Syracuse Hancock International Airport
| Syracuse Hancock International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
IATA: SYR – ICAO: KSYR
 SYR
|
|||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | City of Syracuse Department of Aviation | ||
| Serves | Syracuse, New York | ||
| Location | DeWitt / Salina / Cicero, Onondaga County, New York | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 421 ft / 128 m | ||
| Coordinates | 43°06′40″N 076°06′23″W / 43.11111°N 76.10639°WCoordinates: 43°06′40″N 076°06′23″W / 43.11111°N 76.10639°W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 10/28 | 9,003 | 2,744 | Asphalt |
| 15/33 | 7,500 | 2,286 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (Ending 2007, 2010) | |||
| Operations (2007) | 107,706 | ||
| Based aircraft (2007) | 98 | ||
| Passengers (2010) | 2,064,399 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1], ACI[2] | |||
- For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see Hancock Field Air National Guard Base
Syracuse Hancock International Airport (IATA: SYR, ICAO: KSYR) is a joint civil-military public airport located 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) northeast[1] of Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York, off of Interstate 81 near Mattydale, New York. The main terminal complex is located at the eastern end of Colonel Eileen Collins Boulevard.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1927 Syracuse mayor Charles Hanna felt that his city needed an airport. A location at Amboy in the town of Camillus, New York was purchased for $50,000, and by 1928, the "Syracuse City Airport at Amboy" was handling airmail. At the end of World War II the United States Army Air Corps leased their bomber base near Mattydale, New York to the city. On September 17, 1949, the Clarence E. Hancock Airport opened to the public using a renovated machine shop as a terminal, and replaced the airport at Amboy. The airport at that time was equipped with three 5,500-foot (1,700 m) long and 300-foot (91 m) wide concrete runways. American, Buffalo, Colonial and Robinson Airlines were the first airlines to operate at the airport, and American Airlines still does to this day.
In 1962 a new terminal opened, at the site of the present-day terminals. The location allowed the airport to be directly connected to Interstate 81, which was built shortly afterwards. In 1970 the airport was awarded international airport status by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and thus renamed Syracuse Hancock International Airport.
When the United States deregulated the airline industry in 1978, Syracuse was predominantly served by two "trunk carriers" (American Airlines and Eastern Air Lines) and one "local service carrier" (Allegheny Airlines, which renamed itself USAir in 1979). American and Eastern used the airport's south concourse, and Allegheny used the north concourse. Shortly after deregulation American began cutting back on regional point-to-point flights at medium-sized airports in the Northeast such as Syracuse, as Chairman Robert Crandall built up the airline's hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Other airlines entered or grew service at Syracuse to meet demand as the industry grew following deregulation.
Airlines that served Syracuse after deregulation include (but are not limited to):
- North Central Airlines, a Minnesota-based local service carrier which made Syracuse its only Upstate New York station, a stop on a route between Detroit and Boston. North Central quickly merged with Atlanta-based Southern Airways and San Francisco-based Hughes Airwest to form Republic Airlines (1979-1986). Republic was bought by Northwest Airlines in 1987. Northwest was bought by Delta Air Lines in 2008 and was merged into Delta in 2010. Republic entered other Upstate NY airports in 1984 with service to its Detroit hub.
- TWA (Trans World Airlines) began service from Syracuse to a short-lived hub in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1979. After the Pittsburgh experiment ended, TWA shifted Syracuse's service to its hub at Lambert St. Louis International Airport. Syracuse was the only Upstate NY airport to hang onto service initiated by TWA. They stayed at Syracuse until about 1990.
- Empire Airlines (1976-1985), whose history at Syracuse is detailed below.
- Syracuse was an early station for Peoplexpress Airlines, a low-fare carrier founded in 1981 with a hub at Newark International Airport and which quickly grew into a major carrier. Due to some bad business decisions, People became unviable and was bought in 1986 by Continental Airlines. Continental's Continental Connection and Continental Express units continued to serve Syracuse until the merger with United Airlines, after which they became part of the United Express operation.
- United Airlines, which had long served Buffalo and Rochester, but which only entered Syracuse and Albany after deregulation, in 1982. United and its affiliates serve Syracuse today.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the airport went through several expansions to meet increasing demand. Empire Airlines, which was founded in 1976, made Syracuse a hub, and over two million passengers a year were using the airport. Piedmont Airlines absorbed Empire in 1986 and kept the Syracuse hub. Hub-carrier Piedmont operated most of the gates in Terminal A, operating 58 jet flights and 12 commuter flights a day in 1987. Terminal A was expanded that year, adding more gates, a Piedmont Presidential Club (a US Airways Club until 2004), and a larger customs area.
With USAir's purchase of Piedmont in 1989, things started going sour for Hancock International. USAir closed the Syracuse hub, and Syracuse therefore lost its advantage over other upstate airports. A final terminal expansion was completed in 1996, along with an overall overhaul and renovation, which created two separate terminal areas with individual, checkin, security, and baggage claim. USAir still maintained a large presence at the airport but reduced flights throughout the 1990s. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the now-renamed US Airways cut even more flights and did not renew its leases for many of its gates in Terminal A, upon which the airport essentially "boarded them up." US Airways is still the number one carrier at Hancock in terms of both departures and destinations served.
However, a new era began on May 7, 2001 when JetBlue inaugurated low-cost service to Hancock. In 2007, JetBlue also expanded its operation to include usage of gates 3 and 11. More discount carriers followed suit and began servicing Syracuse. Charter airline TransMeridian Airlines began its first scheduled routes ever when it started flying six weekly flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport in 2003. It flew the route until its bankruptcy in 2005. JetBlue began flying non-stop to Orlando International Airport daily in July 2006. Independence Air began flying eight daily roundtrips to Washington Dulles International Airport in 2004, but Independence Air's parent company filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2005 and flew its last flight in January 2006. US Airways announced on May 10, 2004 that it would increase service to Hancock, lower fares, and add seats by converting flights from turboprop to regional jet.
In 2004, Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll created a television and internet campaign, titled Fly Syracuse,[3] in an attempt to lower fares and increase passenger traffic at the airport. The airport has since experienced a period of growth thanks to the efforts of local business contributions toward the campaign.
C&S is providing professional design and construction inspection/observation services for the construction of the Syracuse Hancock International Airport terminal security and access improvement project, which is a 147,000-square-foot (13,700 m2) renovation design project with an estimated cost of $63 million. The most critical components of the project include: post check-in TSA baggage handling, improved passenger screening, and sustainability. This project is 100 percent funded by PFC's (Passenger Facility Charges) meaning that no tax dollars will be used to construct this project. For more information refer to www.syrairport.org.[4]
[edit] Operations
The Syracuse region receives an average 114 inches (289.56 cm) of snow annually. On average, the airport is closed less than 24 hours annually due to snowfall. The airport has received the Balchen/Post Award for Excellence in the Performance of Snow and Ice Control a total of seven times, most recently in 2006.[1] Runway 10/28 has a Category II Instrument Landing System (ILS).
[edit] Airlines and destinations
[edit] Cargo operations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FedEx Express | Memphis, Newark, Burlington (VT) |
| UPS | Louisville, Philadelphia |
[edit] Flight schools
Syracuse Hancock International is home to the third component of [2] Waypoint Flight School - which was once the former ExecAir Flight Training Center.
[edit] Runways
- In the 1950s, the primary east-west instrument runway (10-28) was extended from its original 5500 foot length by the mid-1950s to 6863 feet and a few years later to 8000 feet. In 1958, the instrument landing system to runway 28 was augmented with a 3000 foot high-intensity approach lighting system. With the use of the Century series fighter aircraft used by the Air Force, around 1960 the main east-west runway was extended again, this time to 9005 feet. The runway was strengthened in the early 1960s for the new heavier Boeing 707 aircraft. In the 1960s, runway centerline lighting was added to the main runway along with touchdown zone lighting on the runway 28 end. Around the time of building the new terminal building, runway 6-24 was shortened to 3261 feet to allow construction of the entrance road to the new terminal facilities and continued to be used as a general aviation runway into the 1970s, however it was abandoned after that. Runway 14-32 was lengthened in the 1960s by about 500 feet to 6000 feet. Another extension brought it to 6480 feet and sometime around 1980 was lengthened to its present length of 7500 feet. The crosswind runway was also renumbered from 14-32 to 15-33. An instrument landing system was added to runway 10 with medium intensity approach lighting with runway alignment indicator lights. Runway 15 was equipped with a medium intensity approach lighting system.[5]
[edit] See also
- Syracuse Suburban Airport
- Syracuse Municipal Airport
- New York World War II Army Airfields
- Eastern Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)
- 32nd Air Division (United States)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Syracuse Hancock International Airport (official site)
- Fly Syracuse
- LiveATC's Streaming Audio of SYR ATC
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 3 May 2012
- Historical Photos of the original airport at Amboy, as well as its current state
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KSYR
- ASN accident history for SYR
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSYR
- FAA current SYR delay information
