Fort Worth Meacham International Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | City of Fort Worth | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Fort Worth, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 710 ft / 216 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 32°49′11.2″N97°21′44.8″W / 32.819778°N 97.362444°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Website | http://meacham.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration [1] |
Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (Meacham Field) ( IATA : FTW, ICAO : KFTW, FAA LID : FTW) is a general aviation airport located near the intersection of Interstate 820 and Business U.S. Highway 287 in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is named after former Fort Worth Mayor Henry C. Meacham. [2] The airport covers 745 acres (301 ha). [1]
Meacham Airport was purchased by the city of Fort Worth on July 3, 1925, named Fort Worth Municipal Airport. In 1927 the airport was renamed Meacham Field after former Fort Worth Mayor Henry C. Meacham. [2]
Meacham was Fort Worth's major airport until April 1953 when major carriers moved to Amon Carter Field (later Greater Southwest International Airport). The January 1953 OAG shows 50 weekday airline departures from Meacham, 33 of which headed for Dallas. None of the others flew nonstop north of Wichita Falls, west of Midland, south of Austin or east of Dallas.
Since 1953 Meacham Airport has been used for corporate aircraft, commuter flights, and student pilot training. It was renamed in 1985 to Fort Worth Meacham Airport and in 1995 to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. Since 1953 seven airlines have tried scheduled passenger flights from Meacham; none lasted more than a couple of years.
In April 2006 low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines expressed interest in operating out of the airfield as it started operations in 2007, but it folded before the repeal of the Wright Amendment in 2014. [3]
On 16 April 2008, the American Airways Hangar and Administration Building, constructed at the airport in 1933, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [4]
On 15 January 2015, the airport advisory board voted to permanently close runway 9/27 to make room for additional hangars. The runway had been closed for about a year due to deteriorating pavement. [5]
In 2018, city officials and company founder David Neeleman hinted that a proposed low-cost carrier, tentatively named Moxy, now named Breeze Airways may operate from Meacham starting in 2020. Due to COVID-19 Breeze's launch has been delayed. City aviation director at the time Bill Welstead denied holding discussions with Moxy but confirmed that Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air were interested in serving the airport. Although the city has recently spent millions of dollars on several projects to improve airport facilities for general aviation, Welstead claimed that the city was not actively planning to build adequate terminal parking for passengers, which he said would be necessary before commercial airline service could begin. [6]
Meacham is currently used for general aviation purposes. Several companies operate aircraft services at the airport, including a division of the U.S. defense contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and Texas Aviation Services. [7] An aviation museum (open weekends and by appointment during the week) is located in Hangar 33S on the airport's south side, at the end of Ellis Street. The terminal building houses several ATK employees, some Fort Worth city departments (mainly Aviation and Housing Development), a branch of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and several aviation-related businesses. The Civil Air Patrol operates two squadrons at Meacham, the Fort Worth Senior Squadron, and the Phoenix Composite Squadron. There are three FBOs operating on the field: American Aero, Cornerstone Flight Center and Texas Jet.
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Bombardier Business Jet Solutions | Charter: Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin |
Citationshares | Charter: Providence, Dallas/Fort Worth |
Netjets | Charter: Charlotte |
Charter Fleet International | Charter: Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Angel Fire, New Mexico, Austin |
Clay Lacy Aviation | Charter: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Portland, other destinations nationwide |
At one time Fort Worth Airlines had its headquarters at the airport. [8]
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