Fort Smith airport traffic up in April, $13.5 million in work may begin in June
by May 15, 2026 4:07 pm 543 views
Commercial traffic out of the Fort Smith Regional Airport was up 1.36% in April, and is up less than 1% in the first four months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to airport figures. The April traffic was down more than 6% from March.
The airport reported 4,548 enplanements in April, up 1.36% compared with 4,487 in April 2025, and down 6.03% compared with 4,840 in March. Airport enplanements totaled 18,039 in the first four months of 2026, up 0.66% compared with 17,921 in the same period of 2025.
“While activity moderated slightly from March, overall demand remains steady and in line with seasonal patterns,” said Airport Director Andrew Meyer. “We’re encouraged to see enplanements ahead of April 2025, which speaks to the strength of the Fort Smith market. We appreciate the ongoing community support, and we continue working closely with our airline partners to support reliable service and identify future air service opportunities.”
Meyer said he is not overly concerned that higher fuel prices resulting from the Trump administration’s war on Iran will negatively impact Fort Smith air service. He said recent conversations with American Airlines, the only carrier providing commercial air service at Fort Smith, indicate they are “very happy” with activity at the airport and may soon add a fourth daily flight through the summer.
Meyer said the airport is also busy with a “summer of progress” that is expected to see $13.5 million in rehab work and new construction. Part of that is a $9.4 million rehabilitation of its shorter north-south (runway 2/20) situated runway and associated taxiway. The funding comes 95% from the federal government and 5% from state funds, according to the airport.
“Work will be carefully phased and coordinated to avoid impacts to commercial air service while minimizing disruption to military and general aviation operations,” the airport noted about the planned runway rehab.
Pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, that work is set to begin in early June and be completed within 150 days, Meyer said.
Work also is set to begin — again, pending FAA approval — on a $4.1 million facility to consolidate snow removal equipment and maintenance into one building. That project may also begin in early June and should take about a year to complete, Meyer said. Snow plows, deicing equipment, and other cold-weather related equipment and products, and maintenance support for the equipment will be housed in the building to be located near the airport’s fire station.
Meyer said the airport has an FAA mandate to keep the airport “open and operational” at all times, and that responsibility takes on added importance with runways and taxiways also used by the U.S. Air Force for its F-35 foreign pilot training center. Ebbing Air National Guard Base was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program pilot training center supporting F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the program.
ENPLANEMENT HISTORY
Enplanements at the airport in 2025 totaled 62,369, up 1.56% compared with 61,409 in 2024, and better than 60,669 enplanements in 2023. Fort Smith enplanements were on a growth trend prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2025 tally is down 34.8% compared with 2019 when those traveling out of the airport totaled 95,670. Enplanements fell to 38,660 in 2020.
The last time enplanements topped 100,000 was in 2005 with 102,607. The enplanement record is 112,782 set in 1975.
American Airlines had four to five flights a day in 2021 but has reduced its schedule to around three flights a day to Dallas-Fort Worth. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines stopped its direct service to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in July 2020.
The airport received a $1.145 million grant in August 2022 from the Small Community Air Service Development Program of the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit a route to Chicago or another northeastern market. The grant is good for 10 years. The airport contracted with Middleton, Wisc.-based Mead & Hunt to help recruit more flights and add new markets.
Following are the previous 11 years of Fort Smith enplanement totals.
2025: 62,369
2024: 61,409
2023: 60,669
2022: 61,719
2021: 47,287
2020: 38,660
2019: 95,670
2018: 90,501
2017: 89,582
2016: 87,488
2015: 86,704