Fort Worth Meacham International Airport

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Fort Worth Meacham Int'l Airport

IATA: FTW - ICAO: KFTW
Summary
Airport type		public
Operator		City of Fort Worth
Serves		Fort Worth, Texas
Elevation AMSL		710 ft (216 m)
Coordinates		32°49′11.2″N, 97°21′44.8″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
9/27	3,677	1,121	Asphalt
16/34	7,501	2,286	Concrete
17/35	4,006	1,221	Asphalt

Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (commonly referred to as Meacham Field) (IATA: FTW, ICAO: KFTW) is an airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The airport is located at the intersection of Interstate 820 and U.S. Highway 287 in northwest Fort Worth, near the downtown business district. Meacham International Airport has two parallel runways and a crosswind runway.

1 History
2 Current Operations
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Meacham Field was established by the city of Fort Worth on May 23, 1925, after failed talks to establish a joint airport with the city of Dallas. The airport served the scheduled commercial airline service needs of the Fort Worth area until 1953, when Fort Worth transferred all commercial flights to Amon Carter Field, later known as the Greater Southwest International Airport. From 1953 to present, Meacham Field has primarily been used for corporate aircraft, commuter flights, and student pilot training. Meacham Field was renamed in 1985 to become Fort Worth Meacham Airport, and in 1995 the name changed again to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport.

Since the 1953 exodus of scheduled carriers to Carter Field, seven airlines have tried to operate scheduled commercial passenger flights from Meacham. None lasted more than a couple of years. In chronological order, these airlines were:

Air Texas (1968-1970) flew Beechcraft Model 99 and Beechcraft Queen Air turboprops from Meacham to Austin and Houston
Tejas Airlines (1979-80) flew Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops to Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Laredo
Metro Airlines (1979-81) flew DHC-6 Twin Otters
Texas Star Airlines (1981-83) connected Meacham to both Austin and Wichita Falls
Fort Worth Airlines (1984-85) flew NAMC YS-11 turboprops
Lone Star Airlines, formerly Exec Express Airlines, (1987-88) flew Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops
Mesa Airlines (1997-98) flew Bombardier CRJ jets

In 2001, Continental Airlines announced plans for Continental Express regional flights between Meacham and Houston Intercontinental Airport but this project was abandoned in the wake of the downturn in the aviation industry following the September 11, 2001 attacks. In April 2006, low-cost carrier Skybus expressed interest in operating out of the airfield as it started operations in 2007. Due to Skybus folding and the Wright Amendment not fully repealing until 2014 this service will never happen. ^[1]^[2].

[edit] Current Operations

Meacham is currently used for general aviation purposes. Several companies operate aircraft services on the airport property, including a division of the U.S. defense contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK). An aviation museum (open weekends and by appointment during the week) is located in Hangar 33 on the airport's south side, at the end of Ellis Street. The terminal building houses several ATK employees, some Fort Worth city departments (mainly Aviation and Housing Development), a branch of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and several aviation related businesses. The Civil Air Patrol operates two squadrons at Meacham, the Fort Worth Senior Squadron, and the Phoenix Composite Squadron.