McKellar Field

In preparation for the eventual U.S. entry into World War II, the United States Army Air Corps sought to expand the nation's combat air forces by asking civilian flight schools to provide the primary phase of training for air cadets. Consequently, it contracted with civilian flying schools to provide primary flying training, with the graduates being moved on to basic and advanced training at regular military training airfields.^[5]

In April 1942 the airport was leased by the United States Army Air Forces and became a wartime flight training school. McKellar Field was assigned to the Southeast Training Center (later the Eastern Flying Training Command) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. It was under the command of the 68th Flying Training Detachment, 29th Flying Training Wing. The airfield began training flying cadets under contract to Georgia Air Services, Inc. Flying training was performed with PT-17 Stearman biplanes as the primary trainer. It also had several Fairchild PT-19, Ryan PT-22 Recruits and PT-27 Kaydets assigned.

The physical facilities of McKellar Field included administrative buildings and quarters for officers and enlisted men, encircling a central location. A consolidated mess hall, which accommodated 1,000 enlisted men and a limited number of' officers, was located nearby. Adjacent to the mess hall was a Post Exchange, a Service Club and a dance floor.

The facility was inactivated on October 16, 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. It was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on September 30, 1945. Eventually it was discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.

McKellar–Sipes Regional Airport

After the war, the airport reverted to the control of the city and county, and was expanded over the years with new facilities to accommodate the needs of Jackson and Madison County. Nearly all of the wartime buildings erected at the airport were torn down or moved, although four of the wartime hangars remain in use at the airport. A few of the streets from McKellar Field remain visible in aerial photography but other than some isolated concrete remaining, the station area has been totally removed.

A military presence remains at the airport, with the Tennessee Army National Guard's 1/230th Air Cavalry Squadron having an extensive support facility at the airport, equipped with UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

In the 1970s, the airport name was changed to McKellar–Sipes Regional Airport to honor Major Robert Ray "Buster" Sipes, a United States Air Force test pilot from Jackson, who was killed in 1969 when his RF-101 Voodoo jet fighter crashed after takeoff from RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. A plaque is located in the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul at Steeple Aston to honor his memory. Sipes is buried at the Shiloh National Military Park cemetery.

Historical airline service

Southern Airways began service to Jackson TN on November 1, 1960 with 4 daily departures (2 to Memphis & 2 to Nashville), using DC-3 equipment.^[6] In the early 1960s, they upgraded 2 of the flights to larger Martin 404 planes.^[7] By the early 1970s, Southern was using DC-9 jet service on some flights. ^[8] Southern continued to serve Jackson until their merger with North Central Airlines in 1979. The merged airlines' new name became Republic Airlines. Republic served the city until they left the airport in 1981. ^[9]

SeaPort Airlines began its services to Memphis and Nashville on January 22, 2012. In September 2016, however, liquidation of SeaPort Airlines took place subsequent to its bankruptcy. Air Choice One took over in June 2016 with flights to St. Louis and, later, to Atlanta.