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Article on ongoing renovations at the Airport.

The most recently completed phase of the Montgomery Regional Airport is a combination of tall glass doors, flat-screen TVs, Greco-Roman columns and pop art stylings of Auburn and Tuscaloosa doorways.

It's a bright, shining addition to an airport that is growing, according to several of the speakers at Tuesday's grand opening -- so bright, that Montgomery Airport Authority chair Chester Mallory donned a pair of sunglasses during his remarks.

"My outlook for the Montgomery Regional Airport Authority growth and development is so bright ... that I have to wear shades," Mallory joked.

The additions and the completion of some of the construction have made a difference for Phoenix resident Pat Johnson, who has been through the airport about 20 times over the years. On Tuesday she was on her way back to her home in Phoenix.

"Some of the security areas are much shorter, and much nicer than that long, scary corridor they had when they were remodeling for a long time," said Johnson. "It's extremely important (to be comfortable) while traveling."

Besides putting the casual flier more at ease, the additions increase the business value of Montgomery, said Mayor Bobby Bright.

"People doing business in the city of Montgomery, they land here," Bright said, "and they usually come to Montgomery by way of our air service. This is going to be another shining example of our growth."

The newly renovated portion of the airport will be dedicated to Alice Reynolds and her son, Jimmy Reynolds, officials said. By Thanksgiving 2006, airport officials said a another phase of construction would be complete, and a fourth stage already is in early planning, they said.

"We could have been here a long time ago," said City Council President Charles Jinright. "Now we are here, and then when you open up the other side, I look forward to seeing that."

The airline industry is so chaotic right now, the new additions probably won't immediately attract new airlines or flights to the airport, said Phil Perry, executive director of the Montgomery Regional Airport Authority.

Many area residents still travel to Birmingham to catch flights to the west. That's probably not going to change anytime soon, Perry said.

"The chances of us getting Southwest are slim and none -- only because Southwest requires a number of things. Number one, they want a million people within (the service) area, and we are well short of that," Perry said. "And they want you to be at least 100 miles from any other Southwest city."

He went on to say that with recent mergers among the airlines that service the Montgomery, there is at least the potential to open up some western routes.

A direct flight to Houston that began earlier this year has an 85 percent load factor, which Perry thinks is very good. But because the industry is having financial trouble right now, airlines aren't really looking to expand routes.

"We did not undertake this in an effort to make it easier for us to recruit new airlines, or to get additional service out of existing airlines," Perry said. "We really did it because the city said they needed the ability to do their economic development ... where the feeling is you are walking into a new modern facility, as opposed to what we had."

For Johnson, a more westward route would be nice, but not essential to keep her flying from Montgomery. To get to Phoenix on Delta Airlines, she first takes a regional hop to Atlanta and then shoots west. But the zigzag approach to air travel beats the alternative of driving to Birmingham from her mother's house in Midway.

"It would just be out of the question. It's like three hours away," she said. "It's not worth it."