The Cost of Flying

Longtime Montgomery Economic-impact researcher Keivan Deravi, Ph.D, is out with a report on the economic impact of Alabama's largest airports, and Montgomery is at the bottom of the list of the four largest city airports in the state.

It's not a surprise that the study shows Birmingham, the largest city in the state, is also home to the airport with the biggest impact.

But Montgomery is well behind not only Birmingham, but also Mobile and Huntsville.

In fact, Deravi finds Montgomery behind in many categories.

His report shows the total economic impact of the Montgomery airport to be $125,138,746

That's well behind the other cities:

Birmingham:  $1,559,569,618

Mobile: $1,401,533,331

Huntsville: $379,779,213

Montgomery: $125,138,746

And the number of people with jobs at or related to the airport?

 

Huntsville, 28,588

Birmingham 18,674

Mobile 18,646

Montgomery 1,511

Number of passengers using the airport in 2019?

Birmingham     1,545,308

Huntsville         725,484

Mobile              350,290

Montgomery     170,544

As for the bottom line, the RIO (Return on Investment) for the airports ranges from mid 4% to low 15%.

I have a feeling the Montgomery Regional Airport's ROI is down there in the 4.5% area, and I have asked Dr. Deravi for a number.