Shore area of Daphne, Spanish Fort and Fairhope – among the fastest-growing areas in the state.

The accessibility, and the possibility to luring lower-cost airlines, is a tantalizing prospect for city leaders. And the previously quiet Mobile Airport Authority has become one of the city’s most active governing bodies as its presses to open the Downtown Mobile Airport’s terminal.

‘Giant leap forward’

Chris Curry, president of the Mobile Airport Authority, speaks to a guest at a town hall event on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018, at the Mobile Carnival Museum in Mobile, Ala. Curry has vowed to attend as many neighborhood meetings as possible and to answer questions about the relocation of Mobile's commercial air service to the Downtown Mobile Airport. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Curry, who arrived to Mobile in October 2017, is calling the May 1 moment “transformative” for not only the airport, but the entire city and region. After all, the last commercial flight from Brookley took place in the early 1940s, when an Eastern Airlines plane lifted off.

Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who along with Curry will be aboard Frontier’s Flight 413, calls the moment a “giant leap forward” in the city’s goal of delivering “premium air service” to the region.

“We believe that more direct flights at more affordable prices will have a tremendously positive impact on the city, from jobs and economic development to the continued growth of our tourism industry,” said Stimpson.

Stimpson began advocating for the commercial aviation shift to Brookley several years ago, shortly after Airbus began operations nearby.

The Mobile Airport Authority, under the leadership of Stimpson appointee Elliot Maisel, was placed in charge of restarting commercial air service at Brookley.

Construction in and around the new “Terminal One” at Brookley has been fast and furious. The two-gate terminal, covering 20,000 square feet, is situated inside a 50,000-square-foot building that partially serves an Airbus logistics center. Airbus plans to leave the building in June, which will allow the Airport Authority the option to expand.

The terminal’s construction cost around $8 million and was paid for through the Airport Authority’s cash flows, reserves and other financing.

Construction was substantially completed on April 15, though work has been ongoing in and around the terminal. The parking lot, which Curry describes as “essentially finished,” is getting striped before the first passengers arrive.

The Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, is also on-site and completing its work ahead of signing off on an airport security plan.

Curry is confident everything will be ready for the inaugural flight.

Terminal One

So what will visitors to Terminal One at BFM see upon arrival?

-Five ticket counters and adjacent display screens providing visitors with up-to-date information on arrival and departure times.

-Each ticket counter will include areas for visitors to check-in their non-carry-on luggage.

-From there, passengers will proceed through a TSA checkpoint where they will be screened. Terminal One will feature two security check-in lines.

-After proceeding through the TSA checkpoint, visitors will arrive into the “whole room area” where they will find two gates. One of the gates will have an enclosed walkway protecting visitors from inclement weather as the board an airplane. The other is not enclosed. Curry said there is no enclosed, moveable connector “jet bridge” at BFM.

-Within the whole room area, there will be electronic charging stations for people to use before boarding their plane. Also, there will be a concessions area that is unmanned. Said Curry, “It will have snacks and sandwiches and sodas and water, etc., but they can be purchased through vending machine applications.”

- Curry said arriving passengers will exit through either Gate 1 or 2 and proceed to three ticket counters where three major rental car companies are represented. A sidewalk will take passengers to the parking lot.

- Airport parking fares have not yet been determined, and parking will be at no charge initially. Curry said passengers will eventually have the option to pay at the terminal or pay upon exiting the airport’s parking lot.

Curry said the airport’s two runways – a 9,500-foot runway closest to the terminal, and a 7,500-foot runway further away – are both approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The runways have been in use for years, primarily serving general aviation cargo carriers such as FedEx.

Curry said the FAA recently inspected the runways after the Airport Authority official requested a categorical change in operations to commercial.

“In summation, we’ve been approved to conduct commercial service operations,” Curry said.

Low-cost ‘dynamic’

The two airlines flying out BFM are Frontier, based out of Denver, and Via Airlines, based in Orlando, Florida.

Frontier will operate five flights per week from the airport: Monday, Wednesday and Saturday departures to Denver International Airport and Wednesday and Saturday flights to Chicago O’Hare.

“This is their entry into the market and as the market responds, they may increase that frequency,” said Curry. Frontier will fly a 186-seat Airbus A320 plane – similar to the aircraft produced at the Mobile Airbus plant.

Zach Kramer, a spokesman with Frontier, said the company will provide more details about its plans on Wednesday, when the local media is invited to attend a grand opening event around noon. A more public and “elaborate” grand opening is scheduled for May 8, to largely accommodate the schedule of Gov. Kay Ivey.

Via Airlines, meanwhile, is scheduled to oversee flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport starting Thursday. Via currently provides flights to Orlando from Mobile Regional Airport on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday.

Both airlines are considered “low-cost carriers,” meaning their round-trip air fares are competitively priced compared to carriers like Delta, American Airlines and United which already fly out of Mobile Regional.

A round-trip air fare aboard Frontier to Chicago, for instance, is priced at $63. To Denver, the price is around $83.

Curry said the rise in popularity of the low-cost carriers are the reason why Mobile was able to start the air service from its downtown airport.

“We were interested in expanding our market, but the carriers we have in Mobile were not able to do that,” said Curry. “It was just not part of their profile for the city of Mobile. And so the low-cost carriers bring another dynamic to that. They bring point-to-point service and at the same time, we want to create competition in our market because we understand that MOB is one of the higher-fare airports in the country.”

International appeal

The significance of Thursday’s flight, and the terminal’s opening, is a mere step for what airport and city officials hope is a more expansive journey toward relocating Mobile’s commercial airline operations entirely to Brookley.

A $1.5 million master plan, paid for primarily by the FAA, has been under way for a few months by aviation consultants LeighFisher. The plan is examining a complete shift of commercial air service to Brookley from Mobile Regional.

Curry has high hopes for what the plan might reveal, even though it’s completion may not be ready for a couple of years.

One aspect Curry is anticipating is the establishment of a true international airport for Mobile that includes, among other things, the addition of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry that would differentiate Mobile from international airports in Pensacola and Gulfport. Mobile Regional Airport does not offer any flights outside the U.S.

“I think Mobile is well-positioned to have an international airport,” said Curry. “I feel pretty confident it will be expressed in the master planning effort.”

Curry said that other airports are “international” in name only, because they do not have the Customs and Borders Protection areas. And at Brookley, where international businesses are popping up including European-based Airbus, the demand could be building for direct processing into the U.S. through Mobile.

“At Brookley alone, we have 20 international business that exist and we’d like to have more whether they are supply chain providers or international companies locating here,” said Curry.

He added, “Until you become an international airport, no one can fly directly to Mobile from an international location unless you have a Customs and Border Protection system for those airlines. From a business standpoint, it’s important for us to have an ability that a corporate guy flying in a corporate jet can fly into Mobile without processing somewhere else.”

Corporate, millennial appeal

Aviation industry experts believe the direct link to the corporate community could be driving the interest in bringing commercial flights closer to the more densely populated downtown area.

William Gartner, a professor within the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, said one of the benefits could be more on-site leasing of the airport to corporate entities.

For comparison, he said, the downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, airport operates as a “reliever airport” for traffic at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but also as an aviation home for larger corporations like 3M.

Gartner also said the move in Mobile could serve as an economic incentive for low-cost carriers, similar to what existing airports in mid-size cities consider when trying to lure in more airlines.

The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, for instance, has set aside over $1 million in incentives to bring in new round-trip flights. According to media accounts, about $1 million has been spend on incentives such as landing fee waivers, terminal rent waivers, etc.

Megan Ryerson, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, conducted an analysis of 26 airports that doled out air service incentive programs to recruit new routes. She determined that those incentives tallied a combined $171.5 million between 2012 and the first quarter of 2015, and that 40 percent of those routes were not retained once the incentives ended.

“It is not unusual to find mid-size cities actually paying for commercial carriers to operate out of their airport, so it appears Mobile is doing something similar but instead of outright payments, they are making an infrastructure investment,” said Gartner, who added that the proximity to the industries in and around Brookley should be considered a benefit of the move.

Other experts note that Mobile’s interests in shifting commercial air service closer to the downtown area represents an oddity in modern-era aviation. Airports, generally speaking, do not locate near densely populated areas where noise, traffic and property values are a concern.

John Kasarda, president of Aerotropolis Institute China, said the activity is more common in larger Asian cities.

“A number of main downtown airports closed or substantially curtailed services when a suburban international airport opened only to reopen later, often with low-cost air service providers,” he said.

Kasarda said he is unaware of any cases in the U.S. in which a downtown airport closed, only to reopen at a later date.

Said Curry, “I cannot find in any recent history where this is being done.”

Curry said Mobile could be on the cusp of establishing a trend as cities look to bring air service closer to downtown areas where a growing number of Millennials and younger populations are migrating.

“They want to live downtown and they want to be in places that do not require them to travel a lot,” said Curry. “When you look at the new generation, an airport that is 20 miles out of the city may not provide the best options for them.”

Future Challenges

Experts, though, admit that relocating an entire airport operation closer to downtown Mobile will be tricky, both financially and in practice, especially with nearby neighborhoods consisting of longtime homeowners worried about noise and gentrification.

State Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, recently introduced legislation that requires a property owner receive fair market value, instead of appraised value, for their property if it’s seized by a government body through the eminent domain process.

The bill, HB38, specifically states that a homeowner whose property is acquired through eminent domain be compensated by the amount it would take to “wholly reconstruct the existing property as it exists” at the time it is valued by an assessor.

Drummond’s proposal isn’t scheduled for a hearing, but she said its introduction has already accomplished what she wanted: A community-wide interest in ensuring that longtime property owners near Brookley are compensated if their properties are needed to accommodate an airport expansion.

Curry has said that eminent domain has never been discussed by the Airport Authority. Brookley, which is almost entirely industrial, does have some residential street within the complex. Most of the residential neighborhoods are on the opposite side of Interstate 10.

Drummond has said she supports the relocation of the airport, and claims that her legislation is “not a negative” as it relates to the airport’s growth. She calls the new terminal a “really good for Mobile” because the city has long been “haunted” by high air fares out of Mobile Regional.

“What we’re seeing with the opening of this new terminal as well as other positive things that come with the new terminal, is that we will see changes that will be transformative for the community,” Drummond said. “Our ultimate goal is to make sure that these longtime residents are adequately compensated for their properties.”

Curry said he will remain committed to visiting the neighborhoods for the foreseeable future. He said that part of the master planning process includes meeting routinely with different neighborhood groups and to address concerns raised by the residents.

A citizens advisory committee will also be formed in the coming weeks.

“We want to make sure the people are represented through a committee throughout the master planning process and that the major businesses are also represented through a technical advisory committee,” Curry said.

From a financial standpoint, the federal government may not have the resources to build a brand-new commercial airport complex at Brookley.

Kim Kenville, a University of North Dakota professor in charge of the school’s aviation management program, has long argued that federal funds are tight for new airport construction.

In Kenville’s home state, for instance, federal funds paid for only half of the construction of a $231 million new international airport in the small city of Williston. The city and state contributed to paying for the other half.

She said the biggest obstacle for Mobile will be convincing the FAA that the move is needed, and even then, resources may be unavailable.

“The amount of public dollars that flow through the Aviation Trust Fund is relatively stagnant, and the allocation from Congress has not increased in years,” Kenville said. “In the end, the passengers will follow the air fares. So if they are traveling to (Pensacola) now, they will likely continue. Even if you build it, they may not come.”

Curry said that both the feasibility study and master plan for the airport shift has been almost entirely funded by the FAA, underlining what he says is support from the FAA.

“I don’t know how you can get anymore support from the FAA toward this initiative than their support in financing the studies for it,” he said.

He also said the city is interested in public-private partnerships, illustrating a point that “we’re not looking at the FAA as the only option of financing the downtown airport. We are looking at many different sources.”

Marketing magnate

Meanwhile, marketing efforts ramping up to generate more attention about the new commercial service from the downtown airport. Stimpson, recently, called on businesses to recognize employees with a free flight to Chicago or Denver.

Curry said there will need to be a marketing effort in both Chicago and Denver in order to entire more people to fly to Mobile and ensure both destinations are a success.

David Clark, president/CEO of Visit Mobile – the convention and visitors bureau arm of the city – said that Mobile is already seeing an impact with offering flights from Brookley. He said a Chicago-based health care group booked 495 room nights for February 2020, only because of the direct flight from Mobile to Chicago. The Frontier flight to Chicago O’Hare is the first Mobile-to-Chicago direct flight since United Airlines discontinued them last year from Mobile Regional.

“If this airport move was not happening for direct flights to Chicago, they would not be booking a meeting here,” said Clark. “This is going to be monumental for selling conventions and leisure into the future. I think the move of the airport to downtown Mobile is a total game changer for selling conventions.”

The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, south of Fairhope, is one such venue that offers room nights and convention spaces. For years, the far distance of Mobile Regional has hurt the hotel and events complex in attracting groups for multi-night stays.

Kevin Hellmich, director of sales and marketing with the hotel, said he believes the shortened drive time from Brookley will be beneficial.

“A lot of our convention planners and directors want to keep (their events) within a 50-minute commute to and from an airport,” said Hellmich. “With the new location, the travel time would be 35 minutes from Brookley to the Grand Hotel. It’s going to be a less of a commute for individuals living on the Easter Shore as well as the people coming in for conventions and vacations.”

Curry said that when he arrives to Chicago, he’ll meet with colleagues and discuss marketing strategies. From there, he plans on a meeting soon in Tucson, Arizona, where discussions with more airlines will take place about potential flights from the new terminal.

“For us, it’s a continuous process to try and recruit air service to the destination that works best for Mobile and Baldwin counties,” he said.

Singleton said the efforts in Mobile illustrates a moment of “history repeating itself.”

“If you think about the entire air transportation world, we’ve evolved from twin and three-to-four engine planes,” said Singleton. “Now we’ve made the full circle back to two-engine airplanes and it’s interesting to me that we are now seeing Mobile aviation returning to its roots.”

He added, “(Brookley) is where everything started. Mobile Regional was only built because the U.S. military took over the downtown airport.”