William P. Hobby Airport

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William P. Hobby Airport
Houston Hobby

Image:Header left.jpg


Terminal of Hobby Airport
IATA: HOU – ICAO: KHOU – FAA: HOU
Summary
Owner City of Houston
Operator Houston Airport System
Serves Houston, Texas
Location United States
Elevation AMSL 46 ft / 14 m
Coordinates 29°38′44″N 95°16′44″W / 29.64556, -95.27889
Website fly2houston.com/hobbyHome
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
4/22 7,602 2,317 Concrete
12L/30R 5,148 1,569 Concrete
12R/30L 7,602 2,317 Asphalt
17/35 6,000 1,829 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 236,637
Based aircraft 292
Air carrier/taxi 154,621
General aviation 81,791
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

William P. Hobby Airport (IATA: HOU, ICAO: KHOU, FAA LID: HOU) is a public airport located 8 miles (13 km) southeast of the central business district of Houston, Texas, United States. The airport covers 1,304 acres (5.3 km²) and has four runways. Hobby Airport is Houston's oldest commercial airport and was the city's primary air terminal until the opening of Houston Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush Intercontinental Airport) in 1969. Hobby serves the city as a secondary airport handling domestic service and is a regional center for corporate and private aviation.

Contents

[edit] History

Hobby Airport began service in 1927 as a private landing field in a 600 acre (2.4 km²) pasture known as W.T. Carter Field. The airfield was served by Braniff and Eastern Airlines. The site was acquired by the City of Houston and was named Houston Municipal Airport in 1937. [2] The airport was renamed Howard R. Hughes Airport in 1938. Howard Hughes was responsible for several improvements to the airport, including its first control tower, built in 1938.[2] The airport's name was changed back to Houston Municipal because Hughes was living at the time and regulations did not allow federal improvement funds for an airport named after a living person.

The City of Houston opened and dedicated a new air terminal and hangar in 1940.

In 1950, Pan Am initiated a Houston-Mexico City flight. In 1954, a new and expanded terminal building was opened to support the 53,640 airline flights that carried 910,047 passengers. [3] The airport was renamed to Houston International Airport the same year.

In 1957, the first scheduled turbojet aircraft were utilized in service to the airport. KLM started Amsterdam operations in 1957. KLM later moved to Houston Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush Intercontinental Airport), where it remains today.

In 1967, the airport renamed after former Texas governor William P. Hobby.

Houston Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush Intercontinental Airport) was built in 1969 because of expansion limitations at Hobby. All commercial aviation operations at Hobby were moved to Houston Intercontinental. The Civil Aeronautics Administration recommended years earlier that Houston begin to plan to replace Hobby, since the airport was inadequate for the new aviation travel market. [4]

Hobby was reopened to commercial aviation in 1971.

[edit] Operations

Hobby Airport handles domestic service for eight commercial airlines and is an international point of entry for general aviation activity between Texas and Mexico. The airport is capable of handling all but the largest narrow-body aircraft in operation. Hobby has multiple low-fare carrier operations, as opposed to Bush Intercontinental Airport's hub operation with Continental Airlines.

In a survey among travelers in the United States by J.D. Power and Associates for an Aviation Week traveler satisfaction report, passengers have selected William P. Hobby Airport as the number one airport in the country for customer satisfaction in 2006 [5] and again in 2007. [6]

Southwest Airlines operated more than 80 percent of the total enplanements at Hobby in 2005 and an average of 10 flights per day per gate. Southwest Airlines plans to maintain Houston as a focus city and is looking to serve new markets from Hobby. [7]

Developments at Hobby in the 2000s include a new concourse to serve Southwest Airlines and the upgrade of Runway 4/22.

The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center serves as the airport's ARTCC.[8]

[edit] Terminal

Airport overview
Airport overview

William P. Hobby Airport consists of one Central Concourse terminal with 25 gates.

The terminal includes an interfaith chapel.[9]

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Ground transportation

[edit] Bus

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, offers bus service available at Curbzone 13 outside of the baggage claim area in the lower level.

[edit] Courtesy Vans

Courtesy vans are operated by various hotels and motels in and around the Houston Area. There are courtesy telephones in the baggage claim areas to request pick-up for most hotels and motels.

[edit] Rental Cars

The airport is served by all major rental car companies. These include Advantage, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, and Thrifty. The rental car booths are located in the baggage claim area where customers can make or confirm their reservation. Once complete, customers board their respective car rental shuttle bus to the car company site.

[edit] Shuttle Service

Shared-ride shuttle servivce is available at HOU. SuperShuttle takes reservations and picks-up travelers at their homes or businesses and transports them to the airport and vice versa. Additionally, regularly scheduled bus and shuttle service is provided by various carriers to locations from HOU to areas outside the Houston Metropolitan area and to Galveston and College Station. These services can be found in the baggage claim area.

[edit] Taxi

Taxis are available at Curb Zone 3 outside of the baggage claim area in the lower level. All destinations within Houston's city limits to/from Bush Intercontinental Airport are charged according to the flat Zone Rate or the meter rate.

[edit] Accidents and incidents

The following involved flights departing or arriving at the airport:

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for HOU (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-08-30
  2. ^ a b "History of Hobby Airport," Houston Airport System
  3. ^ 1940 Air Terminal Museum - Houston Aviation History Timeline
  4. ^ "WILLIAM P. HOBBY AIRPORT." The Handbook of Texas
  5. ^ "Hobby Airport rated number one in customer satisfaction." Houston Airport System
  6. ^ "A favorite among travelers again." Houston Airport System
  7. ^ "Program Overview William P. Hobby Airport," Houston Airport System
  8. ^ "KHOU," Airnav.com
  9. ^ "Interfaith Chapel" of William P. HobbY Airport. Houston Airport System

[edit] See also

Houston Portal

[edit] External links