Tallahassee Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GENERATOR Tallahassee’s airport focuses on more than the passenger experience BY AL KRULICK
B
y all accounts, 2020 was the worst year in the history of commercial air travel. Airplane passenger numbers dropped by 60 percent because of restrictions resulting from COVID-ı9. Tallahassee International Airport (TLH) could not escape the debacle, hitting rock bottom in April. But, according to airport director David Pollard, the numbers have steadily bounced back. “We’ve surpassed 20ı7 numbers; now we’re closing in on ’ı8 and ’ı9 numbers,” he said in late August. “So we’re climbing out of the big drop.” Located five miles southwest of downtown Tallahassee, TLH opened for business in ı96ı as the Tallahassee Municipal Airport, although the capital city’s first airport was initially developed in ı928 next to where the James Messer Sports complex is located today. Named Dale Mabry Field after a famous World War I aviator, the original airport had a single turf runway until ı938 when the U.S. Army established a fighter training school on the site, constructing three runways and significantly expanding the facility. The field was eventually abandoned in favor of the new location.
Efforts are underway to ensure that greater numbers of international passengers claim bags at Tallahassee’s airport. A new international passenger facility is scheduled for completion in 2024.
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WINTER 2021
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Photography by THE WORKMANS