[ST. LOUIS, MO/Dec. 2, 2025] The St. Louis Regional Freightway welcomed leaders from five of the region’s busiest airports on Nov. 13 for the 2025 Take Flight Forum, where airport directors shared significant operational achievements, economic impacts and major capital investments shaping the region’s aviation landscape. Their insights highlighted a unified, collaborative regional ecosystem experiencing growth and preparing for continued expansion.
Mary Lamie, Executive
Vice President of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development, opened the
panel by noting that the region’s aviation sector plays an increasingly
critical role in economic development. “Today’s panel discussions will serve as
a powerful reminder of how deeply the aviation sector drives our regional
economy,” said Lamie, who also leads the St. Louis Regional Freightway and its
Aerospace and Aviation Task Force.
L to R: Dr. Jennifer Kephart, Superintendent of the
School District of Washington, Missouri; John Bales, Director, Spirit of St.
Louis Airport; Darren James, Director, MidAmerica St. Louis Airport; Yolandea
Wood, President of the Hugh J. White Tuskegee Airmen Chapter and Director of
the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals’ ACE Academy serving the St.
Louis region; Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director, St. Louis Lambert International
Airport; Daniel Adams, Director, St. Louis Regional Airport; Sandy Shore,
Director, St. Louis Downtown Airport, and Mary Lamie, Executive Vice President
of Multimodal Enterprises for Bi-State Development.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge discussed the airport’s recent passenger and cargo momentum, as well as the economic importance of new and expanding international service. She highlighted the new London route British Airways is launching in April and the expansion of Lufthansa’s service to Frankfurt from three days a week to five. “The London route is something we've been chasing for over a decade, so we’re really excited about that,” Hamm-Niebruegge said. She also discussed growth in cargo movement through her airport, noting she has seen cargo expanding from just 2% of the total market five years ago to 4% today.
Hamn-Niebruegge
provided an update on the airport’s multi-phase $3 billion consolidated
terminal project, sharing that the $114 million airfield maintenance project is
underway as part of the $350 million first phase, and work is progressing on
the $650 million second phase. She expects to be at 30% design of the terminal
by January, 60% design by June and to be at the 90% design stage by the end of
2026, which is the actual mark where the airlines give the authority to
construct. “Everybody in the
region, whether it's the political world, the business community, the airport
or the airlines, everybody's trying to get to that finish line,” Hamm-Niebruegge
said.
Darren James, Director
of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, highlighted the airport’s niche in the region
as a smaller scale, non-hub airport serving the leisure market with non-stop
flights through Allegiant to a dozen popular destinations and current work
underway to attract additional low-cost carriers. He called attention to the
airport’s continued record-setting passenger activity and the success of its
newest route to Gulf Shores. “It’s been a record year for MidAmerica St. Louis
Airport with a 27.5% increase in enplanements from January through October of this year versus last year,” James said. He
added that the trend is expected to continue in 2026.
He also provided
updates on the MetroLink extension, which will connect St. Louis Lambert
International Airport directly to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport by summer 2026,
and ongoing terminal modifications. Those include a new general aviation
facility and federal inspection station under construction, which will pave the
way for adding potential flights to the Caribbean, Mexico and Dominican
Republic.
James also touched on
the progress of Boeing’s new production facility for the MQ-25 Stingray, the
unmanned air refueling platform that will operate off of aircraft carriers. He
said testing is underway and barring any changes from Boeing, it is expected
they will make their first official flights this December.
John Bales, Director
of Spirit of St. Louis Airport, detailed the completion of the business
aviation airport’s master plan and an unprecedented slate of capital
improvement projects now underway or beginning soon, including the full rebuild
of the main runway and plans for a new general aviation terminal that will
double the size of the existing facility once funding is secured. He also
highlighted public-private partnerships supporting needed infrastructure
improvements and key investments being made at the airport by existing tenants,
one of which just finished a 90,000-square-foot hangar space to work on larger
jet aircraft, and by private aviators who were seeking additional hangar space.
“We met with some
aviators who were also investors, and they had been on a waiting list at just
about every airport in the region,” said Bales. “They said, you know what?
We're going to build our own . . . They're building 28 brand new hangars. So
that's pretty exciting.”
He said the airport
sees approximately 150,000 flight operations annually – including 300
international arrivals – and will soon be welcoming flights by music industry
stars as the new Gateway Studios facility near the airport ramps up. Bales also
highlighted the airport’s STEM-focused Spirit of St. Louis Airshow and
celebrated the Red Tail Cadet Program’s historic first all-female graduating
class, noting how programs like this that serve underprivileged youth help to
strengthen the region’s talent pipeline.
St. Louis Regional
Airport Director Daniel Adams reported a significant increase in flight
operations in recent months. “Over the last calendar year, we've seen a 40%
increase in flight activity...primarily due to the reintroduction of flight
training at the airport,” Adams said. He highlighted a $1 million investment in
the rehabilitation of Taxiway Bravo that will be underway in spring of 2026 and
noted the FAA is interested in funding and building a new control tower at the
airport.
He also discussed
tenant growth and the impact of workforce development partnerships, including
West Star Aviation’s expansion and its pipeline of 25 graduating students per
class at its recently launched West Star Aviation Academy.
Adams previewed the
Air Race Classic, which is an all-female piloted air race his airport will host
next summer. He anticipates having about sixty aircraft and an estimated 120
participants descend upon the airport for a week of festivities and fun,
briefings, weather planning and more before they take off on their four-day,
2,300-mile journey.
Sandra Shore, Director
of St. Louis Downtown Airport, outlined major infrastructure projects underway
or planned, including a new terminal, which recently was awarded $3.6 million
in State of Illinois funding, and a new taxiway, which will represent an
investment somewhere between $25 to $30 million. Shore noted that those
infrastructure improvements are essential to support continued growth by
existing and future tenants.
She cited as examples
of recent tenant growth an aircraft management team’s construction of a new
hangar facility and a flight maintenance tenant expanding their services and
moving into a bigger facility.
“We also have the
second largest Gulfstream footprint in the world, and they recently invested
$30 million into their facility to expand, adding 200 jobs,” said Shore.
‘’We’re able to fill those jobs thanks to the region’s dominance as an
aerospace hub and the collaboration that exists here.”
All the directors
repeatedly emphasized the importance of collaboration, both in operational
support and workforce development, and Lamie circled back to that in her reflection on the panel discussion.
“What's really interesting when we have the five airport
directors up here, is there may be a tendency for people to think that they're
competing with each other, but that’s not the case as they have each have their
own platform, their own target market,” said Lamie. “But the other thing is,
behind the scenes, there are hundreds of phone calls going between the
directors, amongst their staff where they're supporting each other, helping
each other, and we've got staff moving from one airport to the other. That's a
good thing. It basically means that when we have staff at some of the smaller
airports seeking advancement, they're not leaving the area.”
The airport directors’ discussion was followed by a second panel featuring leaders from regional STEM and flight training programs who highlighted some of the focused efforts to engage students in the opportunities that the region’s growing aerospace and aviation ecosystem offers. Themed STEM to Sky!, this year’s forum was the fourth annual event aimed at fostering collaboration and showcasing both the investments and growth occurring at the region’s busiest airports and the innovative programs helping to inspire the next generation of aerospace and aviation professionals.
About St. Louis Regional Freightway
Established as the St. Louis region’s authority for coordinating support for industrial businesses and the logistics infrastructure they depend on, the St. Louis Regional Freightway (the Freightway) provides site selection and business assistance to manufacturing, logistics and multimodal transportation companies and their service providers. As an enterprise of Bi-State Development, the Freightway partners with public sector and private industry businesses to advocate for infrastructure development that supports the movement of freight, leads initiatives to grow the region’s talent pool, and plays a critical role in marketing the region as a world-class manufacturing and distribution cluster within the City of St. Louis and seven adjacent counties in Missouri and Illinois. To learn more, visit TheFreightway.com.
