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The runway isn’t the only thing growing at Floyd CountyÐÔÊӽ紫ý Richard B. Russell Regional Airport, although it was recently extended to a full 7,000 feet.

Kinetic Aviation, which formerly operated out of the Cobb County International Airport in Kennesaw, recently moved to the airport in Rome and is in the process of building a large hangar to house their operations.

Kinetic provides maintenance for a specific brand of jet, Eclipse, and maintains around 50 jets, according to manager Paul White.

“We’re really looking forward for the new hangar to be built. It will fit eight aircraft,� White said. “We’re currently leasing a portion of a hangar and it only fits two aircraft, so we have to move the planes around a bit.�

The new hangar will be 80-foot by 100-foot with 22-foot doors.

“Once we get moved in, we’ll probably be looking to add some more maintenance staff,� White said. “We can’t handle any more business until we move, so that can’t happen fast enough.�

Not far from Kinetic, L&M Aircrafts provide similar maintenance and inspections to a different types of aircraft.

“We work on numerous types of aircraft,� owner Larry Owen said. “From cone to tail, we cover almost everything, but we don’t do interiors.�

Owen received the prestigious Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 2023. The Federal Aviation Administration award honors individuals with 50 consecutive years of aircraft maintenance with an unblemished record.

A little more than 100 people in Georgia have earned the award and Owen is the first in Floyd County.

Owen earned his Airframe and Powerplant license in 1971. He joined the Air Force and worked on KC-135s in Okinawa and Tokyo. In 1975, he returned to Chattanooga to work at Tennessee Airmotive on small private aircraft. He opened shop in Floyd County two years later.

“Business is good, and unfortunately we often have to turn away business,� Owen said. “It hard to keep staff, they keep getting hired away.�

Owen works with his son, Al Owen, and his wife, Moni Owen, also works part time.

“What we do, general aviation, is harder than what most people who work for the airlines do,� he said. “Those guys do the same procedure time after time. We need to know a lot more things and really problem solve.�

Many of the planes L&M work on are decades old, but for Owen that simply means they are more reliable.

“We’ve got plenty of aircraft we work on that are from the ’80s,� he said. “But they are fantastic aircraft, and a joy to work on.�

The majority of the aircraft L&M maintains are privately owned, some of them by several people.

“We have more than a few aircraft that are jointly owned by a bunch of doctors,� Owen said. “You get a quarter share or maybe a half, and it makes it easier to own.�

With the addition of Kinetic, the airport is selling considerably more aviation fuel, which helps the bottom line.

“If you look at the amount of flights coming into the airport, itÐÔÊӽ紫ý picked up considerably since we opened up,â€� White said. “The great thing about this airport is the size. ItÐÔÊӽ紫ý got a long runway and a lot of room for growth.â€�

The publicly owned Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome is the largest aviation facility north of Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport in Georgia.

Development began in 1942 with Floyd CountyÐÔÊӽ紫ý purchase of 670 acres of land. Shortly after development, the land was turned over to the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý ÐÔÊӽ紫ý of the Navy for use as an auxiliary base. After building three asphalt runways, the Navy discontinued its use of the airport and returned it to the county.

The Georgia Northwestern Technical College Aviation Training Center was constructed at the airport in 2008 in conjunction with some infrastructure upgrades. GNTC runs its Aviation Maintenance Technology program at the center.

In 2013, Floyd County voters approved a special purpose local option sales tax package that included funding for a 1,000 foot extension to runway 1/19. The extension was completed in December 2024.