January Luncheon with Guest Speaker Chris Curry

Thomas “Chris” Curry was hired as the Executive Director of the Mobile Airport Authority in October 2017 and was later promoted to the position of President in September 2018. Upon his appointment to the position, he placed airline recruitment, evaluating the roles of Mobile Regional and Downtown Airports, and expanding business opportunities on the Brookley Aeroplex at the top of his priorities. Curry has spearheaded the Master Planning effort to transform the Mobile Downtown Airport at Brookley into a world class international multi-modal facility. His overall objective is to provide premium air service to the community and manage the assets of the Authority to achieve the greatest economic benefit to the customers of the region.

Since Mr. Curry’s arrival in Mobile, he has provided professionalism and expertise in representing MAA with the overall needs of its largest tenants, such as Airbus, ST Aerospace, and Continental Aerospace Technologies. During his tenure, Airbus has expanded the A320 production capability, begun building the A220 Aircraft and opened the Flight Works aviation experience center at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. In addition, he spearheaded a new agreement with Continental Aerospace Technologies, where they invested $75 million in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Further to his achievements, Mr. Curry also created a new organizational structure with high caliber talent designed to meet the challenges required to lead MAA into the future.

Because of Mr. Curry’s wealth of experience in the Airline industry, he was able to recruit Mobile’s first new airlines since 2003, Via Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Working with the FAA, he also managed the Metropolitan Airport Systems Study to determine the feasibility of moving commercial service from the Regional to the Downtown Airport. Under his guidance, the MAA developed a Master Plan in 18 months, a process that typically takes three years. The FAA recently approved this plan.

Prior to his current position with MAA, Mr. Curry was the Director of Aviation for the City of Tallahassee from December 2013 to September 2014.  During his tenure at TLH, he guided the transition of the Airport from a regional to International facility.  He was responsible for the $15M modernization project that significantly improved the terminal aesthetics and writing legislation that resulted in $1M state contribution toward improving air service to the Capital City.  In addition, Chris lead the airport effort to increase the use of green technology by utilizing more than 375 acres of Airport property to build two solar farms.

Before his employment in Tallahassee, he served as Executive Director of the Collier County Airport Authority, Gary Chicago International Airport and Project Manager of Airspace and Procedure Design for the Boeing Company.

Mr. Curry began his military career in the United States Air Force in 1982 as an air traffic controller and retired in 2001. During his tenure, he served as manager of air traffic control radar, tower and airfield management.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Curry earned his associate degree in airway science from the Community College of the Air Force, Montgomery, AL. He also earned a bachelor’s degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in professional aeronautics. In 2016 he was selected as “Aviation Professional of the Year” by the Florida Department of Transportation.