HIGHFILL — Northwest Arkansas National Airport surpassed the 1 million mark for passengers flying out of the airport for the first time in 2024 making it the busiest year in the airport’s history.

The airport recorded 1,147,947 enplanements in 2024, according to airport staff.

“Surpassing the 1 million enplanement mark is a significant achievement for XNA and Northwest Arkansas,” said Aaron Burkes, airport CEO. “It reflects the incredible growth of our region and the rising demand for air travel. We’re committed to providing a smooth and convenient travel experience for our passengers.”

In 2023, Northwest Arkansas National set its previous record with 991,489 passengers. The 2024 total is a 16% increase over that record. The record prior to 2023 was set before the pandemic, in 2019, and totaled 922,533. The 2024 passenger total increased 25% over the 2019 record.

The airport’s record-breaking year was driven by Northwest Arkansas’ rapid growth and a surge in air travel demand, according to a news release from the airport.

Northwest Arkansas National is the primary commercial airport for Northwest Arkansas, offering 26 nonstop destinations through six airlines.

The airport continues to expand its connectivity with several new nonstop destinations announced for late 2024 and early 2025, according to the release.

Delta Airlines launched service to Detroit in November and will add flights to Salt Lake City in February.

American Airlines launched service to Philadelphia in December.

Allegiant Air will add flights to Gulf Shores, Ala., in May.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has appointed Sydney McKenzie, wife of Rep. Britt McKenzie, R-Rogers, to the Arkansas State Library Board.

She replaces Donnette Smith, whose term expired last year. McKenzie’s term will expire Oct. 18, 2031.

McKenzie described the appointment as a “great honor.”

“As a mother of four young children and a passionate supporter and frequent patron of our local libraries, I am grateful for this opportunity to advance access to safe learning environments and promote greater literacy for children across our state,” she said in a statement. “My goal is to enhance the local impact of the communities our libraries serve, ensuring that every Arkansan can experience the unique value libraries provide in shaping informed and engaged citizens.”

Sam Dubke, spokesman for the governor’s office, did not immediately provide a comment on the appointment.

Seven members comprise the State Library Board and are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Arkansas Senate. It was established by Act 489 of 1979, according to the Arkansas State Library website.

A single member is appointed from each of the state’s four congressional districts, while three members are selected from the state at large; no more than two members can come from any individual district.

Among the Arkansas State Library’s responsibilities is the administration of state and federal funds to be appropriated for libraries and library development, according to its website. It also gives library and information resources to both state government and its citizenry, seeks to improve access to libraries and other information resources, and supports public libraries.

Library funding, as well as children’s access to certain materials in libraries, has come under increased scrutiny in recent years across the state and the country and has been the source of intense clashes in recent State Library Board meetings. Many leaders who have expressed support preventing for minors from accessing materials containing sexual content at libraries have described the issue as a matter of safety.

A federal judge recently struck down as unconstitutional two provisions of Act 372 of 2023 that sought to criminalize the furnishing of obscene materials to minors at public libraries and bookstores. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has said he will appeal the ruling. Britt McKenzie was one of 56 lawmakers in the House of Representatives who voted in favor of the measure as it made its way through the Legislature.

Former state Sen. Jason Rapert, who Sanders appointed to the board in 2023, has sought repeatedly to withhold taxpayer money from libraries that do not remove works containing sexual content from places where they can be accessed by minors. The rest of the board has voted him down each time, and in November he urged the state Legislature to abolish the board.

The member whose term will expire next is Jo Ann Campbell; her term ends Oct. 18.

The next State Library Board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14.

Could TikTok ownership be headed to the Natural State? According to industry watchers its not as preposterous as it first sounds.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is on experts’ short list of buyers who could make a bid for the social media site’s American assets and it wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to pull this off. According to USA Today, Walmart has tried twice before to rein in social media’s big fish. In 2020, Walmart entered into two alliances ― one with Microsoft and one with Oracle ― both of which made a bid for the Chinese-based site.

McMillon has also put the schmooze on, hosting ByteDance’s founder in Bentonville, Arkansas in 2023, per The New York Post, which cited sources close to the situation.

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