'Gem of an airport': Joe Wheeler looks ahead as Tupelo Regional director

Jun. 20—TUPELO — On the job for more than two months, Tupelo Regional Airport Executive Director Joe Wheeler feels quite at home.

His days are busy overseeing the airport, which is in its best financial position in a decade. Commercial air service, despite a hiccup with the pandemic last year, is flying passengers at a clip last seen nearly a decade ago. Wheeler has a checklist of things to do, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"We've really got a gem of an airport," Wheeler said. "As always, with any airport anywhere, there are improvements to be made, and what we've been trying to focus on is elevating the airport."

Wheeler has 15 years of airport experience, most recently as the Airport Director for the Greater Lafourche Port Commission in Galliano, Louisiana.

"We interviewed several top candidates located throughout the Southeast, and we found the best for Tupelo," Tupelo Airport Authority Chairman Eric Gibens said of Wheeler's hiring in April. "The board is impressed with Joe's experience in airport operations, property management and his history as a pilot. "

Among one of the projects Wheeler has undertaken is repainting the interior of the terminal, which was extensively renovated and expanded in 2007.

Beyond that, there are several other projects in play.

"There's nothing critical that has to be done but there are some things that need to get on maintenance cycles and to abide by them," he said. "There are other areas that need to be reworked. Some places haven't been touched in probably 20-30 years — and sometimes don't have to — but we're getting to that time frame where things start popping up where we're having to go in to repair or replace it."

The runway is in good condition, although some milling and overlay is scheduled for the next year or so.

"For the most part, all of our pavement is good except for a small area on the ramp that needs to be redone but we'll get that taken care of," he said.

The airport master plan calls for converting the old runway running parallel to Airpark Road into a taxiway and opening it up to tenants.

"We're still in the early planning stages for that," Wheeler said.

Several years ago, the board explored the idea of opening up land for a solar farm, but those plans await funding.

Another one of Wheeler's priorities is exploring getting another route for Tupelo passengers. Currently, Contour Airlines provides service to Nashville. The airport authority has long sought another route, but the constraints with federally subsidized air service — Tupelo is currently operating with help from the Essential Air Service program — limits what a carrier can do.

But adding another route won't be easy. Because Tupelo is working under EAS conditions, there is a cap on the per-passenger subsidy, which Tupelo currently meets. Adding a route must be carefully weighed so as not to exceed that cap. It could also mean cutting some flights to Nashville in order to add another route.

"We don't want to lose our Essential Air Service because we added another route," Wheeler said. "But I've had a brief conversation with Contour that I and the board are interested in another route. I think it's a 50% possibility we'll get one eventually."

As it stands, Contour — which has served Tupelo since March 2016 — provides 14 roundtrip flights per week on a twin-jet powered, 30-passenger Embraer ERJ-135. The most recent two-year contract, which went into effect in October, pays the airline $3.8 million.

Until 2020, passenger boardings had grown every year with Contour's service between Tupelo and Nashville. Boardings the previous three years reached at least 10,000 — the first time that's happened since the early 2000s when the airport was served by two airlines.

Wheeler said he'd eventually like to see another route that's also served by American Airlines.

In November 2019, Contour launched an interline agreement with American, allowing passengers to travel via Contour and American under a single itinerary. Bookings must be made through third-party travel agencies due to compatibility with Contour system. Eventually, Contour will be able to sell interline tickets on its own web site.

But a route to Atlanta won't be an option.

'I'm thinking Dallas, Charlotte ... American hubs; maybe even Indianapolis," Wheeler said. "We haven't really sat down to talk about it extensively. And it's really early to talk about. Certainly when you're talking about adding a route, you're going to have to sit down more than once."

Financially, the airport no longer has the yoke of debt that hung around its neck for several years. Because of the CARES Act, which sent millions to airports across the country last year, Tupelo was able to pay off its outstanding loans and it now no longer owes anybody anything save for the usual purchases.

Increasing revenue is a next step, which includes reviewing the rates and leases of airport property to ensure they're at fair market value as required by law. Additionally, there's a growing demand for hangar space, although financially, the return on investment must be weighed.

"I can't build something to lose money on it," Wheeler said. "So we're looking into some programs that will help lessen our full cost and maybe we might get something back from it eventually."

In his long-range plans, Wheeler hopes the airport will have a solid financial base with additional flights in place and enough passengers to get out of the EAS program.

Before Delta ended service to smaller communities like Tupelo in 2011, Tupelo Regional was flying tens of thousands of passengers yearly. Peak boardings reached 32,000 in 2006, but began falling as Delta and Northwest pulled back service. The mergers of the airlines cut service further until Delta eventually pulled out for good in 2012. To continue service, Tupelo was placed in the EAS program and has remained since. Wheeler would like to be weaned off of it.

"Right now we can't do that," he said. "But I believe with everything going on, I think we'll be able to get out of it eventually. EAS was never meant to be a lifelong thing but something to help you out until you were ready to get out on your own."

dennis.seid@djournal.com