Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Montgomery Airport to Add Flight to Houston - TPR's In Focus - March 31, 2026

Transcript

Montgomery Airport to Add Flight to Houston - TPR's In Focus - March 31, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

• 0:00
  Support comes from the Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park
• 0:03
  on the main campus of Troy University,
• 0:06
  featuring the International Arts Center,
• 0:09
  the Fred Nall Hollis Museum,
• 0:11
  and the Who About You Gallery.
• 0:14
  More information at troy.edu slash arts park.
• 0:19
  ♪
• 0:21
  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus,
• 0:25
  and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
• 0:26
  If you're thinking about flying,
• 0:29
  Brittany Jones Dabney,
• 0:31
  Marketing and Communications Manager
• 0:33
  at Montgomery Regional Airport,
• 0:35
  joins us with an update on TSA
• 0:39
  and the new flights available to Houston,
• 0:43
  starting next week.
• 0:48
  Brittany, welcome back to Troy Public Radio
• 0:50
  from the Montgomery Regional Airport.
• 0:53
  Thank you for having me.
• 0:54
  Brittany, get us up to date on the flight status
• 0:58
  of the airlines at Montgomery Regional Airport.
• 1:01
  We've been experiencing these shutdowns.
• 1:04
  Has it affected the airport?
• 1:07
  So, at Montgomery Regional Airport,
• 1:08
  we have not experienced any delays or any problems.
• 1:13
  Right now, MGM is operating under normal conditions.
• 1:16
  We do have short wait times,
• 1:17
  and our TSA pre-check is still available.
• 1:20
  All the same amenities that you would experience
• 1:22
  at a larger airport,
• 1:23
  we are currently having at our airport at MGM.
• 1:26
  We just have a little bit of a shorter time,
• 1:28
  so our wait times have been under three minutes,
• 1:31
  and we're really excited about that.
• 1:32
  We celebrate our station manager team here at MGM
• 1:36
  because they're still continuing to come in,
• 1:39
  and we appreciate their efforts
• 1:40
  in making the travel experience smooth
• 1:42
  for all of our passengers.
• 1:44
  So, you're saying TSA is running normally.
• 1:47
  Is there any news about the TSA employees
• 1:50
  that we need to get the listeners up to date on?
• 1:53
  All that information is coming from TSA directly,
• 1:56
  but our average wait times have been under three minutes.
• 1:59
  We recently rolled out a campaign
• 2:01
  that's shared the sentiments around
• 2:04
  smooth travel start here, and that's exactly right.
• 2:07
  Here at MGM, we have a dedicated team of agents
• 2:10
  that are working to make sure
• 2:12
  that everyone has a seamless experience
• 2:14
  from the parking lot to check-in,
• 2:16
  and we just really continue to rally behind our agents.
• 2:20
  The federal shutdown hopefully will be ending soon
• 2:23
  so that they will be able to resume their regular pay,
• 2:26
  but here at MGM, we're continuing to uplift them.
• 2:29
  We did a donation campaign for them recently
• 2:31
  so that people outside of MGM,
• 2:34
  if they wanted to donate to them with gift cards
• 2:36
  and grocery items that they could.
• 2:38
  So, we were also still just rallying behind our own agents
• 2:42
  because we know how tough that can be for them at this time.
• 2:45
  Meanwhile, you have news to share
• 2:47
  about a new destination flight.
• 2:49
  Yes, we are really excited about our new service
• 2:53
  to Houston via United Airlines Express.
• 2:56
  It will start on next Tuesday, April 7th,
• 2:59
  so we're really excited about that.
• 3:01
  The connectivity that the Houston hub will offer
• 3:04
  into Latin America, to the Caribbean market.
• 3:08
  It's really gonna be a great opportunity
• 3:10
  for people that wanna be able to have
• 3:12
  so many other connecting point destinations.
• 3:15
  So, MGM has a good open flexibility
• 3:17
  for you to be able to connect to hundreds of destinations
• 3:21
  by getting into Houston.
• 3:23
  That flight will leave from MGM around one o'clock
• 3:27
  and then that's gonna be a twice a day service.
• 3:30
  So, if you missed the first one,
• 3:31
  then you do have a second one
• 3:32
  that will leave out around 4.55.
• 3:35
  This is a very good testament to the community to support
• 3:39
  just people really rallying around MGM
• 3:42
  because we've heard, hey, we want more service,
• 3:44
  but more than that,
• 3:45
  they want to be able to connect to different points.
• 3:47
  So, we're truly excited about this
• 3:50
  for those passengers that will be flying out
• 3:52
  on the inaugural flight,
• 3:54
  we've got some special surprises for them.
• 3:56
  So, if you have not had a chance
• 3:58
  to book your flight just yet, it's not too late,
• 4:00
  just go to flymgm.com and book that flight with us today.
• 4:04
  People are really excited about it.
• 4:06
  You know, this is gonna be a big thing for MGM
• 4:08
  because we haven't had new service in the last eight years.
• 4:12
  So, this is really big for the community.
• 4:14
  So, we're really hoping that people,
• 4:16
  number one, utilize that route
• 4:18
  because the more people use it,
• 4:20
  the more service that we're able to get.
• 4:22
  So, people are getting ready to fly on it.
• 4:25
  They will be in for a special surprise
• 4:27
  for the inaugural flight.
• 4:29
  So, United Airlines operated under SkyWest.
• 4:32
  Is this in addition to your Dallas-Fort Worth flight
• 4:36
  on American?
• 4:37
  This is an additional service,
• 4:38
  but it's on a different airline.
• 4:41
  So, the route to Houston will be serviced by United.
• 4:44
  The Dallas route is currently serviced by American Airlines,
• 4:48
  which goes out three times a day.
• 4:50
  So, we're actually adding a new route.
• 4:54
  Can you tell us more about the services
• 4:56
  to the Eastern United States
• 4:58
  from Montgomery Regional Airport?
• 5:01
  So, right now, we currently offer three airlines
• 5:04
  to four destinations.
• 5:06
  Delta Airlines goes over to Atlanta
• 5:09
  and then American offers services
• 5:11
  through Charlotte and Washington, D.C.
• 5:15
  So, people have tremendous access points
• 5:17
  to get into these major hubs.
• 5:20
  And that's another thing about Montgomery Regional Airport.
• 5:22
  We're connecting people to the world
• 5:24
  through these major hubs
• 5:25
  so that they can have the opportunity
• 5:27
  to have good seamless connections.
• 5:30
  So, when people thinking about,
• 5:31
  hey, you know, I wanna be able to get a nonstop here,
• 5:34
  we can get that nonstop
• 5:36
  if people are number one choosing the convenience
• 5:38
  of flying with us locally.
• 5:40
  But also keeping in mind
• 5:41
  that we're connecting people through large hubs.
• 5:45
  So, we're really proud of that initiative
• 5:47
  and our air service team is definitely working
• 5:49
  to make sure that we expand the routes and connectivity.
• 5:52
  Flying from Montgomery certainly saves some long drives.
• 5:57
  Let me ask you about renovations
• 5:59
  at the Montgomery Regional Airport.
• 6:01
  What's going on with renovations?
• 6:04
  Well, we have a couple of projects going on.
• 6:06
  We recently completed our car rental renovation.
• 6:10
  So, we still have the same car rentals
• 6:12
  that we typically operate with,
• 6:14
  Hertz, American, Dollar, Thrifty.
• 6:16
  So, they've moved into a completely new space.
• 6:18
  It's beautiful.
• 6:19
  We're excited about that.
• 6:21
  And then also we have a new baggage claim
• 6:23
  that will be available in early summer.
• 6:26
  Baggage claim carrier now will have two.
• 6:29
  So, we're giving more availability for our airlines
• 6:33
  to be able to offload that luggage easier.
• 6:35
  And number one, giving them the availability
• 6:37
  so that they don't have to wait
• 6:38
  until one airline is done
• 6:40
  to load that baggage onto the carousel.
• 6:42
  The renovation should be completed early summer.
• 6:46
  The next step is making our airport look more modernized.
• 6:50
  That project started last September
• 6:53
  and we're almost near completion.
• 6:55
  Can you give the airline passengers some advice
• 6:58
  on what we can carry, what we can't carry,
• 7:01
  that sort of thing?
• 7:02
  Well, we always encourage passengers
• 7:04
  that are getting ready to take a trip
• 7:05
  to visit tsa.gov,
• 7:07
  where they disclose information
• 7:09
  about the 3-1-1 liquid rule
• 7:11
  that you can and cannot bring through.
• 7:13
  Most important thing is,
• 7:15
  always unpack your bag.
• 7:17
  A lot of people forget
• 7:18
  that they may leave items in their bag,
• 7:20
  such as guns or pocket knives
• 7:22
  that are not supposed to be in their carry-on or check bags.
• 7:25
  And then by the time they get through
• 7:27
  the checkpoint security,
• 7:28
  they can't fully complete that screening process
• 7:31
  because they've left something in their bag.
• 7:33
  And remember that if you are having to pack a firearm
• 7:36
  or something, that you need to declare that
• 7:38
  with the airlines.
• 7:39
  You can bring it through,
• 7:40
  but it needs to be first declared through the airlines
• 7:43
  and also in a safety box
• 7:44
  to keep that away from your luggage.
• 7:47
  What about food?
• 7:49
  Food is fine to take through
• 7:51
  as long as it cannot be spread,
• 7:54
  smeared, or sprayed.
• 7:56
  Those are the items
• 7:57
  that you cannot take through checkpoints.
• 7:59
  So like peanut butter, that's a no-no.
• 8:01
  You can't take that through a checkpoint.
• 8:03
  But if you have anything frozen,
• 8:05
  that can go through the checkpoint.
• 8:06
  Frozen food is fine.
• 8:08
  You can take a cake through TSA.
• 8:11
  You can take a turkey through TSA.
• 8:13
  But you just want to make sure
• 8:14
  that any item that you are taking through,
• 8:16
  you want to definitely make sure
• 8:18
  that you visit the tsa.gov.
• 8:20
  They have a list of items that you can
• 8:21
  and cannot bring through the checkpoint.
• 8:24
  Well, Brittany, with all of your 15 years of experience
• 8:27
  working with the airport and the airlines,
• 8:30
  is there any other advice
• 8:32
  that you'd like to give your listeners?
• 8:34
  Pack your patience right now.
• 8:35
  Right now, we're experiencing spring break travel.
• 8:38
  And as soon as spring break travel ends,
• 8:40
  people are getting ready to go into summer travel.
• 8:42
  So I definitely want to hone in
• 8:44
  on the message of flying locally and the convenience.
• 8:47
  Our curb-to-gate experience is seamless.
• 8:50
  So just visit flymgm.com.
• 8:54
  Our latest news releases, our upcoming 5K,
• 8:58
  and also our weekly deals that we offer
• 9:01
  for round trips under $300.
• 9:03
  I think last week's deal was to Miami for $168 round trip.
• 9:08
  And these are flights that are leaving from MGM
• 9:11
  and typically connecting in one of our hubs
• 9:13
  and then moving on to your final destination.
• 9:16
  Brittany, thanks so much.
• 9:18
  And let's stay in touch.
• 9:19
  Thank you so much.
• 9:20
  We appreciate it.
• 9:22
  That was Brittany Jones Dabney,
• 9:24
  marketing and communications manager
• 9:27
  at Montgomery Regional Airport.
• 9:29
  Information on flight specials
• 9:32
  can be found at their website, flymgm.com,
• 9:36
  under flights, then under travel deals.
• 9:40
  Thanks for joining us today for In Focus,
• 9:42
  which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
• 9:46
  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson,
• 9:47
  and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.