For too long, Hampton Roads has flown below its potential. While other major metropolitan regions operate unified airport systems that attract international carriers and grow local economies, our region remains divided by three separate airport governing bodies competing for the same routes and resources.
Hampton Roads is the 33rd largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, with a diverse population of more than 1.7 million. Home to the largest concentration of active-duty military personnel in the nation, our region has long struggled with fragmentation and inefficiency due to the 17 independent local governments that comprise it — seven counties and 10 independent cities. Of the 41 independent cities in the United States, 38 are in Virginia, underscoring how uniquely fragmented our state’s governance can be.
Recognizing that 17 separate governments cannot effectively plan or manage regional transportation, Hampton Roads has, through state legislation and local ordinances, created a series of regional authorities to coordinate key initiatives.
In 1990, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) was established to facilitate local government cooperation and state-local cooperation. In 2010, Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) was established to perform the duties of a federally aligned metropolitan planning organization (MPO). In 2014, the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC) was created to manage regional transportation projects, including the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion.
These authorities made up of representatives, both mayors and chief administrative officers, of the 17 local governments have become conduits for regional cooperation. However, when it comes to our aviation assets, we still have three different airport governing bodies managing three different airports within a small geographic footprint.
In June 2024, Hampton Roads Alliance commissioned a Hampton Roads Air Study of the 10 civil airports and seven military federal airports, recommending improvements in regional efficiency, competitiveness and collaboration. The findings were clear: Greater collaboration, coordination and efficiency are needed to make Hampton Roads competitive in the future of air travel. The logical next step is to create a single, regional airport system for Hampton Roads.
Other regions have shown the way. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority manages both Ronald Reagan Washington National and Dulles International airports. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey oversees LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. The Chicago Department of Aviation manages O’Hare International and Chicago Midway International Airport. These unified systems allow regions to plan strategically, attract airlines, share resources and compete globally.
A unified Hampton Roads airport system would allow us to do the same — leveraging the strengths of our three major civilian airports. Newport News-Williamsburg Airport (PHF), Norfolk International (ORF) and Chesapeake Regional (CPK) together cover more than 3,500 acres and 33,000 feet of runway and provide the infrastructure needed to support expanded commercial service, international routes and the growing field of advanced aviation technologies. Leveraged correctly, we can create the first ever Hampton Roads Regional Aviation Master Plan.
Regional cooperation will be key. The process should be transparent and inclusive, with stakeholders from across the region leading the design of a system that serves all. Most importantly, we must adopt a new mindset, shifting from “my city’s airport” to “our region’s ecosystem of diverse aviation and aerospace innovation, resources, assets and opportunities.”
We have done this before, and it worked. The Port of Virginia was once owned and operated by individual city governments. Only when the region consolidated its ports under a unified system did it achieve the scale and credibility to compete nationally and internationally. The same can be true for our airports.
Hampton Roads deserves a regional airport system that reflects our shared economic ambitions and positions us for the next era of aviation. The time is now, for one region, one sky.
Phillip Jones is the mayor of Newport News. Aubrey Layne is the chief administrative officer of Sentara, chair of the Virginia Port Authority and former Virginia secretary of Transportation. Lindsey Carney is partner with Carney Patterson Meade PLC and chair of the Peninsula Airport Commission.
