Indianapolis International Airport
Indianapolis International Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
Owner/Operator | Indianapolis Airport Authority | ||||||||||||||||||
Serves | Indianapolis | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | 7800 Col. H. Weir Cook Memorial Drive Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | ||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1931 | ||||||||||||||||||
Hub for | FedEx Express | ||||||||||||||||||
Operating base for | Allegiant Air | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 797 ft / 243 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 39°43′02″N 086°17′40″W / 39.71722°N 86.29444°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Website | ind | ||||||||||||||||||
Maps | |||||||||||||||||||
FAA airport diagram as of January 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Indianapolis International Airport[1] |
Indianapolis International Airport (IATA: IND, ICAO: KIND, FAA LID: IND) is an international airport located seven miles (11 km) southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Marion County, Indiana, United States.[2] It is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a medium hub primary commercial service facility.[3] The airport has flights to over 40 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The airport occupies 7,700 acres (3,116 ha) in Wayne and Decatur townships in Marion County.[2][4] IND is home to the second largest FedEx Express hub in the world; only the FedEx SuperHub in Memphis, Tennessee surpasses its cargo traffic. Additionally, because of FedEx's activity, IND consistently ranks among the top 10 busiest U.S. airports in terms of air cargo throughput.[5][6][7] Republic Airways is also headquartered at the airport, and Allegiant Air maintains Indianapolis as a focus city.
The Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZID), one of 22 established FAA area control centers, is located on the airport property's north side.
History
[edit]Beginnings
[edit]Indianapolis Municipal Airport opened in 1931, replacing the older Stout Field as the primary city airport. The airport was initially built on about 320 acres (130 ha) of land in the southwestern edge of the city, with an additional 627 acres (254 ha) reserved for future expansions at the airport.[8] In 1944, it was renamed Weir Cook Municipal Airport, after US Army Air Forces Col. Harvey Weir Cook of Wilkinson, Indiana, who had become a flying ace during World War I with seven victories and had died flying a P-39 over New Caledonia in World War II.
Indianapolis was one of many stops along the first transcontinental air/rail service between Los Angeles and New York that was started by Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) in 1929. TAT would later become Trans World Airlines (TWA) and continued to serve IND until their merger into American Airlines in 2001.
Since 1962, the airport has been owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA). The IAA has 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.[9]
From 1957 to 2008, the passenger terminal was on the east side of the airfield off High School Road. This now-demolished facility was renovated and expanded many times, notably in 1968 (Concourses A and 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.[10]
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide (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 New York-LaGuardia; no other nonstops reached beyond Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, Louisville and Pittsburgh. The first jets were TWA Convair 880s in 1961. Westward nonstops did not reach beyond St. Louis until 1967 when TWA started a JFK-IND-LAX flight with a Boeing 707. In the mid-1970s, TWA ran a widebody Lockheed L-1011 on the nonstop flight to Los Angeles.[11]
Recent years
[edit]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.[citation needed]
FedEx Express began its hub at the airport in 1988, with an expansion of the hub occurring ten years later. The hub employs around 4,000 people and has a sort capacity of nearly 100,000 packages per hour, making Indianapolis the largest FedEx hub in the world outside of the company's SuperHub in Memphis.[12]
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.[13] 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.[14] Northwest was later acquired by Delta Air Lines in 2008, and a decade later, Delta began service from Indianapolis to Paris in May 2018. This flight was the first ever non-stop transatlantic passenger flight out of Indianapolis.[15] The flight, DL500, was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]
In 1990, Air Canada began nonstop service from Indianapolis to Toronto Pearson International Airport, marking the first regularly scheduled international flight out of IND.[17] Air Canada Jazz, which operated the flight from 2001, would be retired by Air Canada in 2012, and service to IND would continue under the new Air Canada Express brand.
In 1994, BAA USA 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.[18][19] Also in 1994, United Airlines finished building its Indianapolis Maintenance Center[20] at a cost of US$600 million.[21] United later moved their maintenance operations to its sole maintenance hub located at San Francisco International Airport. Around 2006, runway 14/32 was shortened from 7,604 feet (2,318 m) to its present length because the south end was not visible from the new control tower.[22]
A new 1.2-million-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, the 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 of CSO Architects, SchenkelShultz Architecture, and ARCHonsortium) serving as the architect of record. Aviation Capital Management (Indianapolis), a subsidiary of BSA LifeStructures, was the airport's program manager. Hunt/Smoot Midfield Builders, a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Smoot Construction was the construction manager.[23] Thornton Tomasetti was the terminal's structural engineer along with Fink, Roberts and Petrie.[24] Syska Hennessy was the mechanical, electrical, & plumbing engineer.[24] In 2021, a six-person panel of Indianapolis members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) identified the Col. H. Weir Cook Terminal among the ten most "architecturally significant" buildings completed in the city since World War II.[25]
A 162-acre (66 ha), 22 MW solar farm is at the airport. It was the largest airport solar farm in the world when the second phase opened in 2014.[26]
In August 2017, Allegiant Air announced it would open a $40 million aircraft base at the airport that would begin operations in February of the following year. The facility was to create 66 high-paying jobs by the end of year and house two Airbus aircraft.[27][28]
On October 21, 2024, Aer Lingus announced nonstop flights to Dublin, Ireland beginning May 2025, marking the first transatlantic flight out of Indianapolis since 2020.[29]
Facilities
[edit]Terminal
[edit]Indianapolis International Airport has a single terminal with two concourses and a total of 39 gates.[30] The current terminal opened in 2008 and is named in honor of Col. Harvey Weir Cook. It was one of the first designed and built in the U.S. following the September 11 attacks.[31] All international arrivals are processed in Concourse A.[30]
Ground transportation
[edit]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.[32]
Airlines and destinations
[edit]Passenger
[edit]Cargo
[edit]Statistics
[edit]Top destinations
[edit]Rank | City | Passengers | Carriers |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Atlanta, Georgia | 478,000 | Delta, Southwest |
2 | Denver, Colorado | 339,000 | Frontier, Southwest, United |
3 | Orlando, Florida | 307,000 | Frontier, Southwest, Spirit |
4 | Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas | 248,000 | American, Frontier |
5 | Charlotte, North Carolina | 247,000 | American |
6 | Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois | 238,000 | American, United |
7 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 212,000 | Allegiant, Southwest, Spirit |
8 | Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona | 208,000 | American, Southwest |
9 | Newark, New Jersey | 163,000 | Spirit, United |
10 | Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota | 158,000 | Delta, Sun Country |
Rank | City | Cargo (pounds) | Carriers |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Los Angeles, California | 6,944,183 | Cargolux, FedEx Express |
2 | Oakland, California | 6,717,406 | FedEx Express |
3 | Memphis, Tennessee | 6,603,929 | FedEx Express |
4 | Newark, New Jersey | 5,786,845 | FedEx Express |
5 | Boston, Massachusetts | 4,590,933 | FedEx Express |
6 | Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas | 3,996,817 | FedEx Express |
7 | Seattle/Tacoma, Washington | 3,943,765 | FedEx Express |
8 | Denver, Colorado | 3,718,289 | FedEx Express |
9 | Anchorage, Alaska | 3,592,389 | FedEx Express |
10 | Atlanta, Georgia | 3,588,692 | Cargolux, FedEx Express |
Airline market share
[edit]Rank | Airline | Passengers | Share |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Southwest Airlines | 1,986,514 | 28.2% |
2 | American Airlines | 1,813,004 | 25.8% |
3 | Delta Air Lines | 1,247,637 | 17.7% |
4 | United Airlines | 831,225 | 11.8% |
5 | Spirit Airlines | 486,897 | 6.9% |
Other | 670,204 | 9.5% |
Annual traffic
[edit]Year | Passengers |
---|---|
1996 | 7,069,039 |
1997 | 7,171,845 |
1998 | 7,292,132 |
1999 | 7,463,536 |
2000 | 7,722,191 |
2001 | 7,238,744 |
2002 | 6,896,418 |
2003 | 7,361,060 |
2004 | 8,025,051 |
2005 | 8,524,442 |
2006 | 8,085,394 |
2007 | 8,272,289 |
2008 | 8,151,488 |
2009 | 7,465,719 |
2010 | 7,526,414 |
2011 | 7,478,835 |
2012 | 7,333,733 |
2013 | 7,217,051 |
2014 | 7,363,632 |
2015 | 7,998,086 |
2016 | 8,511,959 |
2017 | 8,800,828 |
2018 | 9,413,962 |
2019 | 9,537,377 |
2020 | 4,104,648[54] |
2021 | 7,175,979[55] |
2022 | 8,693,024[56] |
2023 | 9,788,867[2] |
Passenger traffic trends
[edit]Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Accidents and incidents
[edit]- On September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 on a Boston – Baltimore – Cincinnati – Indianapolis – St. 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.[57]
- 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.[58]
See also
[edit]- List of airports in Indiana
- List of the busiest airports in the United States
- List of attractions and events in Indianapolis
- List of largest cargo airports in the United States
- List of tallest air traffic control towers in the United States
- List of tallest buildings in Indianapolis § Other structures
- Transportation in Indianapolis
References
[edit]- ^ "Airline Activity Report December 2022" (PDF). d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net. Indianapolis Airport Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c https://d1j6zi7czwjuok.cloudfront.net/iaa-images/reports/December-2023-Airline-Activity-Report.pdf?mtime=20240208111907 Archived February 14, 2024, at the Wayback Machine [bare URL]
- ^ "List of NPIAS Airports" (PDF). FAA.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 21, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
- ^ "IND airport at skyvector.com". skyvector.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
- ^ "Airport Traffic Report, Port Authority NY NJ". Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Airport Traffic Statistics. April 2023. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
- ^ "IND Transport Stats". About IND. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ "CY 2015 All-Cargo Landed Weights, Rank Order" (PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ "Indianapolis International Airport". Indiana University. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ "Airport keeps name, but will honor Weir Cook". 6 News Indianapolis. July 18, 2008. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
- ^ "TIMELAPSE: Look at changes to Indy airport since 1984". WRTV. January 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ TWA timetable May 1, 1974
- ^ "Second-Largest FedEx Express Hub Turns 30". FedEx.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ "ATA Expects to Stop Flights From Its Hometown in January". New York Times. November 2, 2005. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "Northwest increasing its presence at airport". WTHR. March 9, 2005. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ^ "Indianapolis airport lands first-ever non-stop route to Europe". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Delta's Indianapolis to Paris flight won't resume for some time". April 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ "Indianapolis Airport Authority Materials, 1928-2012" (PDF). Indiana Historical Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ "Indianapolis International Airport: Error". Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Home" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Facility Facts & Statistics: Indianapolis Maintenance Center" (PDF). Indianapolis Airport Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ Bybee, Roger. "Con Air: The 'Safe' Offshoring of Airline Repair – Working In These Times". Inthesetimes.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ O'Malley, Chris (January 4, 2006). "New Indianapolis Airport Control Tower Has a Blind Spot". Aviation Pros. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ^ "New Terminal at Indianapolis International Airport Now Boarding". Hunt Construction Group. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ^ a b Wood, Debra (March 1, 2008). "Hoosier Upgrade". Construction Magazine. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
- ^ Shuey, Mickey (December 3, 2021). "Indy's Top 10 architecturally wondrous buildings". Indianapolis Business Journal. IBJ Media. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Mack, Justin L. "World's largest solar farm complete at Indianapolis airport". The Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ^ "NEWS: Allegiant Plans Aircraft Base in Indiana, New Jobs and Future Growth". mailchi.mp. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "Instagram post by Allegiant • Aug 2, 2017 at 9:37pm UTC". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021.
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- ^ a b c d "IND Terminal Map". Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
- ^ "The New Indianapolis International Airport Fact Sheet" (PDF). Indianapolis Airport Authority. August 25, 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
- ^ "Indianapolis International Airport – Community Days brochure, October 11–12, 2008" (PDF). August 4, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2011.
- ^ "Indianapolis Gains New Transatlantic Service". AirlineGeeks. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ "Aer Lingus". Retrieved October 20, 2024.
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- ^ a b "Flight schedules and notifications". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ "Delta Resumes Salt Lake City – Indianapolis Service From March 2024". Aeroroutes. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
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- ^ "Check Flight Schedules". Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
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- ^ Thomas, Dylan (January 25, 2021). "Sun Country announces 16 new routes, including nine serving MSP". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ a b "Timetable". Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
- ^ "RITA | BTS | Transtats". Transtats.bts.gov. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
- ^ "Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis International (IND)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. March 2018. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- ^ "BTS". Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - for 1996 to 2005 - ^ "Airline Activity Reports". Indianapolis International Airport. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017. - individual reports for 2005 and following years
- ^ Indianapolis Airport. "Indianapolis December 2020 Airline Activity Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ Indianapolis International Airport. "Dec 2021 Airline Activity Report" (PDF). Indianapolis International Airport. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Dec 2022 Airline Activity Report" (PDF). Indianapolis International Airport. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ "Retro Indy: Allegheny Airlines crash Sept. 9, 1969 killed 83 near Shelbyville". IndyStar. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ^ "Indiana Plane Crashes". Indianapolis Star. April 1, 2002. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
External links
[edit]- Indianapolis International Airport (official site)
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 31, 2024
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KIND
- ASN accident history for IND
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KIND
- FAA current IND delay information