Golden Triangle Regional Airport is looking to shore up a $300,000 subsidy to support the second year of westbound flights to Dallas/Fort Worth.
For Columbus’ $75,000 share of that subsidy, Mayor Stephen Jones thinks city representatives should fly free for official business.
“If it’s city business, why couldn’t we get any seats?” Jones asked GTRA Executive Director Matt Dowell during a city council work session Thursday at City Hall. “Because we’re spending a lot of money. Basically we’re paying for those seats anyway.”
GTRA partnered with American Airlines in May 2025 to offer westbound flights through operator SkyWest Airlines. The airport’s stakeholders – Lowndes County and Columbus (25% each), Oktibbeha County and Starkville (20% each) and Clay County and West Point (5% each) – approved $500,000 in subsidies in 2014 that the airline used more than a decade later to cover revenue loss during its first year of service.
Dowell told the council Thursday the additional $300,000 in subsidies, broken down by the same percentages among the stakeholders, would “de-risk” the service during its second year as it navigates higher operating costs, particularly fuel. The subsidies would be used “as needed,” he said.
“It’s really paying for any kind of loss in revenue, so we aren’t actually paying for empty seats,” Dowell told Jones in response to his question.
“The loss of revenue is because of empty seats, so basically we’re paying for empty seats,” Jones countered, undeterred.
Ward 6 Councilman Jason Spears said he did not have a problem with the second-year subsidy, but he asked how many more times stakeholders would be asked to prop up the service.
Dowell told the council it is standard to view the first two years as an “establishment period” for a new air service and offer subsidies to aid its success. After that, it’s sink or swim, he told The Dispatch following the meeting.
If the first year is any indication, however, Dowell said the service is well on its way to profitability.
“Normally, they try to hit between 80 and 90% (flight occupancy), normally in the high-80s,” Dowell said. “So we’re starting to see them get into the 80s (from) the 70s, which is where they were for their first year of service.”
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene said he is skeptical gas prices are the real reason the airline asked for a second year of subsidies, especially since it is industry standard.
“I’m fully in support of this and love that we offer (the service),” he said. “… The cynic in me says they were going to ask for this whether these gas prices went higher or not because that’s how the business works.”
How to pay the subsidy, though, came with some good news.
The stakeholders pooled $1.1 million to help fund a little more than half of GTRA’s purchase of 109 adjacent acres last year.
Dowell said the local contributions helped the airport purchase the land quickly, as bidding was competitive, but state and federal dollars later covered the cost of the sale, allowing GTRA to refund every local stakeholder’s portion.
Dowell is asking each stakeholder to reallocate their share of the air service subsidy from the refunded property purchase money.
In the case of Lowndes County and Columbus, it’s giving back $75,000 of a $275,000 refund. For Oktibbeha County and Starkville, it’s giving back $60,000 of a $220,000 refund. In West Point and Clay County, it’s giving back $15,000 of a refunded $55,000.
All stakeholders except for Columbus and Starkville have agreed. Both cities are expected to take up the matter at their Tuesday meetings.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
