MUSCLE SHOALS - It was something the Shoals had been wanting for years, and in 2009, all of the lobbying and politics finally paid off. In July, Delta Airline began offering daily, nonstop flights from Northwest Alabama Regional Airport in Muscle Shoals to Hartsfield Jackson-Atlanta International Airport. The return of local commuter air service to Atlanta was No. 7 in the TimesDaily's Top 10 stories of 2009. It was June when the news was released, and on July 1, the first flight to Atlanta from Muscle Shoals since 1994 left the airport and arrived at its destination about 50 minutes later. For years, the Shoals was served by Northwest Airlink, the commuter carrier associated with Northwest Airlines, which provided daily flights to Memphis. In late 2008, Delta and Northwest announced that the two airlines would merge and operate under the Delta Airlines name. "We'd been working on this every day since I've been here," said Steve Holt, president of the Shoals Chamber of Commerce.

Holt has led the chamber for the past 15 years. Almost overnight, the number of people flying into and out of the local airport increased drastically. "The boardings are telling the story," Holt said. "They're significantly higher than they were in previous years." Beginning in July, boardings at the airport increased at least 50 percent over the previous year, and in some cases, doubled. Even the lowest number of boardings, 669 in November, was significantly higher than the 434 boardings in November 2008, Airport Director Matthew Hea said. There are more people flying out of the airport and more flying into Muscle Shoals from Atlanta, Hea said. "Overall, the trend is great," he said.

The ultimate goal is to reach 10,000 boardings in a calendar year, which will make the airport eligible to receive $1 million in Federal Aviation Administration entitlement funds. Holt said the key now is to continue to make Shoals residents aware of what the airport has to offer and convince them to at least give the services a try. Another addition to services was an early morning flight that makes it easier for business travelers to leave the Shoals, do a day's work and fly home at the end of the day. Holt said the chamber and the airport continue to market the airport to every segment of the traveling public, whether it's for business or pleasure. "It's up to us as a market to either support it or not," Holt said. With the new route in place, Holt said the next goal on the horizon is a regional jet. "They might laugh at us or tell us no, but we have to keep pushing for that," Holt said.