April Cameron didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming an airport CEO as she watched planes destined for far-flung cities slice across the sky over Dayton, Tennessee. In fact, when she first went to work for the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport in 1997, she’d never even flown.
Rather, she saw a life spent elbow deep in numbers.
“I love numbers. I especially love figuring out how to pay for things with other people’s money,” she smiles. “To this day, working on the budget is my favorite thing to do.”
Cameron’s fascination with finance drew her to accounting as a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There, an unsolicited offer from a classmate changed the course of her life.
“A classmate who worked in the airport’s accounting department – Debbie Gregory – approached me one day and asked if I’d be interested in being her assistant,” Cameron recalls. “I said, ‘Sure, that would be fun,’ even though I didn’t know anything about airports.”
Cameron started part-time as an accounting assistant in August 1997. By January 1998, she’d moved into a full-time position, and a few months later graduated from UTC. By that time, the job she thought was a steppingstone in the accounting field was becoming the foundation of a different lifelong career.
Learning the ropes
There were plenty of lessons to learn along the way, Cameron laughs. One moment in particular has remained with her to this day.
“The first time the credit card bill came across my desk, I went to Debbie and asked, ‘How much do you want me to pay?’ She said, ‘Pay it off.’ That was foreign to me and a great learning experience I applied to my personal life.”
When Gregory relocated in 2004, Cameron stepped into her role as vice president of finance and administration – a title she held for two decades.
“I thought I’d work here for a couple of years and then move on,” she says. “But once you’re in aviation, it’s hard to leave. It’s a great industry. It’s collaborative. I have connections with people at airports all over the country.”
Cameron’s institutional knowledge and financial savvy earned her the trust of her peers. But for all her confidence in numbers, she never saw herself taking on the mantle of leadership.
Reluctant CEO
When Cameron’s predecessor, airport CEO Terry Hart, announced his retirement in March 2023 after 12 years in the position, he told her she was the natural choice to succeed him.
Cameron looked up from a spreadsheet and said, “No, not me.”
“I don’t like to be in the spotlight,” she admits. “I’m quite shy and prefer to play a supporting role.”
A conversation with her husband, Tracy, and some reflection on the example she wanted to set for their two daughters changed Cameron’s perspective.
“I thought, ‘If I don’t take this role, what am I teaching them?’” she says.
As CEO, Cameron found herself navigating not just the financial health of the airport but also its public image and community relationships – all of which were new ground for her.
“I had a lot of contacts in the aviation industry but not many in the (Chattanooga) community,” she says. “And suddenly it was my job to talk about how wonderful our airport is, how much we’ve grown, and where we’re going. It was uncomfortable for me.”
Despite her uneasiness, Cameron’s passion for the success of the airport helped her to embrace the discomfort of public leadership, she says. She also believed this would spur her personal growth.
“When I speak to young people, I always say, ‘Do the hard things,’” she says. “I’m still doing the hard things – the things that aren’t necessarily comfortable for me but are important.”
Building for takeoff
Cameron came to recognize the importance of forward momentum as she watched the Chattanooga Airport transform from a marginalized entity in the city to a vital driver of economic growth during her tenure as the head of finance.
This evolution began in 2008 with the creation of the airport’s own fixed base operator – a business that provides services to private and corporate aircraft – after its leadership determined the existing provider wasn’t meeting the needs of its carriers.
“It was one of the first major steps we took to support the community more directly,” she says. “The airport is the front door to our city. We wanted that first impression to be a good one.”
Later, in February 2020, Hart signed off on a $23 million contract to build a new parking garage. Just 15 days later, the COVID-19 pandemic brought air travel to a standstill.
“We had 50 cars in the lot, but we decided to move forward,” Cameron says. “And when people started coming back, a new parking garage was waiting for them.”
The garage wasn’t the only project that moved ahead during uncertain times. Hart also led efforts to design a $28 million terminal expansion that added 26,000 square feet, three new gates, additional restrooms, a new restaurant and an expanded TSA checkpoint.
“That was a leap of faith,” Cameron says. “But we wanted to be ready to recruit new air service when the time came.”
That preparation paid off. In the past year, Chattanooga has added six nonstop destinations. With Spirit Airlines launching service in June, the airport’s seat capacity could grow by more than 35%, Cameron says.
“That’s tremendous growth for an airport our size.”
Behind the numbers
Cameron takes pride in how these projects have been funded. The terminal expansion, for example, required only $3 million out-of-pocket from the airport. The remaining $25 million came from a mix of federal grants and competitive awards – something she views as a personal achievement.
“We were the first commercial service airport in Tennessee to receive a terminal project grant,” she says. “We secured $5 million alone from that program.”
Cameron also helped to secure favorable financing for the parking garage – although she didn’t tell her finance VP, Tena Keith, to pay off the entire loan when the bill crossed her desk.
“We’re making significant strides in that direction, though,” she laughs.
The airport is now preparing to build a second garage. Cameron and her team will review bids this summer, with construction slated for fall.
“It’s about making smart decisions with limited resources,” Cameron says. “And finding the right partners to help us grow.”
Cameron’s strategic thinking extends to how she recruits new airline service. In 2023, she organized the airport’s first-ever Air Service Development Summit, an event designed to show airlines what Chattanooga has to offer.
“We’re always going to them and talking about our city,” she says. “But I thought, ‘If we bring them here, the city will sell itself.’”
The event included a dinner overlooking the city, a visit to Rock City and talks from the mayor, the Chamber of Commerce and local developers. The response was immediate.
“A gentleman from Allegiant said, ‘I’m blown away. I’d never even heard of Chattanooga before,’” Cameron recalls. “Forty-five days later, Allegiant announced service from Chattanooga to Las Vegas.”
Every decision, project and new route is aimed at strengthening the airport for the benefit of Chattanooga, Cameron says. But the airport doesn’t exist in isolation – it relies on the support of its community to succeed.
“Every ticket someone buys is a vote. If you fly out of Nashville or Atlanta, you’re telling the airlines that’s where the demand is. If you fly out of Chattanooga, you’re saying we need more service here.”
Cameron says she’s profoundly aware of how vital the airport is to economic development. “When the Chamber is recruiting businesses to Chattanooga, one of the first things they ask about is the airport,” she says. “We take that responsibility seriously.”
Home and family
Despite her busy schedule, Cameron still calls Dayton home. It’s where she and Tracy raised their oldest daughter, who’s headed to dental school in Memphis this summer. It’s also where they raised their youngest daughter, who just completed her freshman year at UTC.
To Cameron’s delight, she’s studying finance.
Balancing career and family wasn’t always easy. “I was the parent rolling in on two wheels to every basketball game or cheer event,” Cameron laughs. “I always made it, but it took a lot of work and understanding on all sides. Tracy has been a rock.”
Even when Cameron isn’t at the airport, she’s never really off duty. She recalls driving through Soddy-Daisy one evening with her sister when she noticed a Southwest plane flying unusually low.
“We don’t have Southwest here, so I turned around and came back to the airport,” she says. “The plane had been diverted here due to storms in Nashville. We pulled up the air stairs and got the fuelers out. It’s all hands on deck when that happens. That’s just what we do here.”
Cameron is also committed to serving her community beyond her role as airport CEO. She lends her time and expertise to several local and regional organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, Thrive Regional Partnership, Volunteers in Medicine and Midtown Connect.
“I like to help move things forward,” she says.
Looking ahead
As the Chattanooga Airport enters a new phase of growth, Cameron remains focused on the details that matter – clean bathrooms, trash-free floors and passengers who feel welcome the moment they step off the plane.
She credits much of her approach to Hart, who taught her the importance of being hands-on and paying attention to the day-to-day.
“What the passenger sees when they step off a plane matters.”
Cameron’s journey from part-time assistant to CEO is proof that leadership doesn’t always begin with a bold declaration. Sometimes, it starts quietly, with a love of numbers, a willingness to do the hard things and a belief in serving others – whether they’re catching a flight out of Chattanooga or getting their first glimpse of the city from 30,000 feet.
Given that foundation, Cameron’s evolution as a leader was perhaps inevitable. She might have doubted herself, but those close to her never did.
“As I was serving as a mentor for the current class of Protégé Chattanooga, a student asked, ‘If you were a Chattanooga landmark, which one would you be?’ During a casual conversation about this question with my youngest daughter, she responded that I would be the Walnut Street Bridge because I connect people and bring them together.”