NATCHEZ, Miss. — Construction continues for the airport terminal that will accommodate commercial airline passengers when service returns to Adams County this summer for the first time since the 1990s.
Work “is progressing well and on track to finish on time,” said project architect Johnny Waycaster, who met Monday with the Adams County Board of Supervisors. He noted utilities have been installed and walls are being placed in the former airplane hanger being converted into a passenger terminal.
While construction began in February on an accelerated schedule, supervisors Monday formally approved the design of the terminal that’s costing about $6.8 million to do. “It’s an expensive building, but we’re tracking well the dollars,” Waycaster said.
United Express-branded jets are scheduled July 1 to start flying in and out of the Natchez-Adams County Airport, which has been without regular commercial airline service for three decades.
Natchez-Adams County officials announced last October that United Airlines’ regional affiliate – SkyWest – will serve the airport with one flight a day to and from Houston’s George Bush Airport, a major United hub.
As city and county officials toiled since 2021 to attract an airline, the airport has been the recipient of multimillion-dollar state and federal grants to help upgrade facilities and attract a carrier. Grants included a $750,000 federal subsidy awarded in 2022 to help cover start-up costs for initiating commercial plane service.
SkyWest will bring 50-seat jets with the United Express logo to the airport’s Hardy-Anders Field. Named by Fortune magazine as one of the World’s Most-Admired Companies in 2026, the Utah-based airline partners with United as its regional carrier.
While it’ll have a new passenger terminal that Adams County aviation director Carl Beasley said is “quite impressive,” the county-owned airport still has various neglected repairs and operational updates that must be made.
Since Beasley began working at the airport in November, about $45,000 in repairs have been done, according to a report he presented to the county board. He got the board Monday to provide the airport $85,000 for more fixes to get it “back up to speed.” The money is in the form of a loan from other county funds. Beasley noted the airport does generate revenues from selling airplane fuel.
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