Lambert-St. Louis International Airport

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Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
FlySTL logo.png
IATA: STL – ICAO: KSTL – FAA: STL
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
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 605 ft / 184.4 m
Coordinates 38°44′50″N 90°21′41″W / 38.74722°N 90.36139°W / 38.74722; -90.36139
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 (2008)
Aircraft operations 254,302 (2007)
Passenger volume 14,431,471
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 travelled 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 will end its hub operation in the summer of 2010.[5] In May 2010, Southwest Airlines will significantly increase its operations and flight schedule and become the largest airline in terms of both passengers carried and daily flights at Lambert.[6]

Contents

[edit] History

Aerial view of NAS St. Louis in the mid-1940s.
Main terminal
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, and Theodore Roosevelt flew on one of their aircraft while he was visiting, becoming the first U.S. president to fly. After that, the first experimental parachute jump took place at Kinloch.

In 1920, Major Albert Bond Lambert, the first person to receive a pilot license in St. Louis, purchased the field and developed it into an airport with hangars and a terminal. Charles Lindbergh, whose first pilot job was flying airmail for Robertson Airlines at the airport, departed the airport for New York about a week prior to his record-breaking flight to Paris in 1927. Later that year, Lambert sold the airport, by then known as Lambert Field, to the City of St. Louis. Lambert thus became the first municipally-owned airport in the United States.[7]

In the late 1920s Lambert Field became the first airport with an air-traffic control system. At that time the system consisted of waving flags to communicate with pilots. The first controller was Archie League.[8]

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 terminal design inspired future terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.[7]

In the 1970s St. Louis city officials proposed replacing the airport with a new airport in suburban Illinois. Missouri residents strongly objected and Lambert underwent a $290 million expansion that increased its operational capacity by 50 percent including lengthening of runways and increasing gate capacity to 81. The proposed MidAmerica St. Louis Airport ultimately was built in Mascoutah, Illinois and opened in 1997 and now acts as a reliever airport to Lambert although it has no major carriers and has been derided as a pork barrel.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) moved its hub from Kansas City International Airport in 1982 and became Lambert's dominant carrier. The St. Louis hub survived TWA's bankruptcy in 1993, and by the late 1990s it was the dominant hub for TWA. 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. Since the merger, transatlantic service is no longer available directly from Lambert. 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. 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.[citation needed] 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.[9] 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]

American Airlines Flight 2470 (AAL2470) was the first commercial airliner to land on Runway 11-29, the newest runway at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Expansion Program website posted pictures of the April 13, 2006 Runway 11-29 opening ceremonies.

In 2006 the United States Air Force announced plans to make the 131st Fighter Wing into the 131st Bomb Wing. The 20 F-15C aircraft would for the most part be relocated to the 120th Fighter Wing in Montana and Hickam AFB in Hawaii. The pilots and crew would be relocated 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 during the end of an era event in June 2009. The final two F-15C Eagles did a low approach over the field before flying away into the sky. The event was attended by over 2,200 people who said goodbye to a part of airport history for over 85 years.

[edit] Facilities

STL FAA Airport Diagram

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

  • Runway 12R/30L: 11,019 x 200 ft (3,359 x 61 m), Surface: Concrete
  • Runway 12L/30R: 9,003 x 150 ft (2,744 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
  • Runway 11/29: 9,000 x 150 ft (2,743 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete
  • Runway 6/24: 7,602 x 150 ft (2,317 x 46 m), Surface: Concrete

Terminals:

  • East Terminal/Concourse E (E Gates)
  • Main Terminal (A, B, C, and D Gates)

[edit] Concourses, airlines, and destinations

[edit] Main terminal / Terminal 1

[edit] Concourse A

Concourse A has 16 Gates: A2 - A6, A8 - A10, A12, A14 - A19, A21

Airlines Destinations
Air Canada Jazz Toronto-Pearson
Continental Express operated by Chautauqua Airlines Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Salt Lake City [begins January 5]
Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlanta
Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
Delta Connection operated by Comair Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK
Delta Connection operated by Compass Airlines Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Delta Connection operated by Mesaba Airlines Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Delta Connection operated by Pinnacle Airlines Atlanta, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America Atlanta
Delta Connection operated by Skywest Airlines Atlanta, Salt Lake City
Northwest Airlines Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul
United Airlines San Francisco [begins February 11]
United Express operated by GoJet Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles
United Express operated by Trans States Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles
US Airways Charlotte, Phoenix
US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin Philadelphia
US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by Republic Airlines Charlotte
US Airways Express operated by Trans States Airlines Pittsburgh

[edit] Concourse B

Concourse B has 10 Gates: B2 - B4, B6 - B8, B10, B12, B14, B16

Airlines Destinations
AirTran Airways Atlanta, Orlando
AirTran Airways operated by SkyWest Airlines Milwaukee

[10]

[edit] Concourse C

Concourse C has 30 Gates: C1 - C3, C5 - C10, C12, C15 - C19, C21, C23 - C25, C27 -C32, C36, C38

Airlines Destinations
American Airlines Boston [ends April 5], Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Fort Myers [ends April 3], Los Angeles, Miami, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando [ends April 5], San Francisco [ends April 5], Seattle/Tacoma, Washington-Reagan
AmericanConnection operated by Chautauqua Airlines Atlanta, Austin, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, Newark, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, San Antonio, Washington-Dulles, Wichita [All service ends April 5]
American Eagle Boston [begins April 6], Des Moines [ends April 5], Indianapolis [ends April 5], Madison [ends April 5], Nashville [ends April 5], New York-JFK [begins July 1], Norfolk [ends April 5], Raleigh/Durham [ends April 5]

[edit] Concourse D

Note: Gates D12 through D36 were closed in October of 2008. It no longer possible to walk between the Main and East Terminals. Passengers must leave the secured area and take either Metrolink trains from Main Terminal station to East Terminal Station, or a free airport shuttle between the terminals.

Concourse D has 5 Gates: D2, D4, D6, D8, D10.

Airlines Destinations
Frontier Airlines Cancun [seasonal; begins December 19], Denver
Cape Air Cape Girardeau, Marion, Quincy
Great Lakes Airlines Fort Leonard Wood
Midwest Connect operated by Chautauqua Airlines Milwaukee [begins March 1]

[edit] East Terminal / Terminal 2

[edit] Concourse E

Note: Concourse E has an International Customs/Immigration area located near Gate E33.

Concourse E has 15 Gates: E4, E6, E8, E10, E12, E14, E16, E18, E20, E22, E24, E25, E29, E31, E33.

Airlines Destinations
Air Choice One Kirksville, Decatur (IL)
Southwest Airlines Albuquerque, Baltimore, Birmingham (AL), Boston [begins January 10], Chicago-Midway, Cleveland, Columbus (OH), Dallas-Love, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles [begins May 09], Louisville, Minneapolis/St. Paul [begins January 10], Nashville [begins May 09], New Orleans [begins May 09], Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham [begins May 09], San Diego [begins May 09], Seattle/Tacoma [begins May 09], Tampa, Tulsa
USA3000 Airlines Cancún, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Fort Myers, Montego Bay [seasonal], Puerto Vallarta [seasonal], Punta Cana, St. Petersburg/Clearwater

[edit] Air cargo

Lambert St. Louis International Airport is currently served by the following Air Cargo Airlines.

[edit] Passengers

In 2000, 30,558,991 passengers traveled through the airport. Passenger numbers dropped to 13 million in 2004. Passenger numbers grew to over 15.2 million passengers in 2006.[11] Lambert-St. Louis International Airport continues to see increase in passenger traffic. September 2007 showed more growth in the number of boarding passengers with a 4.2 percent increase over September 2006. Year to date, nearly 5.9 million passengers have originated from Lambert, a 1.2 percent increase over the same 9-month period in 2006. Also in 2007 American Airlines boarded 190,570 passengers in September. Frontier Airlines showed the biggest gain in boarding passengers, also called enplanements, among the major national airlines with 12,139 passengers originating from St. Louis in September. That's a 57 percent increase over the same month in 2006. International Charter Airlines service increased 11.2 percent in September.

[edit] Airline lounges

Located at the B/C/D connector, this Admirals Club is large. The club features seating for 244. Club highlights include bar/snack area, basic ticketing functions, espresso bar, three private conference rooms, and complimentary use of PCs (6), dataports, copier, printer and paper shredder.

Located on the lower level of the Main Terminal next to baggage claim carousel #M6, this USO airport facility is one of the largest in the country, serving over 120,000 military men and women each year. The airport facility never closes.

[edit] Public transportation

[edit] City rail & bus service

MetroLink map Oct2008.svg

Public transit serving the St. Louis area is predominantly provided by Metro. Metro is a bi-state agency that operates most of the region's bus and rail systems.

The St. Louis MetroLink system provides train connections southeast into downtown St. Louis, the Clayton area, and its Illinois suburbs in St. Clair County.

Metro trains also connect passengers to the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center located in Downtown St. Louis. The transportation center is a new hub station in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the city's rail and regional bus system MetroBus, Greyhound, Amtrak and city taxi services.

[edit] MetroLink Rail

Metrolink station at the airport

The airport is served by two MetroLink rail stations directly serving downtown St. Louis. One station located at both the Main and East Terminals. The international airport is served by the Metro's RED LINE trains. Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) are located on the platforms of both stations to purchase two-hour passes (one-ride ticket) and day passes.

[edit] City Rail connections

Available at the Main and East Terminals:

With connections to (at the Forest Park Station)

[edit] MetroBus

MetroBus provides many city bus lines throughout the metropolitan region. The Lambert Bus Port provides Metrobus Service to surrounding areas. The bus port is located adjacent to the intermediate parking lot, accessible via the tunnel connecting the airport main terminal.

Routes Serving Lambert Bus Port:

  • 49 Lindbergh
  • 66 Clayton-Airport

[edit] Expansion

[edit] Construction

During the late 1990s Lambert Field was ranked as high as the eighth busiest airport in the USA in terms of operations (not passengers). This was due to TWA existing as a major hub, Southwest Airlines having significant traffic, and due to a significant amount of commuter traffic to smaller cities in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and Kentucky. Whenever weather required the use of instrument landings, the traffic capacity was markedly reduced as for practical purposes only one runway could be used. This often resulted in large numbers of delays and cancellations at Lambert. Even in good weather, there could be delays at peak hours, and Lambert briefly redesignated the taxiway immediately north of runway 12L-30R as runway 13-31 and used it for commuter and general aviation traffic. Runway 11/29 was conceived on this and the basis of traffic projections made in the 1980s and 1990s that warned of impending strains on the airport and the national air traffic system as a result of predicted growth in traffic at the airport.[12] The $1 billion runway expansion was designed in part to allow for simultaneous operations on parallel runways in bad weather. Construction began in 1998, and continued even after traffic at the airport declined following the 9/11 attacks, and the purchase of Trans World Airlines by American Airlines in April 2001 and subsequent cuts in flights to the airport by American Airlines in 2003.[13][14] The project required the relocation of seven major roads and the destruction of approximately 2,000 homes in Bridgeton, Missouri.[15][16] In addition to providing superfluous extra capacity for flight operations at the airport, use of the runway is shunned by fuel and time- conscious operations due to its distance from the terminals.[17]

Airport officials are drafting plans for terminal modernization at this time. The program, known as the "Airport Experience", is designed to help make the airport more responsive to the needs of passengers. Working with existing facilities, the program will modernize Lambert's terminals. In February 2007, Lambert-St. Louis International announced the largest renovation in the airport's history, which will overhaul the Main Terminal, from road signs to window panes. There will be more stores and restaurants, terrazzo floors and 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 $105 million job will be completed in 2012.

In December 2009, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport announced that it would rename the Main terminal and the East terminal to Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, respectively. The signage is scheduled to begin in January 2010. [18]

[edit] Cargo and passenger service expansion plans

Air China is looking at the United States for international cargo and passenger service expansion. A June 17, 2008 St. Louis Beacon reported that Air China planned to establish a cargo hub at Lambert St. Louis International Airport.[19][20] The United States Department of Commerce allowed expansion of the foreign trade zone near Lambert airport on February 13, 2009.[21] As of November 2009, negotiations are still on track.

[edit] Aircraft production

The Boeing Ramp at Lambert

McDonnell Douglas had its world headquarters adjacent to the airport. The facilities, now run by Boeing, is now the headquarters for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. One of its most well-known production items is the F-15 Eagle still being produced (at a slow rate) today. Other aircraft include the F-18 Super Hornet and the EA-18 Growler. It is also home to Boeing Phantom Works.

[edit] Media coverage

[edit] Television

  • In the television show Newsradio Bill and Dave are stuck at Lambert for the length of the episode due to bad weather.
  • Lambert is the airport that the Seinfeld characters leave from in the episode "The Airport."
  • In the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry mixed up Lambert Field with Green Bay's Lambeau Field.

[edit] Film

  • Lambert is also featured in the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Neal Page (Steve Martin) attempts to rent a car there, with disastrous (and profanity-laden) consequences.
  • Lambert is mentioned in the 1986 movie Manhunter as the FBI fly in during their pursuit of the killer.
  • Lambert is one of the filming locations for the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.
  • In the movie Anger Management, Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) was on a flight to Lambert.
  • In 2006 Lambert International is mentioned in a few scenes in the movie The Lucky Ones which was set in Austin, Texas. A large part of this film was shot at Lambert.
  • During the summer of 2008, Steven Soderbergh filmed a scene from The Informant (2009 film) at Lambert airport.[22]
  • The film Up in the Air (2009) was filmed in the St. Louis area, including portions of Concourse D, starting March 3, 2009 through the end of April. The film stars George Clooney.[23][24]

[edit] See also

[edit] 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. ^ a b "Passenger Statistics". Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. http://www.flystl.com/flystl/media-newsroom/stats/. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
  5. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Lambert-St. Louis history retrieved 2007-12-14.
  8. ^ 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. 
  9. ^ 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. 
  10. ^ http://www.airtran.com/dsm_oma_press.aspx
  11. ^ "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. 
  12. ^ "The Expansion Story". http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/e/newwebsite/id261.asp. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  13. ^ "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. 
  14. ^ "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. 
  15. ^ "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. 
  16. ^ "Airports and cities: Can they coexist?". http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0901/et0901s2.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  17. ^ "St. Louis' airports aren't too loud: They're too quiet". USAToday.com. 2007-01-09. http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2007-01-09-st-louis-usat_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  18. ^ "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. 
  19. ^ ""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.
  20. ^ "Commission looks to bring Chinese air freight to St. Louis." St. Louis Business Journal. January 19, 2009. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
  21. ^ Binns, Evan. "Lambert foreign trade zone expanded." St. Louis Business Journal. February 16, 2009. Retrieved on June 10, 2009.
  22. ^ 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. 
  23. ^ 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. 
  24. ^ "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. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert-St._Louis_International_Airport"