The 60-Year History Behind Jackson's Airport Takeover Fight
As we await a judge’s ruling in the Jackson airport takeover trial, it’s worth stepping back to look at how the airport came to be.
Mississippi policy guru Hannah Williams traces the origins of the Jackson airport, explaining that to understand why the stakes are so high, you have to go back more than 60 years.
On July 8, 1963, Allen C. Thompson Field was dedicated as Jackson’s new municipal airport, replacing Hawkins Field in northwest Jackson. Although the airport is geographically located in Rankin County, it sits on land that was annexed into the City of Jackson—a detail that would become central to the political and legal battles decades later.
Hawkins Field has its own significant history. Originally known as Davis Field, it opened in 1928 as Jackson’s first airport. In 1929, it hosted Delta Air Lines’ first passenger flight. During World War II, it became a military training facility and was renamed A.F. Hawkins Field in honor of Jackson’s aviation commissioner.
When the new municipal airport opened in 1963, commercial passenger service shifted away from Hawkins Field. Today, Hawkins remains in operation, serving private aviation, emergency response and some military functions. In 2021, its former passenger terminal was designated a historic landmark.
Why build a new airport in the first place? Growth.
By the early 1960s, commercial air travel was becoming more common, the Jackson metropolitan area was expanding, and the city needed a larger airport to meet increasing demand.
But 1963 also carried another layer of significance.
The airport was named after then-Mayor Allen C. Thompson, an outspoken segregationist who opposed the NAACP and was serving as mayor when civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated outside his Jackson home.
Decades later, that name became the focus of its own political debate. In 2004, the Jackson City Council voted to rename the airport Medgar Evers International Airport. Later, the council adopted the current name: Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, recognizing both the airport’s original designation and honoring the slain civil rights leader.
The airport was built to accommodate a growing city, but it also became one of Mississippi’s most valuable economic assets. Control of that asset—and the political influence that comes with it—is a major reason the airport has remained at the center of controversy for years.
Image: Hannah Williams