Greenwood-LeFlore Airport to expand
With corporate and private capacity at a premium additions are the only way to keep the “Cotton Capital’s” airport growing

By JULIE WHITEHEAD
DBJ Contributing Writer

Bardin Redditt, airport manager for the Greenwood-LeFlore Airport, believes that even a small airport can be vital to the Delta’s economy—so the board has set out to create awareness of the Carroll County facility with a new promotional video touting the airport and the proposed expansions underway.

“One thing we really need to do is enhance communication between those of us who know what airports do and the general population, who may not be aware of the positive benefits that an airport can bring,” said Redditt.

The marketing push is accompanied by a move to increase private and corporate hangar capacity at the airport, located on U.S. Highway 82 about six miles east of Greenwood. Aided by a combination of grants totaling $803,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the facility scheduled work to begin in late October on the building project, according to Redditt. “We have basically run out of room for the growth of industry- or corporate-owned hangars,” said Redditt. Other aviation improvements scheduled for the coming year are the installation of a precision approach path indicator for the airport’s main runway and the purchase of a sweeper truck to maintain the runways.

Contractors for the project include J. J. Ferguson of Greenwood for construction of the new hangar and business area, Robinson Electric of Cleveland for installation of the precision approach path indicator, and Ingram Equipment from Pelham, Alabama for the sweeper truck, Redditt said.

Nineteen companies currently have hangar facilities at Greenwood-LeFlore Airport, including household name Viking Range Corporation, which houses a Cessna for the business’ use.
Redditt recently took a headcount of all the employees working on location at the facility and came up with 147, only seven of which work for the airport itself. “That’s 147 jobs directly dependent on the airport,” Redditt said.

While the airport has no regularly scheduled flights arriving or departing, the facilities do include three paved runways, the longest being 6,503 feet long and 150 feet wide, suitable for larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747, with high-intensity lighting, approach lights, a fully automatic landing system, and an air traffic control tower operating from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. According to Redditt, the automated flight service station that the FAA mans 24 hours per day is the only one in Mississippi, providing services to most of the airplanes that travel in the state.

These are the advantages that airport officials plan to tout in the proposed promotional video, being prepared by Hammond and Associates of Greenwood. Financed with a $22,500 grant from the Mississippi intermodal transportation agency, the video will be part of a “master plan” to market the airport to two distinct audiences, Redditt said.

“We feel it’s very important that the general public understand the role that the airport plays in the economic development. The second market is people and firms who might be interested in establishing an aeronautics-related industry,” said Redditt.

With the video as a publicity tool, Redditt said that the facility hopes to court more companies such as Eurocopter, which ultimately chose to locate at Golden Triangle Airport in Starkville last year. The groundwork already exists for more aviation-related companies to move into the Greenwood-LeFlore Airport; several companies provide aviation repair and fueling services, such as the Memphis Group, MidSouth Jet, Greenwood Aviation, and Provine Helicopters. Redditt pointed to the success of Provine Helicopters in particular, noting that the group provides herbicide and fertilizer services to various companies. “There’s two large companies east of the Mississippi that do this kind of work, and Provine is one of them,” said Redditt.

And the airport’s positive effects go beyond the facility’s direct impact on the Delta area, Redditt contends. The airport often services planes landing to ship emergency parts requisition for automobile-related industries, including the Nissan North American Plant in Canton. And the number of business executives who see Greenwood and its airport through the window of the Viking Range corporate plane is probably larger than anyone supposes. “Viking’s Cessna really does a lot of flying out of here,” said Redditt. “Probably one or two hours per day year round.” DBJ