Fayetteville Regional Airport (FAY) has experienced its share of turbulence over the years. With passenger numbers and destinations significantly trailing the much smaller cities of Asheville and Wilmington, the city-owned facility has received its share of criticism. At a January 2019 City Council meeting, Mayor Mitch Colvin described the airport as “underperforming,” something he said then-director Bradley Whited failed to acknowledge.

“It’s hard to be open for change if you don’t think something is wrong,” Colvin said, according to a Jan. 15, 2019, article in the Up & Coming Weekly newspaper. (Whited retired in April 2020 and deputy director Toney Coleman moved into the top spot in August).

Now, more than two years later, the bumpy ride appears to have smoothed out. As with other airports, the pandemic left even the limited remaining FAY flights nearly empty. Its recovery, however, is proving robust.

“FAY continues to be one of the fastest-recovering North Carolina commercial-service airports since March 2020,” according to a statement from the airport.

As numbers improved through the remainder of the year, 2021 began with a shot in the arm as American Airlines announced it would begin daily non-stop service between Fayetteville and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). Although American offers direct flights to its Charlotte hub throughout the day, the DFW flight provides an alternative and the airport is a major gateway to warm-weather destinations in the U.S. as well as Mexico and the Caribbean. The DFW service also is popular with military travelers.

The route, which began in March, has been a hit so far. With load factors for both in-bound and out-bound flights exceeding 80 percent, the service is surpassing the airline’s expectations, airport officials said.

The strongest tailwind for the airport has been in the works for several years. In November 2017, work began on what ultimately will be more than $50 million in upgrades that will expand the number of flights and passengers FAY can accommodate, but also make room for the type of amenities that officials believe will make the airport a more attractive option than in the past.

Marketing specialist Allison Rogers said officials know that the airport serves a specific role in the state’s overall air-transportation infrastructure and they want it to excel at that role. Gone are the days when the airport may have been obsessed with keeping locals from making the trip to Raleigh-Durham for cheaper fares and more direct flights.

In fact, the airport doesn’t necessarily consider RDU competition, at least in the way it once did, Rogers said.

“We don't really call it that,” she said. “I mean, we do lose some travelers to them, but RDU is working in a whole different network. There's plenty of business to go around, I think. We work well with them and know them as colleagues.”

On the other hand, FAY still encourages fliers from Cumberland County and the surrounding communities to fly local when it’s an attractive option. Part of that attraction is avoiding the 85-mile drive to RDU and the traffic that has caused many a traveler to miss a flight.

“We have the ease and convenience of being able to fly right here from your own backyard,” Rogers said. 

But convenience doesn’t always win the day. It may have been a 15-minute drive to FAY, but travelers often found a “backyard” crowded, uncomfortable and with little in the way of food and other features travelers have come to expect, especially since required early arrival times have left some fliers spending more time in boarding areas than on planes.

As for the prospects of adding more service, Rogers said there was nothing airport officials could discuss right now, but efforts to add carriers and destinations basically was a nonstop job.

“We have airport consultants that constantly work on those things for us,” she said. 

Airport officials believe that elevating the terminal experience is the first step toward improving all aspects of travel and ensuring that FAY is meeting its full potential, including landing more flights and more direct destinations.

The makeover and expansion really is the biggest thing on the horizon, Rogers said. 

“Making it an even better airport experience for our travelers; encouraging the community to use our local airport,” she said. “Because the more we use it, the more we support it, then, you know, the better business we can develop and we can give to our local community.”