Greenville Mid-Delta Airport , operating as ''Mid Delta Regional Airport'' until 2011, is a public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Washington County, Mississippi Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,137. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named in honor of the first President of the United States, George Washing ...

, United States. It is located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) northeast of the central business district of Greenville, the city that owns the airport. It is served by one commercial airline,

Contour Airlines Contour Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, United States. All Contour Airlines flights are public charters sold and operated by parent company Contour Aviation as a direct carrier. History Cont ...

, which is subsidized by the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...

program. Formerly, the facility was known as Greenville Air Force Base. As per the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

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

Facilities and aircraft

Mid-Delta Regional Airport is the only commercial airport located in the Mississippi Delta. Located approximately north of central Greenville, MDRA is situated on of land, 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

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s, the primary being 18L/36R which is composed of an asphalt surface wide by 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 and length of . 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 of concrete ramp area. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009, the airport had 37,295 aircraft operations, an average of 102 per day: 47%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, 30%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, 23%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, and <1% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 17 aircraft based at this airport: 88% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

and 12% jet.

History

Historically, Greenville had scheduled passenger service provided by

Southern Airways Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local-service air carrier" as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with ...

commencing during the early 1950s from the former

Greenville Municipal Airport (Mississippi) Greenville Municipal Airport is a former airport located 4 miles east-southeast of Greenville, Mississippi. It was closed about 1970 with air service being moved to the Mid Delta Regional Airport. Today it is used a municipal recreation complex ...

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. 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 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ( ...

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. Southern subsequently began operating

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

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. Southern then merged with

North Central Airlines North Central Airlines was a regional airline in the Midwestern United States. Founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, the company moved to Madison in 1947. This is also when the "Herman the duck" logo was bo ...

to form

Republic Airlines Republic Airlines was an American airline formed by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways on July 1, 1979. Their headquarters were at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in what is now Fort Snelling, Minnesota, Fort ...

which in turn continued to serve Greenville. 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 LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...

, Orlando and Washington D.C. via

Dulles Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Eastern United States, loc ...

. Republic subsequently ceased all flights from Greenville and had withdrawn from the market by 1986. In 1989,

Northwest Airlink Northwest Airlink was the brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium-siz ...

nonstop service from

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

, Memphis and Monroe was being operated on a code sharing basis by

Express Airlines I Endeavor Air is an American regional airline that operates as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. The airline was founded as Express Airlines I in 1985 and was renamed Pinnacle Airlines in 2002. In 2012, Pinnacle's parent company filed for Cha ...

on behalf of

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

(which was operating a hub in Memphis at this time) with

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

BAe Jetstream 31 and

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

commuter turboprop aircraft. 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 Boutique Air, Inc. is a commuter airline based in San Francisco, California. The airline offers charter services as well as scheduled passenger services subsidized under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Boutique operates the second lar ...

as its next airline. In July 2017, The US Department of Transportation has approved Greenville’s choice for subsidized air service. Boutique Air, which has been serving Mid Delta Regional Airport since 2015 would remain the carrier through 2021, with a caveat. On 3 June 2018, a storm system destroyed the hangar and most of the aircraft at the airport. On 1 March 2019, Boutique Air announced a new flight schedule beginning April 1, 2019 flying from Greenville Mid-Delta Airport (GLH) to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Greenville to Atlanta is a new route that was recommended by the community, to give access to a larger cosmopolitan area and improve Greenville’s economic opportunity. Boutique Air retired service from Greenville to Nashville, TN on March, 31 2019. At the end of March, Boutique Air ceased all flights to Nashville International Airport and concentrate on flights to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Due to the pandemic, flights to Atlanta were changed back to Nashville in late 2020. On 11 August 2021,

was announced as Greenville Mid-Delta Airport's (GLH) new federal

(EAS) air carrier, with daily service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and 5 weekly service (every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays) to Nashville International Airport (BNA). Contour Airlines replaced

at the airport from 1 October 2021 and currently operates

Embraer ERJ-135 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

and

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jets on its services.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

References

: *
Ninety-day notice (July 3, 2008)
: 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)
: 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)
: 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)
: from MESABA AVIATION, INC. and PINNACLE AIRLINES, INC. of termination of service at Greenville, MS. *
Order 2012-5-17 (May 22, 2012)
: 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)
: 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)
: 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)
: 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)
: 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 Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...

(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.

External links

Mid-Delta Regional Airport
at City of Greenville website
Aerial image as of March 1996
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...