On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Scottsboro Rotary Club had Airport Board Director Rudder Williams speak to the club about the improvements made to Scottsboro Municipal Airport and the potential it has to bring future growth to Scottsboro.
Williams first joined the Airport Board 25 years ago and has also served on the Economic Development Board for 24 years, leading Williams to see a lot of potential the airport for economic growth. One of his first plans was to get the airport to align with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) category to obtain federal grants, requiring the fixed-base operation (FBO) to be a certain length away from the center runway. Once that issue was fixed, Williams began gathering FAA grants, building a new FBO and maintenance hangar beside it. Now, the airport has 23 t-hangars.
Williams then shared a story of one particular grant. Williams called then head of the Aviation Council of Alabama John Eagerton about a grant he wished to obtain for hangars. Eagerton had nothing on his desk at the time so he told Williams to go ahead and write the grant, stating that if he had it now, he could get it approved. Williams then called someone to write a grant, drove down to Huntsville and was handed the grant as he stepped onto a plane to fly to Montgomery to personally deliver the grant to Eagerton, who Williams had never personally met before. Two hours after first calling, Williams met with Eagerton, introduced himself and the grant was approved two days later. Williams later started serving on the council himself, adding to his knowledge on how to better improve Scottsboro Municipal Airport.
Currently, Scottsboro Municipal Airport has 5,200 feet of runway, with Williams reporting that adding another 1,000 feet of length and 20 feet of width to the runway could lead to obtaining Army contracts for C-130 cargo planes. The airport recently added LED lights for the runway, which Williams calls a “beautiful sight” for pilots flying in at night.
They also have a maintenance hangar, where Martin Aviation operates. Co-owner of Martin Aviation Chris Martin originally worked in the t-hangars before approaching Williams about maintenance work. Williams said he would look into adding a maintenance hangar and now, seven years later, Martin Aviation is a multi-million dollar business and the airport is hoping to add an additional maintenance hangar, allowing Martin Aviation to further expand their operations and provide quality jobs to the city.
Airport Manager Corey Porter reported that from July 2024 to July 2025, sold around 82,000 gallons of fuel.
When Williams first joined the airport board, the airport had gained about $2 million in state funds. Now, the airport has had nearly $17 million invested into it, with hopes of getting up to the $25 to $30 million dollar range soon. Williams thanked Senator Steve Livingston, Scottsboro Mayor Jim McCamy and Jackson County Commission Chairman Bill Nance for their continued partnership and support to grow the airport to where it currently stands.
“It takes a village to keep (the airport) safe and keep it right,” Williams said.
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