| William P. Hobby Airport Houston Hobby |
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| IATA: HOU – ICAO: KHOU – FAA LID: HOU
HOU
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| Summary | |||
| Owner | City of Houston | ||
| Operator | Houston Airport System | ||
| Serves | Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown | ||
| Location | Houston, Texas (USA) | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 46 ft / 14 m | ||
| Website | |||
| 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, 2010) | |||
| Aircraft operations (2006) | 236,637 | ||
| Based aircraft (2006) | 292 | ||
| Air carrier/taxi (2006) | 154,621 | ||
| Passengers (2010) | 9,054,001 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
William P. Hobby Airport (IATA: HOU, ICAO: KHOU, FAA LID: HOU) is a public airport in Houston, Texas, located 7 miles (11 km) from Downtown Houston.[2] The airport covers 1,304 acres (528 ha) 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. The airport is home of the 1940 Air Terminal Museum which houses a collection in the original art deco building which served as the first terminal for passenger flight in Houston. It currently serves as a focus city for Southwest Airlines.
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Hobby Airport began service in 1927 as a private landing field in a 600-acre (240 ha) 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[4] The airport was renamed to Houston International Airport the same year.
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 26 weekday departures on Eastern, 20 Braniff (plus four departures a week to/from South America), 9 Continental, 9 Delta, 9 Trans-Texas, 4 National, 2 Pan American and 1 American. There were nonstops to New York and Washington, but not to Chicago or Denver or anywhere west of there. Later in 1957 KLM started DC-7C flights to Amsterdam via Montreal; they later moved to Houston Intercontinental Airport (now George Bush Intercontinental Airport), where they remain today.
In 1967, the airport was 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.[5]
Hobby was reopened to commercial aviation in 1971. In 2008 the airport handled 8.8 million passengers [1]. Only US destinations and international destinations with border preclearance are served.
Hobby Airport handles domestic service for six commercial airlines and is an international point of entry for general aviation activity between Texas and Mexico. Hobby has multiple low cost carrier operations, as opposed to Bush Intercontinental Airport's hub operation with United Airlines. As of March 2011, from Hobby Airport Southwest has 127 daily flights to 30 cities, and it uses 17 gates at the airport.[6]
In a survey among travelers in the United States by J.D. Power and Associates for an Aviation Week traveler satisfaction report, William P. Hobby Airport tied with Dallas Love Field as the number one small airport in the country for customer satisfaction in 2006[7][8] and ranked number one again in 2007.[9][10] Hobby ranked #2 in 2008.[11]
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.[12]
Developments at Hobby in the 2000s include a new concourse to serve Southwest Airlines and the upgrade of Runway 4/22. In May 2009, a terminal renovation project was announced [13] that will update the ticket counters, lobby area, and baggage claim.
The Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center serves as the airport's ARTCC.[14]
William P. Hobby Airport consists of one Central Concourse terminal with 26 gates, all but 7 used by Southwest.
The terminal includes an interfaith chapel.[15]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AirTran Airways | Atlanta, Branson |
| American Eagle | Dallas/Fort Worth |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta |
| Delta Connection operated by Comair | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK |
| Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines | Atlanta |
| Frontier Airlines | Denver |
| Frontier Airlines operated by Republic Airlines | Denver, Kansas City |
| JetBlue Airways | New York-JFK |
| Southwest Airlines | Albuquerque, Atlanta [begins February 12, 2012], Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham (AL), Charleston (SC), Chicago-Midway, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Love, Denver, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harlingen, Jackson (MS), Jacksonville, Kansas City [begins June 3, 2012][16], Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Midland/Odessa, Nashville, New Orleans, Newark, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Panama City (FL), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham [begins April 22, 2012], San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle/Tacoma [begins June 3, 2012], St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa |
| Vision Airlines | Gulfport/Biloxi |
| Rank | City | Passengers | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas, TX | 566,000 | Southwest |
| 2 | Atlanta, GA | 365,000 | AirTran, Delta |
| 3 | New Orleans, LA | 273,000 | Southwest |
| 4 | Denver, CO | 212,000 | Frontier, Southwest |
| 5 | Chicago, IL | 206,000 | Southwest |
| 6 | Las Vegas, NV | 184,000 | Southwest |
| 7 | Orlando, FL | 155,000 | Southwest |
| 8 | Harlingen, TX | 155,000 | Southwest |
| 9 | Los Angeles, CA | 155,000 | Southwest |
| 10 | Baltimore, MD | 146,000 | Southwest |
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, or METRO, stops at Curbzone 13.[18]
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.[18]
Shared-ride shuttle service 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.[18]
Taxis are available at Curb Zone 3.[18]
There are several pieces located in and on the airport grounds:
Artists Paul Kittleson and Carter Ernst created "Take-off," a stainless steel bird's nest showing interwoven branches created using industrial materials. The nest is 30 feet (0.0091 km) wide and is held 20 feet (6.1 m) above the ground by three steel tree trunks. The nest is depicted floating above a subtropical garden. The artists created the work to depict the spirit of Houston's industrial force along the coastal plain. "Take-off" is located at Hobby's Broadway Street entrance.[19]
The following involved flights departing or arriving at the airport:
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