The airport is governed by the Tri-Cities Airport Authority (TCAA) whose members are appointed by the cities of Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol (TN), Bristol (VA) and both Washington and Sullivan counties in Tennessee.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 202,730 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[2] 217,783 in 2009 and 202,114 in 2010.

[4] In the mid-1930s Johnson City's airfield and Kingsport's airstrip were deemed impractical for expansion.

[1][7] For the year ending March 31, 2023 the airport had 49,790 aircraft operations, an average of 136 per day: 72% general aviation, 13% air taxi, 9% airline and 5% military.

In March 2023, there were 53 aircraft based at this airport: 31 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 12 jet and 2 helicopter.