Indianapolis International Airport

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Indianapolis International Airport
Indianapolis International Airport Logo.svg
Indianapolis International Airport (16164994946).jpg
Aerial view of Indianapolis International Airport (2014)
IATA: INDICAO: KINDFAA LID: IND
WMO: 72438
IND is located in Indianapolis
IND
IND
Location of the Airport in Indianapolis
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Indianapolis Airport Authority
Serves Indianapolis, Indiana
Location Indianapolis, Indiana
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 797 ft / 243 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website www.IndianapolisAirport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5L/23R 11,200 3,414 Concrete
5R/23L 10,000 3,048 Concrete
14/32 7,278 2,218 Asphalt
Statistics
Aircraft operations (2013) 153,382
Passengers (2014) 7,363,632
Air Cargo (metric tonnes) (2014) 999,149
Area (acres) (2014) 7,700

Indianapolis International Airport (IATA: INDICAO: KINDFAA LID: IND) is a public airport seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis, in Marion County, Indiana, United States.[1] It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The airport is the largest in Indiana, occupying about 7,700 acres (3,116 ha) in Wayne and Decatur townships of Marion County, all within the city of Indianapolis. It is near interstate highways I-65, I-69, I-70 and I-74, all of which connect to the city's I-465 beltway. The passenger terminal was the first designed and built in the United States after the September 11, 2001, attacks.[2]

The airport is also home to a FedEx Express hub, the company's second-largest after the SuperHub at Memphis International Airport. Opened in 1988, the hub has been expanded three times.[3]

History

Indianapolis Municipal Airport opened in 1931. In 1944, it was renamed Weir-Cook Municipal Airport, after US Army Air Forces Col. Harvey Weir-Cook of Wilkinson, Indiana, who became a flying ace during World War I with seven victories and who died flying a P-39 over New Caledonia in World War II.

Since 1962, the airport has been owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA), an eight-member board with members appointed by the Mayor of Indianapolis and other officials from Marion, Hendricks and Hamilton counties in central Indiana. In 1976, the board renamed the airport Indianapolis International Airport.

In 2008, the board named the new main passenger facility the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal and the new entrance road Col. H. Weir Cook Memorial Drive.[4]

From 1957 to 2008, the passenger terminal was on the east side of the airfield off High School Road. This now-closed facility was renovated and expanded many times, notably in 1968 (Concourses A & B), 1972 (Concourse D) and 1987 (Concourse C and the attached Parking Garage). This complex, along with the International Arrivals Terminal (opened in 1976) on the north side of the airfield (off Pierson Drive), was replaced by the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal on November 12, 2008.

The April 1957 OAG shows 82 weekday departures: 24 Eastern, 22 TWA, 15 Delta, 11 American, 9 Lake Central and 1 Ozark. Eastern had a nonstop to Atlanta and one to Birmingham and TWA had two to LaGuardia; no other nonstops reached beyond Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Louisville and Pittsburgh. (Westward nonstops didn't reach beyond St. Louis until 1967; TWA started a JFK-IND-LAX 707 that year.) The first jets were TWA 880s in 1961.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, USAir (later US Airways) had a secondary hub in Indianapolis with non-stop jets to the West Coast, East Coast and Florida and turboprop flights to cities around the Midwest. USAir peaked at 146 daily departures (including its prop affiliates), with 49% of all seats. USAir ended the hub in the late 1990s.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s Indianapolis was a hub for then locally based ATA Airlines and its regional affiliate, Chicago Express/ATA Connection. After that airline entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2004 operations at IND were cut, then eliminated in 2006.[5]

ATA's demise gave Northwest Airlines an opportunity to expand operations, making Indianapolis a focus city with mainline flights to the West Coast, East Coast, and the South. (Northwest became a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines in late 2008.)

In 1994, BAA was awarded a 10-year contract to manage the Indianapolis International Airport. The contract was extended three years but was later cut a year short at the request of the BAA. Private management ended on December 31, 2007 and control reverted to IAA.[6][7]

Also in 1994, United Airlines finished building Indianapolis Maintenance Center,[8] at a cost of $USD 600 million.[9] United later moved their maintenance operations to its sole maintenance hub located at San Francisco International Airport.

In 2009, Republic Airways announced it would retain their maintenance hub and headquarters in Indianapolis after acquiring the much larger Frontier Airlines in Denver.

Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal

Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal (Front View during construction)
Civic Plaza
FAA control tower
Walkway from the terminal to the parking garage with motion-activated lights

A new 1,200,000-square-foot (110,000 m2) midfield passenger terminal, which cost $1.1 billion, opened in 2008 between the airport's two parallel runways, southwest of the previous terminal and the crosswind runway. A new FAA Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) building, second tallest in the United States, opened in April 2006, the first component of the long-planned midfield complex. The Weir Cook Terminal itself opened for arriving flights on the evening of November 11, 2008, and for departures the following morning. HOK was its master designer, with AeroDesign Group (a joint venture among CSO Architects, SchenkelShultz Architecture and ARCHonsortium) serving as architect of record. Aviation Capital Management (Indianapolis), a subsidiary of BSA LifeStructures, is the airport's program manager. Hunt/Smoot Midfield Builders, a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Smoot Construction was the construction manager.[2] Thornton Tomasetti was the terminal's structural engineer along with Fink, Roberts and Petrie.[10] Syska Hennessy was the mechanical, electrical, & plumbing engineer.[10]

The new terminal, named in honor of Col. Harvey Weir-Cook, has room for 44 domestic gates and 2 international gates (which can also function as domestic gates). Not all gate positions were used upon opening of the facility, to allow for future expansion by the airlines. The two gate concourse structures were built to allow for future expansion on their southwestern ends (which is why gates A1-A2 and B1-B2 do not yet exist).

The new terminal allows international arrivals to go through customs in the main passenger terminal; previously such passengers debarked at a separate building. Passengers arriving at gates A4 and A5 go to the U.S. Customs and Federal Inspection Station on the arrivals level via a dedicated and secured stairway, escalator, or elevator. After clearing customs, they exit into the south end of the main terminal's domestic baggage claim area.

The A concourse has a Delta Sky Club, the first airline lounge at Indianapolis International Airport since US Air closed its hub. The lounge opened on November 15, 2010.

Eight rental car operations and the Ground Transportation Center (where information about limousine, shuttle bus, hotel courtesy vehicles and other transportation services such as IndyGo bus service can be obtained) are located on the first floor of the attached parking garage. All pick-ups and drop-offs of rental vehicles also occur here, eliminating the need for shuttling customers to and from individual companies' remote processing facilities. The five-floor parking garage covers 11 acres (4.5 ha) on each of its levels. It features a light-filled center atrium complete with a piece of suspended artwork and contains moving sidewalks to speed pedestrians into and out of the terminal building itself.[11]

The airport's master plan calls for a fourth (third parallel) runway to be built southeast of I-70 sometime in the future.[12] Between 2002 and 2004 the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) rebuilt a portion of this Interstate highway running through the south end of the airport's property. The realigned freeway allows a future taxiway bridge to the proposed fourth runway to cross overhead and has a new traffic interchange for the midfield terminal complex. This I-70 exit (#68) is now the airport's main entrance, replacing the entrance at Sam Jones (née Airport) Expressway[13] and High School Road. Provision has been made for future Light Rail Transit (LRT) access to the Weir Cook terminal complex.[14]

Airlines and destinations

Nonstop routes from Indianapolis (as of November 2015).

Passenger

Airlines Destinations Concourse
Air Canada Express Toronto–Pearson A
Allegiant Air Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando/Sanford, Punta Gorda/Fort Myers, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Seasonal: Myrtle Beach, New Orleans, Savannah (begins April 8, 2016)[15]
B
American Airlines Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Phoenix
Seasonal: Philadelphia, Washington–National
B
American Eagle Charlotte, Chicago–O'Hare, Miami, New York–JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Washington–National B
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Seasonal: Cancún, Salt Lake City
A
Delta Connection Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–LaGuardia, Orlando, Raleigh/Durham
Seasonal: Fort Myers, Miami, New York–JFK
A
Frontier Airlines Denver, Orlando, Philadelphia (begins April 14, 2016)
Seasonal: Atlanta, Fort Myers
B
OneJet
operated by Pentastar Aviation
Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Pittsburgh B
Southwest Airlines Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago–Midway, Dallas-Love, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston–Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York–LaGuardia, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa, Washington–National B
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, San Francisco
Seasonal: Houston–Intercontinental
A
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, Washington–Dulles A
Vacation Express
operated by Swift Air
Seasonal Charter: Punta Cana (begins February 13, 2016) A
Vacation Express
operated by Volaris
Seasonal Charter: Cancún A

Cargo

Airlines Destinations
Cargolux Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles, Luxembourg
FedEx Express Allentown, Anchorage, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Burbank, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland, Columbia (SC), Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Greenville (SC), Harrisburg, Hartford, Houston-Intercontinental, Kansas City, Knoxville, London-Stansted, Los Angeles, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montreal-Mirabel, Nashville, New York-JFK, Newark, Newburgh, Norfolk, Oakland, Omaha, Ontario (CA), Ottawa, Paris‑Charles de Gaulle, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Jose (CA), Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis, Syracuse, Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles
FedEx Feeder operated by Mountain Air Cargo Buffalo, Cedar Rapids, Columbus (OH), Erie, Louisville, Parkersburg, Sioux Falls, Smyrna (TN), South Bend
Kalitta Air Anchorage

Statistics

Top domestic destinations

Busiest domestic routes from IND (October 2014 – September 2015)[16]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Atlanta, GA 526,380 Delta, Frontier, Southwest
2 Chicago, IL (ORD) 311,620 American, United
3 Denver, CO 252,220 Frontier, Southwest, United
4 Charlotte, NC 234,750 US Airways
5 Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX 198,410 American
6 Phoenix, AZ 169,400 Southwest, US Airways
7 Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 158,940 Delta
8 Detroit, MI 146,820 Delta
9 Orlando, FL 146,530 Delta, Southwest
10 Las Vegas, NV 137,930 Allegiant, Southwest

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at IND, 1996 thru 2014[17][18]
Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers
1996 7,069,039 2006 8,085,394 2016
1997 7,171,845 2007 8,272,289 2017
1998 7,292,132 2008 8,151,488 2018
1999 7,463,536 2009 7,465,719 2019
2000 7,722,191 2010 7,526,414 2020
2001 7,238,744 2011 7,478,835 2021
2002 6,896,418 2012 7,333,733 2022
2003 7,361,060 2013 7,217,051 2023
2004 8,025,051 2014 7,363,632 2024
2005 8,524,442 2015 2025

Based aircraft

In 2015, 49 aircraft were based at the airport, including 6 single-engine aircraft, 12 multi-engine aircraft, 24 jets and 7 helicopters. [19]

Ground transportation

Shuttle

GO Express Travel operates the Green Line Downtown/Airport Express daily from 8am to 11pm with shuttle service picking up passengers every 30 minutes. The express service costs $10 per passenger one-way.[20] The boarding/debarking point for this service at the airport is located at the northwest end of the Ground Transportation Center, which is found on level 1 of the parking garage. The terminal was built with a Light Rail System in mind that in the future it could serve this airport.

During the annual running of the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 auto races, the Indianapolis Airport serves as one of several staging points around the Indianapolis area for shuttle buses that transport race fans to and from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[21]

Bus

IndyGo's Route 8 also connects the airport with downtown Indianapolis. Unlike the Green Line Express, Route 8 bus is a slower and cheaper bus route that makes frequent stops along Washington Street. The fare for Route 8 is currently $1.75 for single ride, same as other IndyGo buses.[22]

Limo

Lafayette Limo, Bloomington Shuttle Service and Star of America, operate regular (every two hours) shuttle service between Indianapolis International Airport and several cities in central Indiana, namely Bloomington, Muncie, Anderson, and Lafayette.[23][24][25]

Ridesharing Services

Transportation network companies Uber and Lyft are authorized to pick up and drop off passengers at Indianapolis International Airport.

Airport management

The Indianapolis International Airport is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA), a municipal corporation established in 1962.[26] The IAA operates five other airports in the area, including the Downtown Heliport, Eagle Creek Airpark, Hendricks County Airport–Gordon Graham Field, Metropolitan Airport and Indianapolis Regional Airport. The IAA board leadership is Michael Wells serving as President, Kelly Flynn serving as vice president and Alfred R. Bennett serving as Secretary.

Mario Rodriguez, an award winning airport industry veteran,[27] became the executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority in June 2014.[28]

Incidents and accidents

On September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 on a BostonBaltimoreCincinnatiIndianapolisSt. Louis route, collided in midair with a Piper Cherokee during its descent over Fairland, Indiana in Shelby County. The McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 crashed into a cornfield near London, Indiana, killing all 78 passengers and 4 crew members on board. The student pilot who was flying the Cherokee was also killed.

On October 20, 1987, a United States Air Force A-7D Corsair II crashed into a Ramada Inn near the airport after the pilot was forced to eject due to an engine malfunction. Ten people were killed, nine of them hotel employees.[29]

On October 31, 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184, which was flying from Indianapolis to O'Hare International Airport, crashed into a soybean field near the northwestern Indiana town of Roselawn, killing all 68 on board.

On June 27, 2014, a small aircraft crashed at the field after the single-engine aircraft lost power. One injury resulted from the crash.

Accolades

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 FAA Airport Master Record for IND (Form 5010 PDF)
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  15. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/allegiant-to-add-baltimorewashington-with-new-route-420619/
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  18. 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (pg 95) Retrieved on Apr 2, 2015.
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  26. http://www.indianapolisairport.com/files/contribute/01.20.09MajorMilestones.pdf
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  30. "Best Airport by Region" "Airports Council International". February 12, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2015
  31. "Best Airport by Region" Airports Council International. February 19, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014
  32. "ACI Announces Recipients of 2012 Airport Service Quality Awards" Airports Council International. March 11, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013
  33. "ASQ Award for Best Airport in North America" Airports Council International. February 14, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012
  34. "2010 North America Airport Satisfaction Study" J.D. Power and Associates. February 18, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2012

External links