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Chattanooga will play a major role in easing Atlanta's air traffic woes if a key Northwest Georgia lawmaker can convince colleagues and federal planners.
Jeff Mullis heads the Georgia Senate Transportation committee. He prefers expanding Chattanooga's airport over building a new one in Atlanta.
The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport is calm compared to the hub of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, but Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis believes that could all change.
Mullis: "We're working on getting the right people to believe in this scenario too."
Mullis says extending Atlanta's air traffic into Chattanooga would mean employing a magnetic levitation train between the two cities. Such technology carries a hefty price tag.
Mullis: "The money is always the concern with this and most people think that high speed rail and mass transit is subsidized by taxpayers and it is unfortunately, but so is all forms of transportation."
The idea is still in the talking stages but has garnered support on the Tennessee side of the border.
Mayor Ron Littlefield, Chattanooga: "I think we tend to have an inferiority complex bout our airport. There have been times in the past we've said our airport can't grow because it's so close to Atlanta."
Now that proximity looks like it could pay off for both Atlanta and Chattanooga.
Littlefield: "It would have a tremendous economic impact because companies considering Chattanooga would see this as an alternate."
Mullis: "If people start coming to Chattanooga airport, the Lovell Fields, they'll definitely have to grow. It will still be a much cheaper possibility than expanding the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International airport."
Mullis says he will focus on getting other lawmakers on board with the Chattanooga option.
He says even without a mag lev train, the airport is still a good alternative to an airport expansion.
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