Tutorial
3. Airports Today
Aircraft and airports have evolved and continue to evolve. In the 1950s airplanes
began to have a variety of uses for transportation and business. Airplanes were
equipped with steerable tail wheels instead of tail skids so they could operate
more easily on the ground. As airplanes got larger and heavier it became necessary
for airports to have hard surface runways instead of the grass or gravel fields
because such fields could not support the weight of heavier airplanes. (A Boeing
747 can weigh more than 800,000 pounds at takeoff.) Airports eventually began
to offer more services for airplane operators and their increasing number of
passengers. A modern large airport today has thousands of workers, accommodates
tens of thousands of passengers, and loads or unloads hundreds of thousands
of pounds of baggage and cargo daily.
There are many types of airports that exist today as part of the United States'
air transportation system. These airports range from a single grass airstrip
in an agricultural or rural area to the large airports serving major cities.
There are seven basic types of airports:
1.
Rural airstrip
2. Private airstrip
3. Military airports
4. Small community airport
5. Regional community airport
6. Regional airport
7. Major city airport
What separates one from the other depends upon the types of services it provides,
the size aircraft it serves, the length of the runways with its complementary
terminal facilities, and its proximity to a densely populated area.
Not all airports are located near towns and cities. Driving through agricultural
regions, a single narrow strip of grass or pavement along the highway could
indicate that there is an aerial operation based there. These are referred to
as rural airstrips. There are several private communities in the United States
with a small, common airstrip where homes with attached hangars allow owners
to taxi from their hangar to a shared runway. An interesting note: in Alaska
any public road can be used as a runway, however in the state of New York it
is illegal to make an emergency landing on any highway.
Military
airstrips or airports are usually restricted to military aircraft usage from
flight testing to military training routes. These airports are designed to handle
rotorcraft or fixed wing aircraft. Most of the runways of military airports
can accommodate heavy, wide-body aircraft and have a runway length of 8,000
to 13,000 feet.
Many
small communities have single airstrip airports where private and small business
airplanes are based. These small community airports support general aviation
flying. Most of these smaller airports do not have operating control towers.
Often these regional community airports offer facilities for training student
pilots. A few of these smaller airports near remote towns and cities have limited
airline service. These services usually consist of small, propeller airplanes
or small, regional jets that seat no more than 20 passengers. The airline service
from a small community airport can provide service to a major city airport and
a regional airport, and also to a regional community airport.
The regional community airports typically are larger than the small community
airports, have airport control towers, and have facilities for operation in
instrument conditions when visibility is poor. Commuter airlines using slightly
larger jets (like 727s) provide service from these airports to other regional
community airports, regional airports, and to major city airports.
Regional
airports are supported by several communities. Working together these communities
can have an airport with instrument facilities, a control tower, and airline
service. These airports provide passenger and cargo service on a regular basis
and support the larger passenger aircraft. The Kingston, NC area airport is
the Kingston Regional Jetport at Stallings Field, (ISO), and the Tri-cities
Regional TN/VA (TRI) airport is operated by the cities of Bristol, Johnson City,
and Kingsport TN.
Airports can be privately owned or owned by counties, cities, or groups of cities.
Some airports are owned by counties or small cities with the costs, profits,
and rewards being shared by the citizens of the county or city. Fulton County-Brown
Field (FTY) near Atlanta is a busy airport with all the services offered at
major city airports. It has a control tower and instrument landing facilities.
Many of these smaller city airports have two or more runways and facilities
for making instrument approaches when the weather causes ceilings and visibilities
below authorized minimums.
Airport "size" is usually judged by the number of operations (takeoffs
and landings) made each day. In the United States Chicago-O'Hare International
(ORD), Hartsfield (ATL) in Atlanta, and Dallas-Ft. Worth International (DFW)
are usually the three largest airports as measured by operations. These major
city airports handle most national and international flights and support mainly
the much larger airliners such as 737s, 747s and 777s. Characteristics of these
major city airports include separate terminals for national and international
flights, two or more long runways capable of handling the larger jet airliners,
and fully functioning airport control towers with instrument landing capabilities.
In the United States, the primary means of travel between large cities at least
1,000 miles apart is by air. Airliners transport large numbers of passengers
and vast quantities of luggage and freight over great distances in relatively
short time frames. The smaller general aviation aircraft provide passenger and
cargo service to the less-populated communities. Overall, airports bring business
and industry to every community they support. All airports regardless of their
size, provide access to the air transportation network.
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