Kirksville Regional Airport(IATA: IRK, ICAO: KIRK, FAALID: IRK) is a city-owned public-use airport located four miles south of Kirksville, Missouri, on the west side of U.S. Highway 63.[2] It serves both commercial flights and general aviation. One airline provides scheduled passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the airport had 5,611 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2024,[6] an increase of 31% from 2023 when there were 4,281 enplanements.[7] The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2025-2029 categorized it as a regional facility with non-primary commercial service (between 2,500 and 10,000 enplanements per year).[8]
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 17, 2025, to mark the start of construction of a new 6,500 square foot terminal at Kirksville, which will be nearly double the size of the current building.[9] Completion of the project is planned for July 2026.[10]
Clarence Cannon Memorial Terminal at Kirksville Regional Airport.Sign Depicting New Terminal Design
History
In 1924, Roy B. "Cap" Dodson started the first airport in the area, located on the north edge of Kirksville. However, an airfield at the present location of Kirksville Regional Airport wasn't created until 1930 when the federal government built a series of emergency landing strips across the nation.[11]
With America's entry into World War II, the Kirksville Municipal Airport (as it had been declared in the late 1930s) received a major upgrade from the Civilian Pilot Training Program, later renamed the War Training Service.[11] In 1942 a paved all-weather landing strip, hangars, a tower, and a small restaurant were built.[12][13]
On October 1, 1960, Ozark Air Lines began scheduled flights to Kirksville. The initial Ozark route flew between Kansas City and Chicago with stops in Kirksville, Ottumwa and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Moline, Ill.[14] Later in the 1960s, Ozark switched Kirksville service from a Kansas City-Chicago route to a Des Moines-to-St. Louis one.[15][16][17]
Airport improvements came after a bond issue was approved by Kirksville voters in November 1967. A new six-thousand-foot concrete runway was built, as well as a new terminal building and improved hangar facilities. The longer runway was needed for the faster Fairchild FH-227B prop-jets that Ozark began using for its Kirksville flights, in place of Douglas DC-3's. With the airport improvements came a new name, Clarence Cannon Memorial Airport—chosen to honor long-time U.S. Congressman Clarence Cannon of Missouri who had done much to help secure air service and funding for the airport.[18] That name was retained until the Kirksville Regional name was adopted in 1984, and the terminal building was named after Rep. Cannon.[11]
Ozark flew its final route to Kirksville on April 23, 1976.[19] Fortunately a local pilot and dentist, Dr. Stephen Barber, had established a small commuter air service, Horizon Airways, in 1972. Horizon was able to help fill the void left by Ozark's departure, eventually expanding by 1976 to offer service to both Kansas City and St. Louis, and changing its name to Air Missouri.[20][21][22]
From 1978 to 1987, Kirksville was served by Green Hills Aviation with commuter flights to St. Louis.[23][24] From 1987 through December 1989, Midcontinent Airlines flew to Kansas City as Braniff Express on behalf of Braniff (1983-1990).[25][26] Kirksville then went without commercial service during 1990 until Redwing Airways began commuter flights to Kansas City, which continued until October 2001.[27]
Air Midwest (operating as US Airways Express), a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, provided flights to Kansas City from November 2006 through May 2008.[30][31] Kirksville went without service until August 2008, when Air Choice One began scheduled flight operations twice daily, to and from St. Louis.[32]
In September 2010, Cape Air replaced Air Choice One with service to St. Louis that continued until 2023, providing three daily round trips.[33][34] In October 2022, Cape Air notified Kirksville of its plans to terminate service unless its contract was renegotiated. However, the airline was still required to continue its flights until the city selected a replacement.[35]
The Kirksville City Council approved a contract on February 6, 2023, with Contour Airlines, with 12 flights per week to Chicago O'Hare International Airport using regional jet aircraft. This is the first scheduled jet service to Kirksville.[36]
The airport covers 476 acres (193 ha) at an elevation of 966 feet (294 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 6,005 by 100 feet (1,830 x 30 m) concrete; 9/27 is 1,370 by 100 feet (418 x 30 m) turf.[1] An instrument landing system (ILS) was installed for Runway 36 in 2007.[38]
In the year ending April 30, 2023, the airport had 5,888 aircraft operations, average 113 per week: 50% general aviation, 37% airline, 12% air taxi, and <1% military. 20 aircraft were then based at the airport: 17 single-engine, 2 multi-engine, and 1 jet.[1]
On August 3, 1981, four people in their early twenties were killed when a Piper PA-28 Warrior crashed shortly after midnight about a quarter mile south of the airport. The plane had taken off in dense fog after the airport had closed for the evening.[51] The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the pilot experienced spatial disorientation after initiating the flight in adverse weather conditions.[52]
On October 19, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966, a BAe Jetstream 32 turboprop, crashed on approach to Kirksville. Thirteen individuals died and two sustained injuries. The NTSB determined pilot error to be the cause of the accident.[53][54]
On May 12, 2005, a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 en route from Kansas City to Washington, D.C., safely made an emergency landing at Kirksville after encountering icing and subsequent pilot induced loss of control.[55] To date it is the largest aircraft to have landed at Kirksville.
On November 5, 2013, business executive Robert Groh and instructor pilot James Quinn were killed when their Piper PA-32R-301 Saratoga crashed on approach to Kirksville. The plane went down about 2.5 miles northeast of the runway, shortly after a radio message in which the pilot reported no difficulties. The plane was on a flight from Centennial Airport near Denver to Waukesha, Wis.[56][57]
The emergency landing strip at the Kirksville airport’s future site also played an indirect role in a 1935 crash that impacted U.S. aviation history. On May 6, 1935, TWA Flight 6, a Douglas DC-2, crashed near Barnesville, Mo., while trying to reach the emergency strip. The crash killed five of the 13 people on board, including U.S. Sen. Bronson M. Cutting of New Mexico. His death led Congress to examine the management of U.S. civil aviation under the Bureau of Air Commerce – a political battle that led to the establishment in 1938 of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, a predecessor of the FAA.[58][59]
↑ Burk, Samuel A., "Communication and Transportation," in A Book of Adair County History, Kirksville-Adair County Bicentennial Committee, 1976, pp. 281-83.
↑ Frost, Tony and Pritchard, Corey, 'Flying High!', in The Chariton Collector magazine, Vol. 7, no. 1, Winter 1986, pp. 26-28.
Order 2000-10-33: selecting Corporate Airlines, Inc., to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Kirksville for a two-year period beginning after November 1, 2000.
Order 2005-6-14: re-selecting RegionsAir, Inc. d/b/a American Connection, formerly known as Corporate Airlines, to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Kirksville and other communities for a new two-year period from June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2007.
Order 2006-8-19: selecting Air Midwest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air service (EAS) at Kirksville at an annual subsidy rate of $627,100. This rate and carrier selection will become effective for the two-year period beginning when Air Midwest replaces RegionsAir, Inc., at Kirksville.
Order 2008-5-2: selecting Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One to provide essential air service at Kirksville with 11 nonstop stop round trips each week to St. Louis on 6- or 9-seat twin engine aircraft. Annual subsidy rate $806,169.
Order 2010-6-6: selecting Hyannis Air Service, Inc. d/b/a Cape Air to provide essential air service at Kirksville with 21 nonstop round trips to St. Louis each week on 8- or 9-seat twin engine aircraft. Initial annual subsidy rate $1,422,110.
Order 2023-4-8: selecting Corporate Flight Management, Inc. d/b/a Contour Airlines to provide essential air service at Kirksville with 12 nonstop round trips to Chicago each week on 30-seat regional jet aircraft. Initial annual subsidy rate $5,609,670.
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