Greenville Mid-Delta Airport

Greenville Mid-Delta Airport
USGS 1996 orthophoto
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Greenville
ServesGreenville, Mississippi
Elevation AMSL131 ft / 40 m
Coordinates33°28′58″N 090°59′08″W / 33.48278°N 90.98556°W / 33.48278; -90.98556
Websitegreenvillems.org/citygovernment/airport/
Map
GLH is located in Mississippi
GLH
GLH
Location of airport in Mississippi
GLH is located in the United States
GLH
GLH
GLH (the United States)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18L/36R 8,001 2,439 Asphalt
18R/36L 7,019 2,139 Asphalt/concrete
Statistics (2019)
Aircraft operations (year ending 7/31/2019)22,974
Based aircraft7

Greenville Mid-Delta Airport (IATA: GLH[2], ICAO: KGLH, FAA LID: GLH), operating as Mid Delta Regional Airport until 2011,[3][4] is a public use airport in unincorporated Washington County, Mississippi, United States.[5] It is located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) northeast of the central business district of Greenville, the city that owns the airport.[1] It is served by one commercial airline, Contour Airlines, which is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. Formerly, the facility was known as Greenville Air Force Base.

As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 6,310 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[6] 6,290 in 2009, 6,609 in 2010,[7] 7,417 in 2011, and 5,181 in 2012.[8] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a non-primary commercial service airport.[9]

Facilities and aircraft

Mid-Delta Regional Airport is the only commercial airport located in the Mississippi Delta.[10] Located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of central Greenville, MDRA is situated on 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land,[1] with a sizable portion in the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone. A controlled airfield, MDRA has a control tower which is staffed from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., seven days a week.

The facility has two runways, the primary being 18L/36R which is composed of an asphalt surface 150 feet (46 m) wide by 8,001 feet (2,439 m) long. Runway 18L/36R is a precision approach runway with an Instrument landing System (ILS), medium approach lighting system with rails, (MALSR) approach lights and High Intensity Runway Lights (HIRLs). A parallel runway, 18R/36L, has an asphalt and concrete surface with a width of 150 feet (46 m) and length of 7,019 feet (2,139 m). Runway 18R/36L is a non-precision runway with Medium Intensity Runway Lights, (MIRL). The runways are connected by six taxiways. Ramp space is abundant, with 2,660,000 square feet (247,000 m2) of concrete ramp area.

For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2019, the airport had 22,974 aircraft operations, an average of 63 per day: 66% general aviation 28% military, 6% air taxi, and <1% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 7 aircraft based at this airport: 5 single-engine and 2 multi-engine.[1]

History

Historically, Greenville had scheduled passenger service provided by Southern Airways commencing during the early 1950s from the former Greenville Municipal Airport (Mississippi) operated with Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft flying daily round trip routings of Memphis - Greenville - Vicksburg - Jackson, MS - Natchez - Baton Rouge - New Orleans and Memphis - Greenville - Vicksburg - Jackson, MS - Laurel - Hattiesburg - Mobile.[11] Southern subsequently moved its service to Mid Delta Regional and in 1968 was operating six departures a day from the airport all with Martin 4-0-4 prop aircraft with three nonstop flights a day to its Memphis hub as well as three direct, no change of plane flights a day to New Orleans via various stops en route.[12] Southern subsequently began operating Douglas DC-9-10 jetliners from the airport on nonstop flights to Memphis with direct service to Baton Rouge and New Orleans via an intermediate stop in Monroe, Louisiana and also on a direct, one stop basis to Atlanta. Other DC-9 jet flights operated by Southern continued on direct, no change of plane routings to Chicago, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. The July 1, 1978 Southern system timetable listed two nonstop DC-9 flights a day to its Memphis hub as well as one nonstop DC-9 flight a day to Monroe with this service continuing on to Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Fort Walton Beach (served via Eglin Air Force Base), Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, and one nonstop DC-9 flight a day to Jackson with this service continuing on to Atlanta which also served as a hub for Southern.[13][14]

Southern then merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic Airlines which in turn continued to serve Greenville.[15] According to the July 1, 1979 Republic system timetable, the airline was operating nonstop DC-9 jet service to Memphis where it was operating a hub as well as nonstop service to Monroe and was also operating direct, no change of plane DC-9 service to Atlanta (which also served as a hub for Republic), Baton Rouge, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Walton Beach via Eglin Air Force Base, Greenville/Spartanburg, SC, Huntsville/Decatur, AL, Miami, New Orleans, New York City via LaGuardia Airport, Orlando and Washington D.C. via Dulles Airport.[16][17] Republic subsequently ceased all flights from Greenville and had withdrawn from the market by 1986.[18][19]

On June 8, 1988, a USAF Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the 189th Tactical Airlift Group, Arkansas Air National Guard, on a training flight from its home station of Little Rock AFB, crashed 1.5 miles from Greenville Airport during an attempted approach. All 6 occupants were killed.[20]

In 1989, Northwest Airlink nonstop service from Alexandria, Louisiana, Memphis and Monroe was being operated on a code sharing basis by Express Airlines I on behalf of Northwest Airlines (which was operating a hub in Memphis at this time) with British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and Saab 340 commuter turboprop aircraft.[21]

In May 2015, SeaPort Airlines announced that it planned to end service to and from the airport. After receiving proposals from four airlines, the Greenville city council unanimously chose Boutique Air as its next airline.[22]

In July 2017, The US Department of Transportation has approved Greenville’s choice for subsidized air service.[23] Boutique Air, which has been serving Mid Delta Regional Airport since 2015 would remain the carrier through 2021, with a caveat.[23]

On 3 June 2018, a storm system destroyed the hangar and most of the aircraft at the airport.

On 11 August 2021, Contour Airlines was announced as Greenville Mid-Delta Airport's (GLH) new federal Essential Air Service (EAS) air carrier, with daily service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and five-times weekly service (every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays) to Nashville International Airport (BNA). Contour Airlines replaced Boutique Air at the airport from 1 October 2021 and currently operates Embraer ERJ-135 regional jets on its services.[24][25]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
Contour Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth [26]

Statistics

Passenger boardings (enplanements) by year, as per the FAA[27]
Year 2009 [28] 2010 [29] 2011 [30] 2012 [31] 2013[32] 2014[33] 2015[34] 2016[35] 2017[36] 2018[37] 2019[38]
Enplanements 6,310 6,609 7,417 5,181 3,029 1,650 773 4,986 5,646 5,634 3,687
Change Decrease0.32% Increase5.07% Increase12.23% Decrease30.15% Decrease41.54% Decrease45.53% Decrease53.15% Increase545.02% Increase13.24% Decrease0.21% Decrease34.56%
Airline Mesaba Airlines dba Delta Connection Mesaba Airlines dba Delta Connection Mesaba Airlines dba Delta Connection Pinnacle Airlines dba Delta Connection Silver Airways Silver Airways SeaPort Airlines Boutique Air Boutique Air Boutique Air Boutique Air
Destination(s) Memphis Memphis Memphis Memphis Atlanta
Tupelo 		Tupelo Memphis Dallas-Ft. Worth
Nashville 		Dallas-Ft. Worth
Nashville 		Dallas-Ft. Worth
Nashville 		Atlanta
Dallas-Ft. Worth

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for GLH PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective July 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "IATA Airport Code Search (GLH: Greenville)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  3. ^ "Mid-Delta Regional Airport". City of Greenville. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  4. ^ "Greenville: City amends airport name". The Clarion Ledger. 2011-03-08. p. 8. ISSN 0744-9526. Greenville City Council has voted to change the name of Mid Delta Regional Airport to Greenville Mid Delta Airport
  5. ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): Washington County, MS" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 3 (PDF p. 4/31). Retrieved 2023-06-30. Greenville Mid-Delta Arprt
  6. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  7. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  8. ^ "Calendar Year 2012 Passenger Enplanements at All U.S. Airports, by State" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. October 30, 2013.
  9. ^ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.
  10. ^ Jeter, Lynn (March 26, 2001). "Airports an advantage when it comes to site selection". Mississippi Business Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Timetable". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  12. ^ "Timetable". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  13. ^ "SO070178p10". www.departedflights.com.
  14. ^ "Southern Airways July 1, 1978 Route Map". www.departedflights.com.
  15. ^ Shifrin, Carole (1978-07-14). "North Central and Southern - More Airline Merger Talk". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  16. ^ "RC070179p20". www.departedflights.com.
  17. ^ "Republic Airlines July 1, 1979 Route Map". www.departedflights.com.
  18. ^ "Republic Airlines April 28, 1985 Route Map". www.departedflights.com.
  19. ^ "Republic Airlines March 2, 1986 Route Map". www.departedflights.com.
  20. ^ Accident description for 61-2373 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on July 27, 2023.
  21. ^ "GLH89p1". www.departedflights.com.
  22. ^ "Boutique Air will begin flying in and out of Greenville on October 1". Delta Daily News. August 12, 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  23. ^ a b "Boutique Gets Greenville Nod For Four More Years". Delta Daily News. 26 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  24. ^ "Greenville Airport expected to soar with Contour Airlines". Delta Democrat-Times.
  25. ^ "GLH Greenville Mid-Delta Airport (GLH/KGLH)".
  26. ^ "Route Map". Contour Airlines. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  27. ^ "Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports – Airports". www.faa.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  28. ^ "2009 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF, 891 KB). CY 2009 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. November 23, 2010.
  29. ^ "2010 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  30. ^ "2011 Enplanements at Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF). CY 2011 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 9, 2012.
  31. ^ "2012 Enplanements at All Airports (Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation) by State and Airport" (PDF). CY 2012 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 31, 2013.
  32. ^ "All Airports with CY 2013 Enplanements" (PDF). Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  33. ^ "Calendar Year 2014 Enplanements by State" (PDF).
  34. ^ "Calendar Year 2015 Enplanements by State" (PDF).
  35. ^ "Calendar Year 2016 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF).
  36. ^ "Calendar Year 2017 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF).
  37. ^ "Calendar Year 2016 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF).
  38. ^ "Calendar Year 2019 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF). Retrieved 16 November 2020.

Further reading

  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-2008-0209 Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Ninety-day notice (July 3, 2008) Archived September 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine: from Mesaba Aviation, Inc. intent to discontinue unsubsidized service between Greenville, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee effective October 1, 2008.
    • Order 2008-8-23 (August 25, 2008) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: selecting Mesaba Airlines, Inc., d/b/a Northwest Airlink, to provide essential air service (EAS) at annual subsidy rate of $1,355,693 at Greenville, Mississippi, through September 30, 2010.
    • Order 2010-7-12 (July 15, 2010) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: selecting Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Delta Connection, to provide essential air service at Greenville, Mississippi, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,606,662 thru September 30, 2011, or 180 days after Mesaba informs the Department of the retirement of the Saab aircraft Mesaba proposed for this service, whichever comes sooner.
    • Ninety Day Notice (July 15, 2011) Archived September 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine: from MESABA AVIATION, INC. and PINNACLE AIRLINES, INC. of termination of service at Greenville, MS.
    • Order 2012-5-17 (May 22, 2012) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: selecting Silver Airways, formerly Gulfstream International Airways, to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Greenbrier/White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (Lewisburg), using 34-passenger Saab 340 aircraft, for a combined annual subsidy of $16,098,538.
    • Order 2012-6-3 (June 6, 2012) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: extending the Essential Air Service obligation of the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation—Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection at the eight communities listed below (Muscle Shoals, AL; Alpena, MI; Iron Mountain/Kingsford, MI; Brainerd, MN; International Falls, MN; Greenville, MS; Laurel/Hattiesburg, MS; Tupelo, MS) for 30 days, through, July 9, 2012.
    • Notice of Intent (April 9, 2014) Archived September 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine: of Silver Airways Corp. ... to discontinue subsidized scheduled air service between Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) and each of Muscle Shoals, Alabama (MSL), Greenville, Mississippi (GLH), Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi (PIB), and Tupelo, Mississippi (TUP). Silver Airways intends to discontinue this service on July 8, 2014 or such earlier date as permitted by the Department in any final order terminating the eligibility of any of these communities under the essential air service (EAS) program.
    • Order 2014-4-24 (April 22, 2014) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: prohibits Silver Airways Corp., from terminating service at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, Meridian, and Tupelo, Mississippi, for 30 days beyond the end of the air carrier's 90-day notice period, i.e. August 7, 2014. We are also requesting proposals from air carriers interested in providing Essential Air Service (EAS) at Muscle Shoals, Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, Meridian, and/or Tupelo.
    • Order 2014-4-26 (April 24, 2014) Archived 2012-09-25 at the Wayback Machine: directing interested persons to show cause as to why the Department should not terminate the eligibility ... under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program based on criteria passed by Congress in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law No. 112-95). We find that Greenville is within 175 miles of a large or medium hub, Memphis International Airport (MEM), a medium hub, and, thus, is subject to the 10-enplanement statutory criterion. We also find that during fiscal year 2013, Greenville generated a total of 5,836 passengers (inbound plus outbound). Consistent with the methodology described above, that results in an average of 9.3 enplanements per day, below the 10-enplanement statutory criterion necessary to remain eligible in the EAS program.