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Five commercial airports thank state for support, cite growth and capital needs
Summary
Leaders from Tennessee's five commercial service airports told the House Transportation Committee the state investment supports capital plans that leverage additional borrowing, cited passenger growth across airports, and asked for continued state support for multi-year airport projects.
Chief executives from Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Tri-Cities airports briefed the House Transportation Committee on Feb. 18, thanking members for state support and describing passenger growth and capital plans.
Terry Blue, Memphis International Airport, said Memphis handled about 5 million total passengers in 2024 and saw year-over-year growth of roughly 2%; Gene Cassiam of Tri-Cities said his airport did just under 500,000 passengers in 2024 and grew about 12% year-over-year. Doug Crillon, Nashville International Airport, reported 25.2 million passengers and multi-year average growth in the high single digits; Patrick Wilson of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority said Knoxville topped 3.3 million passengers with historic recent growth (14% in 2023, 18% in 2024, January 2025 up 20%). April Cameron of Chattanooga said the airport exceeded 1.1 million passengers in 2024 and was up about 14% year-over-year, with January also up 20%.
The five CEOs described a multi-year capital plan presented to the state. They said the state contribution for fiscal year 2026 is expected to be about $109,000,000 across the airports and that the five airports together generate about $24,000,000,000 in economic impact and produce roughly $868,000,000 in state tax receipts. They described the state dollars as leverage that helps airports borrow in the bond market to fund larger projects — one airport cited $40 million of state funding enabling a $360 million project when combined with bond financing.
Nut graf: Airport leaders asked for continued state support for their multi-year plans and emphasized that state investment acts as leverage to attract additional capital; committee members asked follow-up questions about traffic trends, internships, parking revenue, safety and FAA equipment and oversight.
Committee members asked about internships (Knoxville said they offer several and will connect constituents to HR), the effect of recent high-profile incidents on passenger demand (CEOs said long-term trends continue to show growth and expressed confidence in aviation safety systems), and parking revenue (airports described parking as an important revenue source — Nashville said parking comprises roughly a third of its non-airline revenues). Representatives also asked about FAA equipment and air traffic controller staffing; airport leaders said FAA equipment is routinely tested and maintained and that the FAA and airports are planning staffing and training pipelines.
Ending: Airport executives said they value the state's continuing support and committed to provide detailed project lists and contact information to committee members for follow-up.
