If I’m flying with my whole family, I’ll check the price out of Nola but I’ve never actually booked a flight out of there. I hate the thought of driving 3 hours to an airport. Nola is almost always cheaper but not enough to justify the drive. I have friends that will go to Nola for more direct flight options, which I understand but still not for me.
OT: Jackson airport
- Thread starter msugrad2003
- Start date
I find it real easy to fly in and out of Jxn. We just took a trip and flew in and out of Birmingham and both of us thought that it was a lot easier and simpler to fly in/out of Jxn (we are about the same distance from both). We will give the nod back to Jxn the next time we fly.
We are flying out of New Orleans to visit @Oregon Tiger in late July. We had some Southwest credits to use and flying out of Jackson wasn't possible. You had to book 2 separate flights. I even called Southwest. It made no sense.
I was assuming that the land would have been granted to the authority when it was established. I guess that's not necessary when you have an airport authority with a single political subdivision backing it.
If the City owns the land, that does seem like it would be difficult to just commandeer it by appointing a new board. If it is owned by the authority, I don't know that all the grant assurances would be a problem as you'd still have the same legal entity signing off on it (I assume? didn't the legislation just change the makeup of the board?).
I also consider return flight take off time on vacation trips in addition to costs. Especially if I have to get kids up and moving. I’d rather drive 2.5-3 hours after landing if it means not getting up at 5:30 am. The good thing about MSY from metro Jackson is it’s on the good aside of traffic so you can get there in just under 2.5
In the good ole days of me traveling every week for business...it was goof thing to have a plane change at Dallas love on a Friday afternoon. Enjoy a cold beer at the chili's, positioned right on the hot corner. The talent coming in for the weekend always tipped things by wearing their stage shoes. Neon, transparent, glittered, or mirrored platform heels...
City of Jackson acquired the land from Rankin County back in the 1950s and contributed it to the Airport Authority. The Airport Authority is a component unit of the City of Jackson (it's owned by the City of Jackson and is a part of the City of Jackson).
1. The airport is not unsafe and has never been unsafe.
2. I would love for Jxn to be viable and bustling, but it's not much of a business center any longer. Just take a drive on Highland Colony and see where all the businesses went, take a drive through Flowood and Madison and you see where much medical has gone and more is coming. I've worked in DT Jxn for going on 30 years, it's dead, it's not unsafe, it's just abandoned.
Yes, city owns basically everything, with obligations on it.
I'm sure at some point in the past, the CoJ wanted the JMAA to ultimately become independent of them (probably if the airport was losing money). But they likely don't want to now, because I'm betting the airport is now in a better financial position (I don't know that for sure, just assuming). But for whatever reason, the CoJ and JMAA never separated. And to take grants, you have to be in a strong financial position, and that's usually better by having a City/County as the primary owner, so....no real reason to separate.
And yeah, if CoJ had ever ceded power to JMAA back in the day.....this state law would have a lot more teeth.
Dude, good grief.
1. I meant unsafe for flying, like if the runway was falling apart, due to bad maintenance. Or if the terminal building was unstable, etc. There are other entities that have oversight in these things besides JMAA. FAA, building inspectors, etc. Airport is too important to be just another Jackson dilapidated structure.
2. I meant the whole Jackson Metro and even 1-2 hours around it, which is what JAN serves primarily. It doesn't just serve city residents.
This was a decade before my birth, but i've always been told there was gentleman's agreement between Jxn and Rankin, if Rankin didn't fight the airport, Jxn, wouldn't try to annex any land on the Rankin side of the Pearl.
Where are you getting that runways are unsafe, that's not true at all.
Rather than use the term "Jxn" is the center of business, better to use the term "Jxn Metro."
This is not my area, so take this with a large shaker of salt, but I believe being a component unit is an accounting determination, and that determination flows from, among other things, the de facto ownership and control of the separate legal entity. It doesn't dictate ownership and/or control.
If the authority owns the assets, and the city is not the guarantor of any bonds issued by the airport authority, and the make up of the commission is changed to where the City of jackson no longer has the ability to assert majority control, then I would assume it won't remain a component unit (I don't know the actual test but I think it's basically a totality of the circumstances type test of basically is it independent or not). No clue what that means for the city's books for the authority to just disappear from them. I would assume the city of jackson's annual audit has some footnotes about what happens if anybody is motivated to look for it.
That's the point. The airport will never be allowed to fall apart.
You do realize that pavements have to be maintained right?
You have a pretty good understanding of how it works. And yeah, if the composition of the Board changed, that could change. But the Authority was created by the City of Jackson. Only way the composition of that Board can change is if the City changes it.
It was before my time too, but my understanding is it's not a gentlemens agreement. It was part of the terms of the City of Jackson acquiring the land. Jackson has crossed into Madison County for a small sliver of land annexed years ago. But they legally can't cross the Pearl River into Rankin County.
You may or may not realize that one of the top ANG bases in the country shares those runways, they will never be unsafe.
You are very talented at affirming what somebody has said while making it sound like a disagreement.
I always thought that the takeover had less to do with the actual airport although I'm sure it could be better managed. The development income from the JMAA property on the East Metro Parkway could be what is driving it. That and Rankin citizens will want some oversight on what is developed on those properties.
Probably. But there are strings that come with that too, especially if bought with grants.
If FFA regs allow, the land along Airport Road should have developed 40 years ago. Jxn had property right in the middle of the growth path for Rankin for all this time. There should have been bars and restaurants all along that corridor. Back when Flowood had liquor restrictions, restaurants/bars on that stretch would have boomed. Again, if FFA regs would allow building in that area.
FAA has said they’re staying out of it until the courts rule. And I’m sure it would go all the way to the Supreme Court before Jackson would give up the airport. If the state really wants the airport, they need to start negotiating with City of Jackson. I doubt they’re getting it any other way.
Same boat. Flying out of JAN is ideal. Easy & fast to get in and out of. Gulfport has a cheap direct flight to Vegas & Tampa I’ve entertained driving for.
Well, I guess that's what the litigation is about but if there is state enabling legislation authorizing the city to establish an airport authority, I don't know what would stop the legislature from modifying the statutes establishing how the commissioners are appointed.
Certainly some fairness/equity arguments that seem pretty solid to me, but I'm not sure if they are good legal arguments or not.
I definitely think it'd be better if the state legislature tried to negotiate relinquishing sole control of the airport as part of a package making money available to Jackson for infrastructure. Not easy to negotiate when you need legislative signoff and city council signoff, but generally the more stuff taken out of Jackson leadership, the better not just for the Jackson MSA but also for the residents of Jackson. If Jackson can get some more state funded road improvements, water and sewer improvements, and police presence, and the city residents also get more grownups involved in core government functions, that's a win for everybody except the local grifters.
