Jackson Jambalaya

Always laugh at those who demand a top notch capital city but, then, in the next breath, holler that JAN is not a dump.

JAN is a dump.

What happened to the 5th Circuit all but directing Carlton Reeves to rule in favor of the State?

This litigation has been "up in the air" for years. (See what I did there?)

Jackson should be embarrassed with the condition the airport is on and how poorly it is run. Worst airport I travel through, and unfortunately it’s my home airport.

Wanna bet one of the elevators in the parking garage is still not working, there is still only one line to enter the garage (they place an orange cone on the other line often), and the self-pay kiosks for the parking garage still don’t provide a receipts.

Not to mention the stained carpet and garbage everywhere.

State needs to take control.

Hopefully these Clowns running the airport have had their day in the sun

"Reverend Jeffrey Stallworth sued that same year in U.S. District Court to stop the state takeover."

That's funny, sad, and to be expected in Jackson.

Jackson has done a poor job or running anything.

Stallworth is running in the special for Horhn's Senate seat.

Then there are the all expenses paid first class trips to the Paris Air Show.

Bring on the "interim third party airport commission."

How many "no show" employees are on the airport payroll? I am guessing a bunch.

Hoping for a happy landing that sees the airport placed in responsible, capable hands.

The negativity is not based in reality. Name another city of the same size or state with the same population that has a nicer airport and can land the same size planes.
The truth is about who gets the money gets to spend the operating revenue of $24.8 million with an expected increase of $2 million expected for 2026. I doubt any of you can name the airlines that now have planes landing and taking off from JAN. Hint: They aren't losing airlines , they've gained them. There's a new restaurant. There are two snack/book shops. The escalators are difficult to repair or replace...try to think restoring an old car. Indeed, it was a miracle when one got running again. And, by the way, the city of Jackson bought the land and paid for it...not the state.
If you want to see the airport get run down again (and gee, I didn't see much in the way of improvement during white governance), give it to the State...they have clearly shown they want our capital city to fail. Truth is Mississippians don't seem to much like each other and it's not just black vs white, it's the Delta vs the Coast vs Central MS.. FYI: changing names to The CofCC doesn't fool anyone.

Avoiding this trial should be the goal of both sides. No one in a position to appropriate badly needed funding (state or federal) is going to lift a finger while this lawsuit languishes.

Also curious why no one in the media has questioned Phelps Dunbar on why they are representing the democrats prosecuting this ridiculous lawsuit? Why is Mike Hurst’s law firm putting forth allegations in the lawsuit accusing state legislators of racism? Someone in the media should ask Hurst if he supports his law firm’s actions and accusations? Is he okay that Rankin County and Madison County officials, as well as the state legislature are being named racists with his law firm’s blessing and assistance? I don’t know why the chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party would sit by and say nothing. I guess that hourly rate is too good.

Oh please. Phelps is a big law firm. Fred Banks has been representing JMAA for years on this lawsuit.

I doubt any of you can name the airlines that now have planes landing and taking off from JAN.

And you want to be taken seriously? ROFLMAO

Jackson is admitting it can't operate Thalia Mara by transferring operations to two groups unaccountable to voters who haven't proven an ability to run anything themselves. It is time to move the airport before the day arrives when something has happened to the airport, akin to Thalia Mara, or even the Zoo, and operations there have to be greatly curtailed.

People like @8:51 prefer a total breakdown of civic functionality before being forced to admit that Jackson's political ruling class is totally inept at delivering the basics of Jackson governance. Even then, when it all goes to hell it will be someone else's fault.

8:51- “ The negativity is not based in reality”

Are you delusional? When is the last time you were inside JAN?

Putting a Medgar Evers museum in it and having photos of the Tuskegee Airmen (don’t have time to get into the fairytale), and Richard Wright (a communist party member) doesn’t do much to make up for a broken-down, pathetic airport.

8:51, antique or not, they’ve had plenty of time to fix the elevators/escalators. Also, why the need to “fix” the roundabout and curbs off old Brandon road? They were doing a good enough job as they were. They could have used those funds to make needed repairs. The truth is our airport is a dump.

With limited, broken down facilities that stay unrepaired, an airport serving three counties should be managed by the three counties, not by a third world city on the brink.

8:51. What does race have to do with anything to do with the running of an airport? Why are you concerned about this?

You should be concerned with the pathetic state of the facilities, regardless of who’s running it.

It needs a gigantic upgrade that the current leadership cannot provide.

You sound like a racist.

OK, the airlines are Eastern, Pan Am, Braniff, and TWA.

11:14am
Isn't American still there?

1990-2014 (2008 named Airport Manager of the Year by FAA Southern Region) Dirk Vanderleest 24 yrs. in position, "retired" and went to work at another airport in NC. The Jackson airport begins downhill spiral in tandem step with the city of Jackson political administrations. 2015 "Reverand" Stallworth wins court battle over sexual sex offender registration.
2014-2019- Carl Newman 4.11 years - went to another airport in AZ
2019- Perry Miller (Interim) 6 mos. -went to airport in VA
2020-2022- Paul Brown – (see Richards Disposal using Hawkins Field to park trucks) 2 years. Now at BWI in MD.
2023- present -Rosa Beckett 2 years (first CEO airport position)
When you go from someone with 24 yrs. in the role to not being able to keep a qualified replacement for more than 4 years, 11 months you know the problem is not the CEO but the airport board.

... they’ve had plenty of time to fix the elevators/escalators.

They've had plenty of time to replace them and a competent operator of the airport would have already done that very thing.

You forgot Southern Airways and Republic.

You need to check out their DC-3s and Martin 404s!

@12:02 I would pay good money to experience a “retro” luxury flight on a gleaming restored DC-3 complete with uniformed male stewards and a period dress code for the passengers. But let’s keep it “nonsmoking” please!

11:48 with the win. Dirk Did a nice job, then the color of his skin became a problem…

8:31 - I didn't realize they had stopped making new escalators and elevators to replace the obsolete ones for which you're making excuses.

His competence was probably an even bigger problem in the City With Soul.

Kingfish won't allow this post, but one of Jackson's continuing problems is people like "Reverend Mr. Stallworth" and "Reverend Mr. Yarber".

Until (if ever), you people sidle up with reputable, creditable people to push credit-worthy agendas, you will continue to muddle in a puddle.

@12:15 PM I did that out of Anchorage, AK back in about 1998. It was a DC-3 champagne flight that went around Prince William Sound/Valdez. I had forgotten all about that.

complexion was ALL that mattered, the overall purge was on and the airport turned into a racist clubhouse

I would submit Newman was a better CEO. Highly respected in the industry. He left specifically because of Lawanda Harris and James Henley.

The state's decision to seek a bench trial is curious. Reeves has ruled against the state every chance he got. The 5th overturned him every time. Why does the state trust him to make decision? Unless it just wants to speed it up as the case is going to the 5th no matter what.

Granted, the demise of Worldcom was a major blow to JAN’s traffic, and that has been exacerbated by Zoom meetings. However, the airport has great potential, but has been run like the City of Jackson. By FUBU governing bodies. If they can’t attract a black owned / operated entity, they don’t want it. That’s why nothing has changed in the past 20+ years. There aren’t any black owned aerospace companies to attract. The airport needs a competent board and management to run it and create aerospace development around it.

Getting to the 5th circuit without risk of a remand is precisely why the state wants a bench trial. Reverse and render.

Its going to take a new state-of-the-art terminal and a complete rebuild/rethink of that baggage claim joke downstairs. Plus many of the TSA agents working there are infected with Jacksonitis and need customer service reprogramming enemas.

It’s not the best, but JAN isn’t the worst. JAN is the about the same as most regional airports imo. Even Honolulu is a dump in my opinion and JAN is definitely better than a jungle landing strip with a mobile home/office/terminal in Costa Rica.

Hey 5:27, there is nothing a new white board can do about TSA agents that the old black board isn’t doing. Same for airline gate agents. Of baggage handlers. None of those are airport employees.

I haven’t been to Hawaii in 10 years but I remember Honolulu has an old terminal and a newer terminal. The old one appears to be frozen in the 1970s and doesn’t even have air conditioning. The new terminal is better than JAN.

@8:51 - Go to Google images and look at ANY of these examples:
Chattanooga, TN, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Ontario, CA, Eugene, OR, Syracuse, NY, Savannah, GA, Columbia, SC, Huntsville, AL, Topeka, KS, Hartford, CT, Peoria, IL, Billings, MT, Green Bay, WI, Roanoke, VA...there are more, but this should be sufficient to refute your claim.

@1148a and 346p - Yes, I was just thinking that JAN was totally better when Dirk V was the manager. Great guy who was great at his job! And speaking of Worldcom, that was also a major blow to my financial status!!

October 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
More like trying to get around Carlton Reeves. I'd like to remind you of this from last year:
https://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2024/11/fifth-circuit-to-jmaa-groundhog-day-has.html

Particularly this passage:
> That Jackson “has been singled out by [S.B.] 2162” does not establish that a legally protected interest of the individual plaintiffs has been violated. Cities are creatures of states, and though their authority to do so is not un-limited, states may, under some circumstances, treat different cities differently. That the State of Mississippi has enacted a different method for the appointment of certain municipal airport commissioners and not others does not mean that plaintiffs, as residents and taxpayers of Jackson, have suffered a concrete and particularized, actual and imminent injury to interests protected by the Equal Protection Clause.

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