Memphis International Airport (IATA: MEM, ICAO: KMEM, FAA LID: MEM) is a civil-military airport seven miles (11.2 km) southeast of downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States.
Memphis International Airport is home to the FedEx Express global hub, which processes many of the company's packages. Nonstop FedEx destinations from Memphis include cities across the continental United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. From 1993 to 2009, Memphis had the largest cargo operations of any airport worldwide. MEM dropped to the second position in 2010, just behind Hong Kong; however, it remains as the busiest cargo airport in the United States and in the Western Hemisphere.
As of 2016, MEM had a count of over 4 million passengers, up slightly from 2015. The airport was previously a hub for Northwest Airlines and later Delta Air Lines. As of June 2017, MEM averaged 83 passenger flights per day on all of the airlines serving the city. In recent years the airport added several new airlines, including Air Canada, Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, which has increased competition among carriers. Since Delta's departure as a hub operation, average round trip prices have also declined. The July-September 2014 quarter alone saw a 4.7% decline from the quarter a year earlier.
The 164th Airlift Wing of the Tennessee Air National Guard is based at the co-located Memphis Air National Guard Base, operating C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft.
Video Memphis International Airport
History
Beginnings
Memphis Municipal Airport, dedicated in 1929, opened on a 200-acre (81 ha) plot of farmland just over seven miles (11 km) from downtown Memphis. During its early years the airport had three hangars and an unpaved runway; passenger and air mail service was provided by American Airlines and Chicago and Southern Air Lines (acquired by Delta Air Lines in 1953). In 1939 Eastern Air Lines arrived; that March Eastern had one departure a day to Muscle Shoals and beyond, American had four east/west and C&S had four north/south.
During World War II the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command 4th Ferrying Group used Memphis while sending new aircraft overseas. In April 1951 the runways were 6000-ft 2/20, 6530-ft 9/27, 4370-ft 14/32 and 4950-ft 17/35 (the airport was all north of Winchester Rd during the 1950s)
The April 1957 OAG shows 64 weekday departures: 25 on Delta, 18 American, 7 Southern, 5 Eastern, 4 Braniff, 3 Trans-Texas and 2 Capital. American DC-6s flew nonstop to Washington and New York, but westward nonstops didn't reach beyond Ft Worth and Kansas City until American started Los Angeles in 1964. The first scheduled jets were Delta 880s ORD-MEM-MSY and back, starting in July-August 1960.
The current terminal was designed by Mann & Harrover and cost $6.5 million. It opened on June 7, 1963 and Memphis Municipal changed its name to Memphis International in 1969. In 1985-86 Republic Airlines began flights to Mexico. The terminal was expanded for $31.6 million in 1974, adding two new concourses and extending the others, which were designed by Roy P. Harrover & Associates.
Hub status
Southern Airways was an important regional carrier at Memphis in the 1960s; it merged into Republic Airlines in 1979 as the first large merger after the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act. With the dismantling of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) flight approval requirements, airlines began developing around a large hub model as opposed to the former point-to-point networks that were common before deregulation. Republic established Memphis as a hub operation in 1985 before merging into Northwest Airlines in 1986. Northwest operated around 300 daily flights at the peak of the hub, including international flights to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean as well as a transatlantic flight to Amsterdam (initially operated by KLM).
Federal Express (now FedEx Express) began operations in Memphis in 1973. It opened its current "SuperHub" facility on the north side of the airport in 1981, and maintains a large presence to the present day.
In 2008, the airport began expanding its control tower and parking garages. The new tower cost $72.6 million and is 336 feet tall, more than double the old tower height. An $81 million, 7-story parking garage replaced two surface lots adding 6,500 parking spaces. $11 million was spent on a covered moving walkway between the garages and the terminal.
Following the acquisition of Northwest by Delta Air Lines (with its own southeastern hub at Atlanta) in 2008, flights were gradually scaled back until Delta closed the hub in 2013. As a result of the cutbacks, passenger traffic in Memphis declined from 11 million in 2007 to 4 million in 2017.
Recent years
In 2014, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority announced a planned $114 million renovation of the airport. This renovation included demolishing the largely-vacant south ends of concourses A and C, which would allow aircraft to more easily access the larger B concourse. The remainder of the A and C concourses would remain and be ready to use for any potential growth in the future. In addition, the plan called for the widening and modernization of the B concourse, which most flights would be directed to when the renovation was complete. The renovation, which was expected to start in late 2015 and end around 2020, would leave the airport with about 60 gates.
However, the initial project was only partially completed, with the south end of the A concourse demolished. Memphis officials decided to rethink the modernization plans. Several aspects of the project changed. The first plan called for renovating and widening Concourse B, the updated plan includes a full redesign of most of the concourse. The B Concourse will be closed during construction, and airlines and tenants will move to the A and C Concourses during that time. The south end of the C Concourse will remain intact until the B Concourse is completed and airlines have moved from C to B. The southwest leg of the B Concourse will be updated in a future phase, and will only be utilized in the near term for passengers from inbound international flights.
On April 4, 2018, Delta Airlines moved to A concourse and Allegiant Airlines moved to C concourse. The demolition of the spine and Southeast leg of B concourse is scheduled to begin in July 2018.
Air Canada resumed daily non-stop service to Toronto in May 2017.
Maps Memphis International Airport
Facilities
Concourses
Concourse A contains 9 gates. Concourse A is currently only used by Southwest Airlines. Beginning in 2018, Delta Air Lines moved all flights to gates A17-A27. Southwest moved to gates A29-A33.
Concourse B contains 42 gates. Delta Air Lines operates a Delta Sky Club lounge outside Concourse B, in the walkway connecting to Concourse C. Seasonally, the terminal is used by international charters which operate out of the airport's international gates B42-43. International travelers are required to pass through a TSA security checkpoint after clearing customs. This is required because the customs hall exits into the concourse instead of the main lobby. In 2018, regular flights moved from Concourse B to allow for renovation of the concourse. International arrivals still uses gates B41-B43 on a limited basis. By mid-2021, when the renovation is finished, all flights will be scheduled from Concourse B.
Concourse C contains 18 gates. Concourse C is currently used by Air Canada, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and United Airlines. In late 2017, Allegiant Air moved to gate C2.
Runways
Memphis International Airport covers 3,900 acres (1,600 ha) and has four paved runways:
- 18C/36C: 11,120 ft × 150 ft (3,389 m × 46 m) Concrete
- 18L/36R: 9,000 ft × 150 ft (2,743 m × 46 m) Concrete
- 18R/36L: 9,320 ft × 150 ft (2,841 m × 46 m) Concrete
- 9/27: 8,946 ft × 150 ft (2,727 m × 46 m) Concrete.
Runway 9/27 reopened for traffic on November 30, 2009 after nine months of resurfacing. The new runway has a more durable concrete surface, and opened in time for the peak of the FedEx shipping season.
For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2014 the airport had 225,592 aircraft operations, an average of 618 per day: 71% scheduled commercial, 18% air taxi, 10% general aviation, and 1% military. At that time there were 93 aircraft based at this airport: 48% jet, 15% multi-engine, 17% single-engine, 10% military, and 10% helicopter. The Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) is on the airport grounds at 3229 Democrat Road, TN 38118.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
Top destinations
Annual traffic
Accidents and incidents
- On August 11, 1984, Douglas C-47 N70003 of Aviation Enterprises crashed shortly after take-off from Memphis International Airport on a domestic non-scheduled passenger flight to O'Hare International Airport, Chicago. All three people on board died. A missing spark plug on the port engine caused a loss of power. Maintenance involving the removal of the spark plugs had been performed the previous day.
- On April 7, 1994, Federal Express Flight 705 bound for San Jose, CA experienced an attempted hijacking shortly after takeoff. FedEx employee Auburn Calloway tried to hijack the plane in order to crash it into the FedEx hub at Memphis International, in a Kamikaze-style attack. The crew - although seriously injured - fought him off and returned to Memphis, where police and emergency crews subdued him.
- On December 18, 2003, FedEx Express Flight 647 veered off the runway after the landing gear collapsed upon landing from Oakland International Airport (OAK). The aircraft was immediately engulfed in flames. All 5 crew members escaped by exiting via the cockpit window.
- On July 28, 2006, FedEx Flight 630's landing gear collapsed upon landing at Memphis International Airport after a flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. After coming to a stop, the plane caught fire, engulfing the left wing and engine. While the three crew members sustained injuries, they all survived. The aircraft was written off.
References
Further reading
- Hollahan, Terry. "Delta Air Lines deals crushing blow to Memphis airport." Memphis Business Journal. June 4, 2013.
External links
- Media related to Memphis International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Memphis International Airport (official site)
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective June 21, 2018
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KMEM
- ASN accident history for MEM
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KMEM
- FAA current MEM delay information
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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