At first, SkyBoss HQ existed only as a rough sketch on a dining room table.
Using a ruler and pencil, Jay Jolly drew airplanes, hangars and notes about a business concept he believed could transform aviation in Collegedale. It was little more than a poster board and an idea, but Jolly already envisioned something larger than a conventional aircraft hangar.
On May 6, that idea became reality with the grand opening of SkyBoss HQ, a $5 million aviation development that city leaders, aviation executives and business advocates say will strengthen the future of the municipal airport and expand its role as an economic engine for the region.
From vision to reality
The new facility includes two hangars totaling 14,000 square feet, premium member amenities, aircraft management services and a fuel truck capable of servicing turbine and jet aircraft. But speakers at the ceremony repeatedly emphasized that the project represents something larger than a luxury aviation facility.
“This airport remains one of the most undervalued assets that the city owns,” Jolly says. “Now is the time for the city to further invest in this airport and capture the momentum we’ve created with SkyBoss HQ.”
Collegedale Mayor Morty Lloyd describes the opening as the culmination of a long-term effort to reverse years of neglect at the airport and create a safer, more economically viable aviation hub.
Four years ago, Lloyd says, the airport suffered from leaking hangars, broken runway lighting, inoperable equipment and a lack of modern navigation systems. Pilots flying into the airport in poor weather conditions often faced dangerous approaches through fog and low visibility.
“To my knowledge, we’re the only municipal airport in the state of Tennessee that doesn’t have an RNAV approach,” Lloyd says, referring to a GPS-based instrument approach system that helps pilots land safely during poor weather.
Lloyd says he ran for city commission partly because he believed the airport’s future was at risk. Through connections in the aviation industry, he and Jolly began pursuing ways to revitalize the airport, including meetings in Washington, D.C., with federal officials and later efforts to secure state support.
Those efforts eventually led to a $1.3 million job creation grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s aeronautics division. Lloyd credited airport manager Ryan Byford and others for helping secure the funding.
Still, the city needed a private partner willing to take the first step.
“One day Jay called and said, ‘Hey, I have an idea for a company called SkyBoss,’” Lloyd says. “It was exactly what this airport needed.”
Instead of constructing a conventional metal hangar, Lloyd says Jolly built a modern glass-fronted facility designed to make aviation more visible and inviting to the public.
“Jay created something truly unique,” Lloyd says. “This building will inspire people and help develop future leaders.”
According to Jolly, SkyBoss HQ operates as a membership-based aviation facility offering aircraft management and concierge-style services for private aircraft owners. The facility includes conference space, lounges, workstations, showers, entertainment systems, security infrastructure and climate-controlled hangars.
The facility also manages a new 2,200-gallon fuel truck capable of servicing jet aircraft.
“We’ve already sold more fuel in the first three months with that truck than we sold during all of last year,” Jolly says.
According to Jolly, SkyBoss HQ has already sold out its memberships and brought eight additional aircraft to the airport, including several new turbine and jet aircraft valued collectively at approximately $14 million.
Before the project, the airport housed five jet or turbine aircraft. Once all member aircraft arrive, Jolly says that number will rise to 12.
“We’re creating economic development through the airport by building stronger connections with the community around it,” he says.
A key part of that vision involves making the airport accessible to the broader community rather than isolating it behind fences and security gates.
Jolly says the public will be able to gather outside the facility, view aircraft through the building’s large windows and use outdoor seating and fire pit areas.
“We want the airport to be cool again,” Jolly says. “We want it to be a place where people want to hang out.”
A new model for community airports
The project also drew praise from aviation industry leaders, including Todd Simmons, president of customer experience at Cirrus Aircraft.
Simmons framed the project within the broader history and future of American aviation, describing municipal airports as critical infrastructure for economic development, workforce training and technological innovation.
“This is what an airport is supposed to be,” Simmons says.
Simmons says general aviation contributes roughly $340 billion annually to the U.S. economy and supports more than 1.3 million jobs. He described aviation as uniquely tied to innovation, engineering and STEM education.
“This industry provides $108 billion in labor income, drives innovation and sustainable propulsion and maintains a fleet of over 215,000 aircraft,” he points out.
He also argues that airports should evolve beyond traditional infrastructure focused solely on aircraft operations.
“We’re moving away from the old prison yard mentality around airports,” Simmons says. “We don’t want high fences. We don’t want concertina wire. We want to welcome everyone to the airport.”
Instead, Simmons envisioned airports becoming gathering places for communities, families and young people interested in aviation careers.
“This is how municipal airports can be used to attract and inspire a younger group of aviation enthusiasts,” he notes.
Simmons also pointed to East Tennessee’s growing aviation and aerospace presence – including operations involving FedEx, Bell Textron, Cirrus Aircraft and research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory – as evidence that the region could emerge as a future aviation hub.
“East Tennessee can be the next Wichita, Kansas,” Simmons says, referencing the long-established center of American general aviation manufacturing.
Ben Cairns, vice president of membership and investor relations at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, sees projects like SkyBoss HQ as helping shape how businesses perceive the region.
“This is the front door for your community,” Cairns says. “Most folks don’t realize how important small airports are to business.”
Cairns noted that many corporate executives and business leaders travel through smaller municipal airports rather than commercial terminals.
“Company leaders and people who are really instrumental in the success of many companies have access to private aviation and fly in and out of airports like this one,” he says.
He notes the project will likely generate both direct and indirect economic growth for the region through aviation services, maintenance operations, training and future business investment.
“You’re going to be surprised at how much business comes through here and the impact it has on the local community,” Cairns says.
Throughout the ceremony, speakers repeatedly returned to the idea that the airport’s transformation extends beyond buildings and aircraft. For them, the project represents an investment in future careers, future businesses and the future identity of the city itself.
Simmons closed the ceremony by reflecting on aviation’s unique ability to connect people and places.
“With a mile of road, a car or truck can drive a mile. With a mile of waterway, a ship or boat can go a mile. And with a mile of railroad, a train or locomotive can go a mile,” Simmons says. “But with a mile of runway, you can go almost anywhere and almost anyone can come here.”