Birmingham is where Robins & Morton’s story started in 1946, and it’s also where our aviation experience began in 1971. Five decades later, the journey would continue at the Huntsville International Airport.
Here’s how Robins & Morton’s aviation story follows the company’s growth from a scrappy regional builder taking on one of its biggest jobs at the time to a trusted long-term partner transforming one of the region’s fastest-growing airports.
Birmingham, 1971
The Birmingham Municipal Airport was built in 1931. By the mid-1960s, the city was changing. Its economy was shifting away from iron and steel and moving toward healthcare and banking. Traffic in and out of the city was mounting, and the airport needed to keep pace.
In 1971, Robins Engineering, as the company was then known, took on an extensive renovation project at the airport to help meet the needs of a growing Birmingham. The scope included structural steel, exterior composite brick, glass, and fiberglass panels, along with tenant additions and renovations. It also required the use of new materials, such as futuristic — or, as was said in the ’60s, “space-aged” — moonscape panels made of Kydex, a thermoplastic material that had only recently been developed.
It was one of the company’s first large-scale public works projects and, at the time, the largest project it had ever handled. Though it involved a significant learning curve, the company stayed true to its values, delivered on its promises, and established itself as a capable force for complex, large-scale municipal work.
Huntsville International Airport, 2023
Birmingham was where Robins & Morton established its aviation expertise, and Huntsville is where that expertise has been tested and proven across multiple projects for multiple clients.
The relationship with the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority began in the early 2020s as the company embarked upon a wide-ranging, multi-year improvement program that continues to expand as Huntsville works to accommodate growing travel demands.
The story begins with a $30 million grant that the FAA awarded to Huntsville International Airport. With those funds, the airport was finally able to start working on projects it had designed years before. It requested proposals for a four- to five-year program with multiple projects. Although the Robins & Morton team competed against firms with much more airport construction experience, Robins & Morton won.
“We won not only because of cost but also because of our local relationships and because we’ve been building in Huntsville for so long,” Division Manager Mitch Coley said.
In 2023, the team began with the connector renovation. This two-level, 10,000-square-foot project included 8,000 square feet of new construction and 2,000 square feet of renovation to enhance the airport connector. In addition to serving as the general contractor, Robins & Morton self-performed both general works and concrete scopes.
The rental car return lot improvement project began a few months later and included a 10,000-square-foot demolition and replacement of an existing parking lot. The team constructed a new parking lot and rental car return facility, and phased construction kept the facility accessible to travelers until the project was completed in summer 2024.
The concourse restroom expansion came next, a $5.7 million project that expanded and revamped the mid-concourse restrooms. The upgrades, which included adding a lactation room for nursing mothers and a set of family restrooms, were completed in early 2025.
The main concourse renovation was completed in summer 2025. This $14 million effort significantly improved accessibility for travelers by adding a second elevator and a second set of escalators, replacing the existing elevator and escalators, and installing two new staircases. The work required careful coordination to maintain uninterrupted passenger flow throughout construction.
Other smaller projects, such as the animal relief area and exit lane breach control, further improved security and accessibility for travelers.
In total, the program encompasses over 500,000 square feet of expansion and renovation, featuring premium finishes and significant structural upgrades — and the team did it all while keeping one of Alabama’s busiest airports fully operational.
“We’ve found that our healthcare experience really helps us,” Coley said. “In the healthcare world, our priority is keeping patients and staff safe. In the airport world, we have to keep travelers, staff, and airplanes safe. It has its challenges, but it hasn’t been a huge learning curve thanks to our healthcare expertise.”
The Signature Aviation Huntsville terminal renovation brought a different client into the mix. This 8,000-square-foot LEED v4 project, completed in fall 2024, was an expansion and renovation of a fixed base operator (FBO) terminal that services both private and general aviation. In addition to serving as the general contractor, Robins & Morton self-performed the concrete scope, and the team maintained airport operations and safety through careful phasing and strict adherence to security protocols.
And the work has only grown. Today, Robins & Morton has seven active projects — in the preconstruction phase or in construction — at Huntsville International Airport, including concourse and public waiting hall improvements, a parking deck expansion, a TSA facility buildout, and a new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Station project, with more on the horizon.
“Having a strong airport is vital for an area to grow,” Coley said. “We have projects planned into 2028 currently, and after it’s all said and done, the airport is going to look very different.”
Taking Flight
When travelers arrive in Alabama at either of its two largest airports, the first thing they see is the result of Robins & Morton’s commitment to building with excellence. In Birmingham, it’s a renovation project that helped define what the company could become. In Huntsville, it’s a multi-year program spanning from the airport’s rental car lot to its concourses that has proven the company’s aviation potential.
Where Robins & Morton will go next on its aviation journey is still to be determined, but with the right opportunity, the next project could take flight soon.
“As we look to the future of this kind of work, we just have to gain trust within the aviation community and find the right projects where we can provide value,” Coley said.