Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
IATA: PHX – ICAO: KPHX – FAA LID: PHX – WMO: 72278
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Phoenix
Operator	Phoenix Airport System
Serves	Phoenix metropolitan area
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
Hub for	Passenger American Airlines Cargo Ameriflight
Focus city for	Southwest Airlines
Elevation AMSL	1,135 ft / 346 m
Coordinates	33°26′03″N 112°00′42″W / 33.43417°N 112.01167°W / 33.43417; -112.01167Coordinates: 33°26′03″N 112°00′42″W / 33.43417°N 112.01167°W / 33.43417; -112.01167
Website	www.skyharbor.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
PHX Location within Arizona
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 8/26 11,489 3,502 Concrete 7L/25R 10,300 3,139 Concrete 7R/25L 7,800 2,377 Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Aircraft operations 430,461 Passenger boardings (2014) 21,012,920 Passenger volume (2014) 42,134,662 Cargo tonnage 312,832
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX, FAA LID: PHX) is a civil-military public airport 3 miles (5 km) southeast of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in the United States.

In 2015, the airport served 44,006,205 passengers, making it one of the top 10 busiest in the United States by passenger count. It handles more than 1,200 aircraft operations a day, 100,000 passengers and more than 800 tons of cargo. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records show the airport had 20,169,926 commercial passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2012 and 20,211,799 in 2011.

The airport serves as a hub for American Airlines and is the airline's fifth-largest and primary western hub with 307 daily departures to more than 77 destinations in four countries.^[2] American carries 54% of all passengers through PHX, making it the airports largest carrier.^[2][3] Sky Harbor also serves as one of the largest focus cities for Southwest Airlines with 180 daily departures to 50 cities.^[4]

History

Aerial view of the new control tower in the foreground, and the old control tower in the background, with Terminal 3 in between, looking southwest.

Sky Harbor's control tower with downtown Phoenix in the background with a plane landing on runway 8.

A Qatar Amiri Flight Airbus A340-200 at Phoenix, bringing the Qatari Emir's family from Doha, via Zurich.

Sky Harbor was the fourth airport built in Phoenix.^[5] It was built with one runway in 1928 by Scenic Airways, an airline start-up which collapsed the following year after the Black Friday stock market crash. Acme Investment Company then owned the airport until 1935. During this time, American Airlines began the airport's first scheduled passenger and air mail service in 1930. The city of Phoenix purchased the airport from Acme for $100,000 in 1935, and TWA began service to San Francisco in 1938.^[6]

After the war the airport began work on a new passenger terminal, as well as a new parallel runway and a diagonal runway.^[7] On the February 1953 C&GS diagram runways 8L and 8R are each 6,000 feet (1,800 m) long and runway 3 is 5,500 feet (1,700 m).

The $835,000 Terminal 1 (originally called the "West Terminal") which also had the first control tower, opened in October 1952.^[7] It was torn down in 1991 and replaced by a cell phone waiting lot.

The April 1957 OAG shows 42 scheduled airline departures a day: 16 American, 11 TWA, 10 Bonanza and 5 Frontier. American began a nonstop DC-7 to New York (Idlewild) in summer 1959.

The airport's master plan was redesigned in 1959 to eliminate the cross runway to make room for new terminals.^[7] American and TWA began jet service to Phoenix in 1960 and 1961 respectively, and Terminal 2 (originally called the "East Terminal") still in use today, opened in 1962.^[8] Terminal 3 opened in October 1979,^[7] when the "East" and "West" names were dropped, since they were no longer the only two terminals.

Bonanza Airlines moved its headquarters from Las Vegas to Phoenix in 1966. Bonanza merged with two other airlines to form Air West, which became Hughes Airwest after Howard Hughes bought it in 1970.^[9]

After airline deregulation in 1978 former Hughes Airwest executive Ed Beauvais formed a plan for a new airline based in Phoenix. He founded America West Airlines in 1981, which began service from Phoenix in 1983 and doubled in size during its first year. By the end of the decade America West had a nationwide network and was lobbying for transpacific service.^[9]

In the meantime Southwest Airlines arrived at Phoenix in January 1982 with thirteen daily flights to twelve cities; by 1986 it had 64 daily flights from Phoenix and had a crew base there. Southwest opened a maintenance facility at PHX in 1992 which was its largest.^[10]

In October 1989 ground was broken for Terminal 4, the largest terminal.^[11] It opened on November 2, 1990^[12] with four concourses: N2 and N3 on the north side and S3 and S4 on the south side. In 1994 the N4 International Concourse was opened, adding 10 gates and a sterile walkway to the S4 concourse. In 1997 construction began on the 14-gate N1 concourse for America West Airlines. It was completed in June 1998 at a cost of $50 million,^[13] completing the expansion of the north side of the terminal. On the south side of the terminal, construction began in 2002 on the eight-gate S2 concourse for Southwest Airlines. This project was completed in 2004 and has a different architectural design from the other six concourses. The eighth and final concourse for Terminal 4 will be built when needed. Terminal 4 is named after former Arizona Senator and 1964 Presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater. After Goldwater's death in 1998, the mayor of Phoenix proposed renaming the airport in Goldwater's memory but was deluged with public support for the familiar "Sky Harbor" name.^[14]

America West filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991 and sold its larger aircraft and Japanese route authority, but continued growing its domestic operations from Terminal 4 in cooperation with Continental Airlines. Although AWA enjoyed further growth at Phoenix during the 1990s the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks strained its financial position. AWA ended its relationship with Continental and merged with US Airways in 2005. US Airways moved its headquarters to the AWA campus in Tempe and retained many AWA managers to run the merged company.^[9]

In 2007 the Transportation Security Administration introduced the first of its backscatter X-ray machines at PHX.^[15]

With Phoenix having consistent winds year-round, Sky Harbor is one of the largest airports in the world to have all runways parallel.

Sky Harbor's private airplane area is also one of eight service centers for the Medevac airline Air Evac.

Control tower

The airport's current 326-foot (99-meter) tall air traffic control tower began operations on January 14, 2007. The tower stands just east of the Terminal 3 parking garage, and also houses the Phoenix TRACON. This is Sky Harbor's fourth control tower and is among the tallest control towers in North America.

Terminals

The airport has 126 aircraft gates in three Terminals (2, 3, 4). Free wireless internet access is available in all terminals.

The airport administration states that the designation Terminal 1 has been "retired", and that it did not wish to renumber the other terminals since passengers were already familiar with the numbers in place.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 has 17 gates (numbered consecutively 1–15 and two additional lettered gates C & D) and three parking slots. It was designed by the Phoenix architectural firms of Weaver & Drover and Lescher & Mahoney and opened in 1962.^[16] This terminal includes a mural by French-American artist Paul Coze. In November 2006, a Military and Veterans Hospitality Room, sponsored by the Phoenix Military and Veterans Commission, was opened in Terminal 2. It has since relocated to Terminal 4 as the new USO. This terminal has undergone two renovation projects. The first was completed in 1988.^[17] The second project, which cost $24 million and was designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., was completed in 2007.^[16][18]

Terminal 2 is expected to close after the completion of the Terminal 3 South Concourse expansion.^[19] The Terminal 3 South Concourse expansion will add nine additional gates to the concourse, fully replacing Terminal 2.

Terminal 3

The 880,000-square-foot (82,000 m²), $35 million Terminal 3, designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., broke ground in January 1977 and opened in October 1979 and has 23 gates, separated into two concourses by a central building outside of security.^[8][16] The south concourse houses gates 1–14 (Gate 3 is missing) and the north concourse houses gates 15–26 (Gates 21 and 22 are missing). The terminal was remodeled in 1997.^[20] Its only lounge – Delta's Crown Room Club – was closed on April 30, 2008.

A future three-part construction and renovation project will combine Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, and update the facilities. Part One will expand security checkpoints on both sides of Terminal 3. Part Two will provide additional concession space for Terminal 3 North, expand the curbside area, and separate ticketing and baggage claim, moving ticketing to the second level of the terminal while expanding the baggage claim on the first level. Part Three will be a brand new Terminal 3 South as a 15 gate, linear terminal. This would discontinue all operations from Terminal 2 as it would be phased out. The project is expected to begin in 2014 and be completed by 2020.

Terminal 4 (Barry M. Goldwater Terminal)

Several US Airways planes at Concourse A – Terminal 4.

Terminal 4, also designed by DWL Architects + Planners, Inc., opened in 1990 and has 86 gates, divided into seven satellite concourses connected behind security.^[16] Three northern concourses (gates A1-A14, A17-A30, B1-B14) serve American Airlines and American Eagle operated flights. The northeastern concourse "B" includes the international gates with Customs and Border Control facilities for international inbound flights (B23-B28) serving Air Canada Rouge, British Airways, Volaris, Westjet, American Airlines and American Eagle with B15-B22 serving American Airlines and American Eagle exclusively. The three southern concourses (gates C1-C10, C11-C20, D1-D8) serve Southwest Airlines exclusively. Terminal 4 handles about 80% of the traffic at the airport.

Terminal 4 maintains the Brutalist architecture theme of the airport with a hard concrete exterior and angled support beams seen on the ground transportation levels.

The terminal has a dense, but very efficient layout. Starting at the bottom, level 1 contains the baggage claim and ground transportation for arriving passengers and shuttle buses. Level 2 contains the passenger drop-off and ticketing counters. Level 3 contains the Security Checkpoint, dining options/gift shops, and post-security passenger terminals. Level 3 also contains the PHX Sky Train (people mover) access-ways that go directly to the Sky Train station. Levels 4 through 9 contain parking accessible by elevator. To make this layout efficient, vehicles go through a series of ramps, turns, and parking garage spiral ramps. For example, passengers exit through security, down an escalator from level 3 to level 1, pick up their baggage, and exit to the adjacent ground transportation.

Airlines and destinations

British Airways provides the airport's only transatlantic flight, with nonstop service to London-Heathrow, as well as the only passenger flights on a Boeing 747 to the airport. Lufthansa had operated the second transatlantic flight from Phoenix, to Frankfurt, between 2001 and 2003.^[21] America West once operated Boeing 747s to Hawaii and Japan from Sky Harbor, but since this ended the Heathrow service is the only service outside North or Central America, although American and Hawaiian Airlines offer non-stop service outside the Continental United States to Hawaii and to Costa Rica (American). American Airlines and Volaris offer non-stop service to cities in Mexico and American Airlines, Air Canada, and WestJet offer non-stop service to parts of Canada, while American and Alaska Airlines, offer non-stop service to parts of Alaska. Only American Airlines offers service to Central America.

While Phoenix is one of the busiest airports in the world, the lack of international destinations from Phoenix has initiated the Air Service Development Marketing Program. The Aviation Department is offering an international air service development program to encourage new air service between Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) and qualified, unserved, international destinations. Airlines that launch new service to qualifying, un-served international markets during the program period will be eligible for marketing reimbursements and landing fee waivers. The proposed program is open to all airlines. To qualify for the funds the airline must maintain at least three new, weekly round-trips for one consecutive year. Up to $1 million will be awarded, depending on the frequency and destination. As well as intercontinental routes, they also will fund airlines who increase or create new flights to North American destinations such as Mexico City, Toronto, and Boston, among others.^[22]

Passenger

Note: All International arrivals are handled at Terminal 4, Concourse B.

Cargo

Statistics

British Airways Boeing 747-400 arriving from London-Heathrow.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 preparing to depart gate D6 at Terminal 4.

Arriving American Airlines MD-80 landing at PHX.

United Airlines Boeing 737-800 departing.

Top airlines

Top destinations

Busiest international routes from PHX (2013)^[31]

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers	Change YoY (%)
1	Calgary, Canada	332,957	Air Canada, WestJet, US Airways	03.6
2	San José del Cabo, Mexico	287,188	US Airways	05.0
3	Vancouver, Canada	217,269	US Airways, WestJet	01.3
4	Edmonton, Canada	189,937	US Airways, WestJet	025.1
5	Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	189,272	US Airways	010.4
6	Guadalajara, Mexico	186,295	US Airways, Volaris	02.3
7	London (Heathrow), United Kingdom	175,475	British Airways	01.3
8	Mexico City, Mexico	153,919	US Airways, Volaris	07.2
9	Cancún, Mexico	134,627	US Airways	00.6
10	Toronto, Canada	124,239	Air Canada	05.5

Annual traffic

PHX has an average of 1,183 aircraft operations per day.^[35]

There are 69 aircraft based at PHX.^[35]

Airport development

PHX Sky Train

PHX Sky Train.

• The new Phoenix Sky Train is an automated people-mover, much like other airports, that will, by 2020, transport Sky Harbor passengers from the 44th Street and Washington Light Rail station to Sky Harbor's East Economy Parking lot, through all three terminals, then on to the Rental Car Center just west of the airport.
  • Phase 1 opened on April 8, 2013 and runs from the 44th Street and Washington Light Rail station, to East Economy Parking and on to Terminal 4.^[36]
  • Phase 1A shuttles passengers to Terminal 3 with a walkway to Terminal 2. Phase 1A opened on December 8, 2014.^[37]
  • Phase 2 will transport passengers to the Rental Car Center. Phase two is not expected to be completed anytime prior to 2020.^[37]
• Sky Harbor is the first airport in the world to have a train track high enough for aircraft to pass underneath, standing above Taxiway R at 100 feet (30 meters).^[38]

Other projects

• Sky Harbor has initiated a 3 – component "Terminal 3 Modernization Plan" which is anticipated to accommodate the current carriers at Terminal 3 as well as carriers at Terminal 2, which is to be phased out.^[39]
  • Component 1 began in April 2015, and will consolidate the two undersized security checkpoints with a single large security checkpoint. Also included in this component are additional ticket counters, baggage carousels, upgrades to the HVAC system, and new interior and exterior finishes. This phase is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2016.
  • Component 2 will demolish the existing South Concourse and replace it with a new 15 gate linear concourse, and will allow for the closure of Terminal 2.
  • Component 3 will renovate the North Concourse, with expanded concessions and new interior and exterior finishes.
• Sky Harbor's southern-most runway (7R/25L) was fitted with three new safety features in October 2010:
  • Installation of runway status lights warning pilots of unsafe crossing.
  • Two new runway exits.
  • An extension of the runway's safety area in the event an airplane over-runs the runway.
• Terminal 4 Expansion
  • Terminal 4 currently has 7 concourses, 4 on the north side but only 3 on the south side. The terminal was designed to have a total of 8 concourses. The 8th concourse, which will be built just to the west of concourse D, is planned to be built in the near future as passenger traffic is projected to grow at Sky Harbor. The date of construction has not been announced yet.^[40]

Airline lounges

• Terminal 2:
  • United Airlines United Club
• Terminal 4:
  • American Airlines Admirals Club (3 locations – Concourses A1, A2, and B1)^[41]
  • British Airways Terraces Lounge

Ground transportation

A free 24-hour airport shuttle bus connects all of the terminals and West Economy Parking. Travelers can access East Economy Parking from the PHX Sky Train at Terminal 4.^[42]

Valley Metro bus route 13 serves all of the airport terminals as a link to the rest of the Valley Metro bus system. The Metro Light Rail has a stop at the nearby Washington at 44th Street station. A moving sidewalk bridge over Washington Street allows light rail passengers to arrive at the nearby PHX Sky Train station and then onward to stations at the East Economy Parking Lot and Terminal 4. Valley Metro bus routes 1 and 44 serve the PHX Sky Train station at 44th Street & Washington with route 3 stopping at the street corner near light rail.^[43]

A number of taxi, limousine, and shuttle companies provide service between each airport terminal, the Phoenix metropolitan area, and other communities throughout the state.^[44]

Accidents and incidents

• On June 27, 1969, N3150Y, a Cessna 182 Skylane, flying from Hawthorne Airport in Hawthorne, CA to Sky Harbor, hit the high-tension power lines east of the airport and crashed at 10:48 pm in the Salt River bed while attempting to land on Runway 26R, knocking out power to the airport and killing all three passengers on board.
• August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255 bound for Sky Harbor, crashed on take-off from Metro's 8,500-foot (2,600 m)-long Runway 3 Center (Now Runway 3L). All but one passenger on the aircraft were killed; the lone survivor was a young girl, Cecelia Cichan, who lost both of her parents and her brother.
• On August 28, 2002, America West Airlines flight 794, an Airbus A320 veered off the side of the runway onto the dirt infield and lost its nose gear due to the pilot failing to maintain directional control. Some passengers sustained minor injuries.

Air National Guard base

The airport is also home to the 161st Air Refueling Wing (161 ARW), an Air Mobility Command (AMC)-gained unit of the Arizona Air National Guard. The military enclave is known as Sky Harbor Air National Guard Base. One of two flying units in the Arizona ANG, the 161 ARW currently flies the KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. In addition to its domestic role as a National Guard unit, answering to the Governor of Arizona, the 161 ARW also performs both a stateside and overseas role as a USAF organization, supporting air refueling and air mobility missions worldwide.^[45]

Located on the south side of the airport, the current Sky Harbor ANGB is a comparatively new facility. As a result of growth and on-going expansion programs at PHX, a new ANG base was planned at the airport to replace a smaller, outmoded facility that stood in the way of airport construction. Plans were finally approved in 1995 and the new base was built during the latter part of that decade. The current Sky Harbor ANGB includes over 275,000 square feet (25,500 m²) of facilities, pavement, and infrastructure and is one of the most modern facilities of its kind in the Air National Guard.^[46]

Over 1000 Air National Guard personnel are assigned to the 161 ARW, consisting of a combination of full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel, as well as part-time "traditional" air national guardsmen.

In popular culture

The airport is part of the story in the movie Ground Control^[47] but many scenes involving an airport were recorded at California airports instead.^[48]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, official site
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) at Arizona DOT airport directory
• Phoenix Military & Veterans Hospitality Room
• Sky Harbor Airport Parking
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective February 4, 2016
• FAA Terminal Procedures for PHX, effective February 4, 2016
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KPHX
  • ASN accident history for PHX
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KPHX
  • FAA current PHX delay information

Major airports in the United States Atlanta (Hartsfield–Jackson – ATL) Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington – BWI) Boston (Logan – BOS) Charlotte (Douglas – CLT) Chicago Midway – MDW O'Hare – ORD Dallas–Fort Worth (Dallas/Fort Worth – DFW) Denver (Denver – DEN) Detroit (Wayne County – DTW) Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood – FLL) Honolulu (Honolulu – HNL) Houston (George Bush – IAH) Las Vegas (McCarran – LAS) Los Angeles (Los Angeles – LAX) Miami (Miami – MIA) Minneapolis–Saint Paul (Minneapolis–Saint Paul – MSP) New York John F. Kennedy – JFK LaGuardia – LGA Newark (Newark Liberty – EWR) Orlando (Orlando – MCO) Philadelphia (Philadelphia – PHL) Phoenix (Sky Harbor – PHX) Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City – SLC) San Diego (San Diego – SAN) San Francisco (San Francisco – SFO) Seattle (Seattle–Tacoma – SEA) Tampa (Tampa – TPA) Washington, D.C. Reagan National – DCA Dulles – IAD