Groundbreaking for the new airport occurred on August 17, 1959, beginning construction that was expected to take two years. The expansion was expected to cost $6 million (). In 1973 Delta
Boeing 727s flew nonstop to
Atlanta,
Birmingham,
Dallas/Ft. Worth,
Monroe (LA),
Montgomery (AL),
Memphis,
Meridian (MS),
New Orleans, and
Shreveport, which continued for some time afterward. In the mid-1980s, Delta 727s and
McDonnell Douglas DC-9s flew nonstop to Atlanta, Dallas/Ft Worth, Memphis,
Mobile, Monroe, and Shreveport. In October 1991 Delta had nonstop 727s, DC-9s and
McDonnell Douglas MD-88s to its hubs in Atlanta,
Cincinnati, and Dallas/Ft Worth, in addition to
Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Monroe, and Shreveport. This was augmented between 1993 and 1998 by Delta
Boeing 757s to Atlanta, Birmingham, and Dallas/Ft Worth, the largest commercial jets possible for the airport runways to accommodate. Delta reduced its flights thereafter: by 2004 Delta flew to just Atlanta and Cincinnati, the latter only through subsidiary
Comair, and since 2013 it has served only Atlanta directly from Jackson. In the 1960s
Southern Airways Martin 404s connected Jackson with
Natchez, Vicksburg, Greenwood, Columbus, Laurel, and New Orleans, but in the next decade Southern replaced these with DC-9s. In the 1970s Southern flew to Memphis, Atlanta,
Greenville, Mississippi and Mobile, but after it merged with
North Central Airlines in 1979 to form
Republic Airlines it flew only to Memphis and left completely by 1984. In the 1970s Jackson had direct
Convair 600s to
Houston–
Intercontinental,
Alexandria, Louisiana, and Baton Rouge on
Texas International Airlines. In 1979
Frontier Airlines flew
Boeing 737s direct to
Little Rock, with connections to Denver and the rest of the airline's network.
Royale Airlines flew Gulfstream turboprops to Natchez and New Orleans. Between 1984 and 1986,
Eastern Airlines had nonstop 727s to Atlanta and New Orleans;
United Airlines flew 737s to Memphis, a route later taken over by Northwest with
Saab 340s; Northwest also started direct turboprops to
Laurel/Hattiesburg and later started Jackson–New Orleans. A
Continental Airlines affiliate began turboprop flights to
Houston–Intercontinental, which continued through June 2013 (now part of United, using regional jets). In 1981
American Airlines began direct flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Mobile, and later
Nashville, using MD-83s and Boeing 727s. In the early 1990s the airport's name became "Jackson International Airport" since it has facilities for international flights (of which it has none scheduled). It has an office for U.S. Customs to service international arrivals and has established a
Foreign Trade Zone. The airport also saw
US Airways as a new carrier during this time, gaining nonstop service to
Charlotte and for a time, to New Orleans.
Trans World Airlines began Trans World Express service to
St. Louis in 1995; this ended the next year. TWA had DC-9, often DC-9-10, service to STL in 1996. Low-cost
Valujet began DC-9 flights from Jackson to Atlanta in 1994, lasting for two years before it filed for bankruptcy and became
AirTran Airways in 1997. The mid-1990s saw a tightening in the airline industry of the hub-and-spoke system, and many destinations from Jackson were eliminated. American downgraded service in 1995 from Jackson to
American Eagle service only to Dallas/Ft. Worth and Nashville, and later only to DFW. In 1997
Southwest Airlines began service to Jackson from
Baltimore,
Chicago–Midway,
Houston–Hobby and
Orlando; Southwest flew its last flight from Jackson on June 7, 2014. On October 22, 2020, Southwest Airlines announced that it would be returning to Jackson in the first half of 2021.
Recent air service In 2013, the airport saw 7,520 commercial aircraft (about 20 commercial aircraft per day) and 53,096 aircraft overall. the route ended in summer 2008. American Airlines non-stop service between
Chicago–O'Hare and Jackson–Evers recently ended, though the route was resumed by United Airlines in December 2020. In late 2018, Frontier Airlines started non-stop seasonal service to
Orlando International Airport and
Denver International Airport. They are the only airline to schedule the
Airbus A320 family to Jackson. The
172d Airlift Wing (172 AW) of the
Mississippi Air National Guard has maintained an
Air National Guard base on the airport since 1963, when it moved from
Hawkins Field. The 172 AW previously operated the
C-119 Flying Boxcar,
C-124 Globemaster,
C-130 Hercules,
C-141 Starlifter and now flies the
C-17 Globemaster III. ==Airport operations==