Origins In 1939
Oliver Parks was brought to Alabama to set up a
Civilian Pilot Training Program, CPTP, for the
University of Alabama. A brick hangar was built on the property and the first class of students were licensed before the end of 1939. The airport was opened in April 1940 as
Van De Graaff Field. It originally consisted of four turf runways: 00/18 (2500 by 500 feet), 04/22 (3777 by 600 feet), 09/27 (4082 by 600 feet), 13/31 (5208 by 600 feet).
World War II During
World War II, the field was revamped to include a single main runway (the current 11/29). The rest of the field was usable as an all-way field. The
Civil Aeronautics Administration designated van de Graff Field as an intermediate field (#59). It operated as a
United States Army Air Forces primary (phase 1) pilot training field by a detachment of the 51st Flying Training Group,
Greenville Army Airfield, Mississippi. In addition to the main field, the following known sub-bases and auxiliaries were used: • Albright Auxiliary Field (undetermined location) • Foster Auxiliary Field • Knauer Auxiliary Field • Moody Auxiliary Field • Rice Auxiliary Field Pilot training was provided under contract by the Alabama Institute of Aeronautics, Inc. Flying training was performed primarily with
Fairchild PT-19s, in addition to
PT-17 Stearmans and a few
P-40 Warhawks. Beginning in June 1943, Free French Air Force flight cadets began to arrive at the school for Primary flight training, having graduated from the preflight screening school at
Craig Field. Military operations were inactivated on September 8, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. Free French training was transferred to the
Hawthorne School of Aeronautics, Orangeburg, South Carolina. The airfield was turned over to city control at the end of the war though the
War Assets Administration.
Commercial air service Runway 11/29 was paved in the early 1950s. A northeast–southwest runway (4/22) was built in 1970, along with a passenger terminal, to facilitate jet service. Airline service to Tuscaloosa began on June 10, 1949, on a 25-seat
Douglas DC-3 as one of the original six destinations served by
Southern Airways. Southern later served Tuscaloosa with
Martin 4-0-4 piston-powered propeller aircraft and then introduced
Douglas DC-9-10 jet service by 1972. In 1979 Southern and
North Central Airlines merged to form
Republic Airlines. According to the OAG, in 1981 Republic was operating four flights a day into the airport including two Douglas DC-9-10 jet nonstops from Atlanta plus a third direct DC-9-10 flight from Atlanta via Columbus as well as one direct
Convair 580 turboprop flight from Memphis via Columbus, MS. Republic subsequently pulled out of Tuscaloosa on June 1, 1984, as most passengers were drawn to nearby Birmingham's airport. Briefly following the exit of Republic, Sunbelt Airlines provided two daily flights to Memphis from June 1 through its elimination of service on September 13, 1984. A Sunbelt Airlines route map in 1984 depicts direct service to Memphis flown via Tupelo with
Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante commuter turboprops. On April 15, 1986
American Eagle began flying between Tuscaloosa and
Nashville. The service was initially operated by
Air Midwest and operated three times daily from Tuscaloosa with 19 seat
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner commuter propjets. Service ended with the closure of the Nashville hub in June 1996, with service being redirected to
Dallas/Fort Worth on 34 seat Saab 340s via
Jackson. Due to dwindling passenger counts, the city voluntarily removed itself from the
Essential Air Service (EAS) program resulting in service being discontinued on April 18, 1997.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) flew between Tuscaloosa and
Atlanta from 1982 to June 1992. In late 1989, two airlines were serving Tuscaloosa according to the OAG: American Eagle with three direct flights a day from Nashville via a stop in Columbus, MS or Tupelo, MS flown with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner commuter propjets and Atlantic Southeast Airlines operating as the Delta Connection with three direct flights a day from Atlanta via a stop in
Anniston, AL or Columbus, MS flown with
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia commuter propjets.
GP Express Airlines would continue service to Atlanta from June 6, 1992, through the elimination of its
EAS subsidy on June 30, 1994. A GP Express route map in 1992 depicts nonstop flights to Atlanta, Anniston and
Hattiesburg, MS with the flights to Anniston continuing on to Atlanta. No airlines have served Tuscaloosa on a scheduled basis since the departure of American Eagle in 1997.
Attempts to restore commercial service In the 2000s (decade) the city and the airport tried to lure airlines back to the airport. Between 2002 and 2006 the airport received $2.2 million in federal, state, and local money to improve its facilities, including $400,000 from the
FAA as part of a program to help restore airline service to smaller cities. The city matched the grant with $100,000 of local funding. In 2006 the city authorized paying $8500 to a consulting firm to court airlines in an effort to revive service to the airport. City and airport officials stated their belief that the area was in a different economic picture with the
Mercedes-Benz plant in the city (the only one in North America) and new developments around the campus of the
University of Alabama, including an expansion to
Bryant–Denny Stadium. Hopes of commercial service returning to West Alabama were revived again in 2019 as part of Tuscaloosa Mayor's
Walt Maddox Elevate Tuscaloosa proposal included $15 million in funding that would receive matching funds to renovate the terminal at Tuscaloosa National to make the growing city more appealing to commercial airlines. While visiting Tuscaloosa on April 29, 2011, to assess devastation reliefs efforts in the wake of the
April 27th tornado disaster, President Barack Obama landed at then-Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in the
Boeing C-32 presidential transport plane. The C-32 is the U.S. Air Force designation for the
Boeing 757-200 jetliner. Jet charters appear at Tuscaloosa, but scheduled air service has eluded Tuscaloosa National to date. == Current operations ==