Lexington County will hear the roar of fighter jets operating out of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport for a little longer.

The S.C. Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing announced Oct. 13 that its temporary operations at the airport will not cease at the end of October, as previously planned. The wing began operating out of West Columbia this spring while its regular home, McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Hopkins, underwent renovations.

“When we started the renovations of our main runway in April, we had expected that this project would take approximately six months and consequently we had been aiming for an end of October completion date,” 169th Fighter Wing Commander.Col. Quaid Quadri is quoted in a release. “However, due to unforeseen circumstances during the construction process, we have had to adjust the completion timeline and will be staying at Columbia Metropolitan Airport several more weeks.”

The release explains that “unanticipated conditions during the demolition of the existing runway ... created additional work which dictated more time required to finish the project.”

Lt. Col. Jim St. Clair, who handles public affairs for the fighter wing, told the Chronicle that there is no set exit date at this time and that the Air National Guard will advise when it has a better idea.

“We can confirm the delay had nothing to do with environmental concerns or supply chain issues. Rather, because a lot of the concrete in the main runway dates back to before World War II, the exact thickness of some of the concrete was not known despite all the preliminary work which was done including drilling core samples," he said in a statement.

"In some areas the concrete removed was up to twice as thick as anticipated. Therefore, extra time was required to remove the additional concrete after demolition.”

St. Clair said fighter operations at the airport will remain “business as usual” during the added weeks, with the same training schedule continuing to be followed.

The fighter wing is based out of the West Cargo Hangar, sharing space with FedEx’s operation. 

About 200 personnel from the S.C. Air National Guard are working at the airport “at any one point during the week,” the release notes. 

During a media visit in July, Lt. Col. Mike Ferrario, the base’s operations manager, said about 25 F-16s and 200 pilots would be stationed at the airport during the temporary relocation.

“We appreciate the overwhelming support we have received from Columbia Metropolitan Airport as well as all our community partners. We are grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding as we strive to move our jets from CAE and back to McEntire as soon as it’s feasible,” Quadri is quoted.

The airport has touted benefits of the fighter wing’s presence there, including bringing additional visibility to the facility as it competes to draw travelers who can also choose to fly out of larger nearby airports in Charlotte or Atlanta.

“We understand the challenges with large-scale projects and invite our partners with the South Carolina Air National Guard to continue this temporary relocation as long as they need,” Mike Gula, the Columbia airport’s executive director, is quoted. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure we’re supporting our military community in every way we can. We appreciate our community’s patience and understanding during this temporary relocation and ask they continue enjoying the sounds of freedom here at CAE.”  

The wing has previously said it is taking steps to minimize noise while stationed in West Columbia, including cutting back on the number of afterburner takeoffs and night missions.