Smyrna Airport Is Now a Billion-Dollar Engine for Rutherford County
For most people driving Sam Ridley Parkway, Smyrna Airport is the quiet stretch of runway they glimpse between subdivisions and warehouses. A new statewide study says that quiet stretch is now one of the biggest economic engines in Rutherford County.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation's 2026 Aviation Economic Impact Study credits the airport with $1.02 billion in annual business revenue and 3,995 jobs, according to figures reported in late October.
Roughly four times the 2019 figure
The jump is striking. The same type of TDOT study in 2019 put the airport's contribution at about $232 million a year. Airport leaders now describe the impact as having roughly quadrupled since then, driven by corporate flying, aviation businesses on the field and the steady build-out of the business park around it.
The physical numbers help explain why. Smyrna Airport covers about 1,700 acres and handles more than 120,000 takeoffs and landings a year, making it the fourth-busiest airport in Tennessee by operations. Its main runway runs 8,038 feet, long enough for very large aircraft, which is why corporate jets, charter flights and cargo operators use it as a way into Middle Tennessee without the congestion around Nashville International.
Built on a military past
The runways long predate the subdivisions. The field opened in the early 1940s as an Army airfield that trained bomber crews during World War II and later became Sewart Air Force Base, home to troop-carrier and C-130 units for decades. When the Air Force left in 1971, the base was handed over to civilian use and became the general-aviation airport Smyrna and Rutherford County share today. Much of the town's modern growth, from the industrial corridor to the newer neighborhoods, grew up around that footprint.
The Guard is coming back
The next chapter brings the military back. Under a multi-year plan, Tennessee National Guard operations, including the Air National Guard flying unit now based at Berry Field in Nashville, are set to relocate to Smyrna Airport in phases as funding and construction come together. Airport and state leaders have been working through land agreements, facility planning and workforce needs, and the move is expected to add hangars, offices and jobs on the field over the coming years.
For Smyrna residents, the practical effect is more skilled jobs close to home and more traffic on the airport side of town. For the region, it is a reminder that Rutherford County's growth is not only about rooftops and retail: some of its biggest paychecks are earned at the end of a runway.
The study lands as other employers are expanding in Smyrna's industrial base, including the battery maker FIXX Energy, which recently raised $27 million to grow production here. Airport news, hangar space and business-park information are available on Smyrna Airport's own news page, and town updates are posted by the Town of Smyrna.
Image: illustrative, AI-generated – not the actual location.
