Lambert-St. Louis International Airport

Lambert St. Louis International Airport
FlySTL logo.png
IATA: STL – ICAO: KSTL – FAA LID: STL
STL is located in Missouri
STL
Location of the Lambert-St. LouisInternational Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of St. Louis
Serves Greater St. Louis, Missouri
Location Unincorporated St. Louis County 10 miles (16 km) NW of St. Louis
Elevation AMSL 605 ft / 184.4 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12R/30L 11,019 3,359 Concrete
12L/30R 9,003 2,744 Concrete
11/29 9,000 2,743 Concrete
6/24 7,602 2,317 Concrete
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations 209,057 (2009)
Passenger volume 12,796,302
Cargo tonnage
Area (acres) 2,800
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (IATA: STL, ICAO: KSTL, FAA LID: STL) is the primary airport for St. Louis, Missouri, United States and the surrounding area. It is the largest international airport in the state of Missouri.

The airport lies outside the St. Louis city limits in St. Louis County and is owned and operated by the City of St. Louis. Portions of the airport are located in an unincorporated area, while portions of the airport grounds are in the cities of Berkeley and Bridgeton.[2][3] Lambert- St. Louis International Airport serves over 88 non-stop national and international destinations. In 2008, 14.4 million passengers traveled through the airport.[4]

In 1982, Trans World Airlines (TWA) established its hub at Lambert. Over 30 million passengers traveled through the airport per year in 1999 and 2000.[4] American Airlines bought TWA and the Lambert hub in 2001. American reduced service levels gradually from 2003 through 2009 and ended its focus city operation on April 5, 2010.[5] In May 2010, Southwest Airlines increased its operations and flight schedule and became the largest airline in terms of both passengers carried and daily flights at Lambert.[6]

Contents

History

Aerial view of NAS St. Louis in the mid-1940s.
Control tower and main terminal
131st Fighter Wing and American Airlines Maintenance Ramp At Lambert Airport

The airport was originally a balloon launching base named Kinloch Field. The Wright brothers and their Exhibition Team visited the field while touring with their aircraft. During a visit to St. Louis, Theodore Roosevelt flew with pilot Arch Hoxsey on October 11, 1910, becoming the first U.S. president to fly. Later, Kinloch hosted the first experimental parachute jump.[7]

In 1920, Major Albert Bond Lambert, part of the Lambert Pharmacal Company that first sold Listerine and the first person to receive a pilot's license in St. Louis, bought the field and added hangars and a passenger terminal. Charles Lindbergh's first piloting job was flying airmail for Robertson Airlines from Lambert Field; he left the airport for New York about a week before his record-breaking flight to Paris in 1927. Later that year, Lambert sold the airport to the City of St. Louis, making it the first municipally-owned airport in the United States.[8]

In the late 1920s, Lambert Field became the first airport with an air-traffic control system — albeit one that communicated with pilots via waving flags. The first controller was Archie League.[9]

Before World War II, Robertson Airlines, Marquette Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines provided passenger service to St. Louis. During the war, the airport became a manufacturing base for McDonnell Aircraft and Curtiss-Wright. After the war, Minoru Yamasaki was commissioned to design a new passenger terminal at Lambert. Completed in 1956, the four-domed design inspired terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.[8]

In the 1970s, St. Louis city officials proposed to replace the airport with a new one in suburban Illinois. But after Missouri residents strongly objected, Lambert received a $290-million expansion that lengthened the runways, increased the number of gates to 81, and boosted its operational capacity by 50 percent. (The proposed Illinois airport was later built anyway; MidAmerica St. Louis Airport opened in 1997 in Mascoutah, Illinois. As of 2010, no major carriers provide service there.)

In 1982, Trans World Airlines (TWA) moved its hub from Kansas City International Airport. The move made TWA the dominant carrier at Lambert, and turned the St. Louis airport into one of the busiest in the country. The airport grew in importance for TWA after the airline declared bankruptcy in 1993; by the late 1990s it was the airline's dominant hub. But the airport's influence waned after American Airlines (AA) bought TWA and merged its flight operations in 2001. Lambert became a reliever for AA's existing hubs at Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and transatlantic service was discontinued. AA transferred many mainline TWA routes to American Connection, a group of affiliated regional carriers. After the 2003 cutbacks, AA introduced American Eagle service at its St. Louis hub in May 2005. Unlike American Connection, American Eagle is wholly owned by AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle.

In 2006, the United States Air Force announced plans to turn the 131st Fighter Wing into the 131st Bomb Wing. The 20 F-15C aircraft were moved to the 120th Fighter Wing in Montana and Hickam AFB in Hawaii. The pilots and maintainers moved to Whiteman AFB to fly and maintain the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, and be the first ANG Wing to fly it. The base formally shut down in June 2009. The final two F-15C Eagles did a low approach over the field, then flew away. The event was attended by more then 2,200 people who said goodbye to a part of airport history for over 85 years.

As of 2009, Concourse D, previously used by Ozark and later TWA, was largely empty and closed off; Concourse B had limited traffic; and the distal portion of Concourse C was not used for commercial traffic. In September 2009, American Airlines announced that, as a part of the airline's restructuring, it will reduce its operations to 36 daily flights to nine destinations in the summer of 2010.[10] These cuts will end the remaining hub operation.[5]

On October 21, 2009, Southwest Airlines announced that the airline will increase service with a "major expansion" in St. Louis by May 2010. The airline will increase service to 83 daily departures from St. Louis, replacing American as the carrier with the most daily flights after American's service cuts scheduled for Summer 2010.[6]

Facilities

STL FAA Airport Diagram

Runways

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport covers 2,800 acres (1,133 ha) and has four runways:

Terminals

The airport has two terminals with a total of 5 concourses. International flights and passengers use Terminal 2, whose lower level holds the Immigration and Customs gates. Passengers can move between the terminals on complimentary buses that run continuously, or via MetroLink.

Public transportation

Light rail

MetroLink map Oct2008.svg

Each of the airport's terminals has a rail station with direct trains to downtown St. Louis on MetroLink's Red Line. One-ride and all-day tickets can be purchased from vending machines on the platforms. MetroLink lines provide direct or indirect service to St. Louis, the Clayton area, and Illinois suburbs in St. Clair County.

MetroBus

Two MetroBus lines serve the Lambert Bus Port, which is located next to the intermediate parking lot, and accessible via the tunnel from Terminal 1:

Airline lounges

The American Airlines Admirals Club at the B/C/D connector is large for its type, with seating for 244. It has a bar/snack area, basic ticketing functions, espresso bar, three private conference rooms, and complimentary use of six PCs, dataports, copier, printer and paper shredder.

Lambert's USO facility, located on the lower level of the Main Terminal next to baggage claim carousel #M6, is one of the largest in the country. Open 24 hours a day, it serves more than 120,000 military men and women each year.[11]

Black Americans in Flight mural

Black Americans in Flight is a mural that depicts African-American aviators and their contributions to aviation since 1917. It is located in Terminal 1 / Main Terminal on the lower level near the entrance to gates C and D and baggage claim. The mural consists of five panels and measures 8 feet tall and 51 feet long. The first panel includes the Tuskegee Institute and the Tuskegee Airmen, Eugene Bullard, Bessie Coleman, and Willa Brown (first African-American woman commercial pilot in United States). The second panel shows Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Clarence "Lucky" Lester and Joseph Ellesberry. The third panel shows Gen. Daniel "Chappie" James, Capt. Ronald Radliff, and Capt. Marcella Hayes. The fourth and fifth panels show Ronald McNair, who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986, Guion Bluford, who in 1983 became the first African American in space, and Mae Jemison, the first African America woman in space. Spencer Taylor and Solomon Thurman created the mural in 1990.[12][13]

Aircraft on display

Two aircraft from the Missouri History Museum hang from Lambert's ceilings. The first is a 1934 Monocoupe D-145 near the Terminal 1 security checkpoint. Charles Lindbergh bought it in 1934 from the Lambert Aircraft Corporation and flew it as his personal plane.

The second aircraft, a red Monocoupe 110 Special, manufactured in St. Louis in 1931, hangs in Terminal 2.[14]

Until 1998, a Ryan B-1 Brougham, a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, hung next to the D-145.[15]

Aircraft production

Lambert's runways have long been used for test flights and deliveries of military aircraft by McDonnell Douglas, which built its world headquarters and principal assembly plant next to the airport; and now by Boeing, which bought McDonnell and now uses its St. Louis facilities as headquarters for its Boeing Defense, Space & Security division. The plant currently builds the F-15 Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler; and is home to Boeing Phantom Works.

Operations

Cargo

Several air cargo airlines operate at Lambert, including:

Passengers

Passenger traffic plummeted after the 9/11 attacks and the sale of TWA to American Airlines. In 2000, 30,558,991 passengers traveled through the airport; in 2004, 13 million; in 2006, more than 15.2 million.[16]

September 2007 saw a 4.2 percent increase over September 2006, while the nine months from January to September saw nearly 5.9 million passengers, up 1.2% from the same 9-month period in 2006. Among the major national airlines, Frontier Airlines showed the biggest gain in boarding passengers in September 2007, with 12,139 passengers originating from St. Louis, up 57 percent from the previous September. As well, International Charter Airlines service increased 11.2 percent in September.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations Terminal/Concourse
Air Canada Jazz Toronto-Pearson 1A
Air Choice One Burlington (IA), Decatur (IL) 2E
AirTran Airways Atlanta, Orlando 1C
AirTran Airways operated by SkyWest Airlines Milwaukee 1C
Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma [begins September 27][17] TBA
American Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-LaGuardia, Washington-Reagan 1C
American Eagle New York-JFK 1C
Cape Air Cape Girardeau, Kirksville [begins September 17], Marion (IL), Quincy 1D
Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines Cleveland 1A
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark 1A
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City 1A
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlanta 1A
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Memphis 1A
Delta Connection operated by Comair Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK, New York-La Guardia [begins September 7], Raleigh-Durham [begins November 10] 1A
Delta Connection operated by Compass Airlines Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia [begins September 7][18], Washington-Reagan [begins October 31] 1A
Delta Connection operated by Mesaba Airlines Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul 1A
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines Atlanta, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Raleigh-Durham [begins November 10] 1A
Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America New York-LaGuardia [begins September 7][18] 1A
Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines Atlanta, Salt Lake City 1A
Frontier Airlines Cancún, Denver, Puerto Vallarta [seasonal; begins December 16] 1C
Midwest Connect operated by Chautauqua Airlines Milwaukee 1C
Southwest Airlines Albuquerque, Baltimore, Birmingham (AL), Boston, Chicago-Midway, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Dallas-Love, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham, San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma [seasonal], Tampa, Tulsa 2E
Sun Country Airlines Puerto Vallarta 2E
United Airlines San Francisco 1A
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles 1A
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles 1A
USA3000 Airlines Cancún, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Fort Myers, Montego Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana 2E
US Airways Charlotte, Phoenix 1A
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin Philadelphia 1A
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines Charlotte 1A
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines Charlotte 1A
US Airways Express operated by Trans States Airlines Pittsburgh 1A

Expansion

Runway 11/29

A fourth runway was opened in 2006, a $1.1 billion project that was the costliest public works program in St. Louis history.[19]

During the late 1990s, Lambert Field was ranked as high as the eighth-busiest U.S. airport (measured by flights, not passengers), thanks to TWA's hub operations, Southwest Airlines' growing traffic, and commuter traffic to smaller cities in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and Kentucky. Congestion caused delays during peak hours; the problem was worse when bad weather reduced the number of usable runways from three to one. Lambert briefly redesignated the taxiway immediately north of runway 12L-30R as runway 13-31 and used it for commuter and general aviation traffic. Moreover, traffic projections made in the 1980s and 1990s predicted yet more growth, enough to strain the airport and the national air traffic system.[20]

This led to the construction of a 9,000-foot runway, dubbed Runway 11/29, parallel to the two larger existing runways. The project required the move of seven major roads and the destruction of about 2,000 homes, six churches and four schools in Bridgeton, Missouri.[19][21][22]

Construction began in 1998, and continued even as traffic at the airport declined after the 9/11 attacks, the purchase of Trans World Airlines by American Airlines in April 2001, and American's 2003 reduction in flights.[23][24]

On April 13, 2006, American Airlines Flight 2470 became the first commercial airliner to land on the new runway.[25]

As of 2009, the runway was shunned by fuel- and time-conscious airlines because it is farther from terminals than the older runways; an estimated 5% of flights use it.[19]

21st-century renovation

In February 2007, airport officials announced the largest renovation in the airport's history: a $105 million effort to overhaul the Main Terminal, from road signs to window panes; add stores and restaurants; install terrazzo floors; and construct pedestrian bridges from the parking garage to the ticketing area. A domed glass canopy will arch above sidewalks and roadways, protecting visitors from bad weather. The job is to be completed in 2012.

In December 2009, airport officials renamed the Main and East terminals Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and began installing new signs the following month.[26]

Cargo and passenger service expansion plans

In 2008, Air China was reported to be planning a cargo hub at Lambert as part of its international cargo and passenger service expansion.[27][28] The United States Department of Commerce allowed expansion of the foreign trade zone near Lambert airport on February 13, 2009.[29] As of November 2009, negotiations were still on track.

Accidents

Lambert in fiction

Television

Film

See also


References

  1. ↑ FAA Airport Master Record for STL (Form 5010 PDF), retrieved 2007-07-24
  2. ↑ "Berkeley city, Missouri." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 9, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Bridgeton city, Missouri." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 9, 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Passenger Statistics". Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. http://www.flystl.com/flystl/media-newsroom/stats/. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Leiser, Ken (September 18, 2009). "Airline blames cuts on restructuring". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/story/5E1B3CA89E6A7F05862576350005F923?OpenDocument. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Leiser, Ken (October 22, 2009). "Southwest will add nine daily flights here". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/C4EC07EADEDDAB29862576560082EE24?OpenDocument. 
  7. ↑ Henry, Prince Joe (2006-12-07). "Joe gains another admirer: Kinloch's sergeant of police.". River Front Times (Riverfront Times, LLC). http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2006-12-06/news/joe-gains-another-admirer-kinloch-s-sergeant-of-police/. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lambert-St. Louis history retrieved 2007-12-14.
  9. ↑ Mola, Roger. "Aircraft Landing Technology". U. S. Centennial of Flight Commission. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/landing_navig/Tech32.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
  10. ↑ Mutzabaugh, Ben (September 18, 2009). "With AA's cuts, St. Louis will fall from the ranks of hub cities". USA Today: Today in the Sky blog. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=68499380.blog. 
  11. ↑ James S. McDonnell USO
  12. ↑ Brownlee Jr., Henry T. (February 2010). "Linking the Past to the Future". Boeing Frontiers. http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2009/february/i_history.pdf. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
  13. ↑ "Many St. Louis Sites Significant in Black History: "Black Americans in Flight" Mural". St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. http://www.explorestlouis.com/media/pressKit/africanAmerSites.asp. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
  14. ↑ "Charles Lindbergh's Monocoupe - St. Louis, MO - Static Aircraft Displays". Groundspeak, Inc.. December 15, 2008. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM5BWR_Charles_Lindberghs_Monocoupe_St_Louis_MO. Retrieved July 25, 2010. 
  15. ↑ Mullen, Robert; Smith, Sharon (Spring 2008). "Midnight Maintenance: Caring for Lindbergh's Monocoupe". Missouri History Museum. http://www.mhmvoices.org/2008SpringDept2.php. Retrieved July 25, 2010. 
  16. ↑ "Historical Passenger Statistics by Type for the Years: 1985-2005". General Information about Lambert. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/about/facts.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-14. 
  17. ↑ "Route Map". Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air. http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/destinations/Route-Map.asp. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Delta Adding Flights Between New York and Key Business Markets". Delta Air Lines. 11 May 2010. http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=43&item=1028. Retrieved 4 July 2010. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Stoller, Gary (2007-01-09). "St. Louis' airports aren't too loud: They're too quiet". USAToday.com. http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2007-01-09-st-louis-usat_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  20. ↑ "The Expansion Story". http://web.archive.org/web/20080501193743/http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/e/newwebsite/id261.asp. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  21. ↑ "Airport/Mass Transit November 2005 - Feature Story". http://midwest.construction.com/2005/11/01/MC_11_01_2005_p27-01.asp. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  22. ↑ "Airports and cities: Can they coexist?". http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0901/et0901s2.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  23. ↑ "Historical Operation Statistics by Class for the Years: 1985-2006". http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/index/about_Facts_oper_stat.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  24. ↑ "New $1 billion runway opens this week, but it's not needed anymore". USAToday.com. 2006-04-11. http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2006/04/st_louis.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  25. ↑ "Flight AAL2470 KSNA-KSTL". Flightaware. 2006-04-13. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL2470/history/20060413/1634ZZ/KSNA/KSTL. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  26. ↑ "Lambert Installing New Signs, Renaming Terminals". Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. 2009-12-02. http://www.flystl.com/flystl/media-newsroom/news-release/Archival/2009/pdf/12-2-09.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  27. ↑ "GATEWAY TO THE EAST" ST. LOUIS SEEKS TO BE CHINA'S FREIGHT AND COMMERCIAL HUB. St. Louis Commerce Magazine. June 2008. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
  28. ↑ "Commission looks to bring Chinese air freight to St. Louis." St. Louis Business Journal. January 19, 2009. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
  29. ↑ Binns, Evan. "Lambert foreign trade zone expanded." St. Louis Business Journal. February 16, 2009. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
  30. ↑ "C-GSCA Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19840109-0. Retrieved 27 July 2010. 
  31. ↑ Williams, Joe (2009-01-28). "Steven Soderbergh, film revolutionary". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/joes-movie-lounge/joes-movie-lounge/2009/01/steven-soderbergh-film-revolutionary/. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
  32. ↑ Rubin, Ann (2008-12-12). "George Clooney to film next movie in St. Louis". KSDK. http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=163164. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
  33. ↑ "Official information for the St. Louis film "Up in the Air"". Missouri Film Commission Project Hotline. 2009-01-15. http://www.missouribusiness.net/film/hotline.asp. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 

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