1. History

2. Facilities

3. Airlines and destinations
    Passenger  Cargo 

4. Statistics
    Airline market share  Top destinations  Annual traffic 

5. Operations
    Worldport 

6. Accidents and incidents

7. See also

8. References

9. External links

Over 3.8 million passengers and over 5.7 billion pounds (2,890,000 t) of cargo passed through the airport in 2018.^[5] It is also the third-busiest in the United States in terms of cargo traffic, and seventh-busiest for such in the world.^[6]

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a "primary commercial service" airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year.^[7] As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 1,684,738 enplanements in 2017, an increase of 3.26% from 1,631,494 in 2016.^[8]

The airport is home to Worldport, the worldwide hub of UPS. The Kentucky Air National Guard's 123d Airlift Wing operates C-130 transport aircraft from the co-located Louisville Air National Guard Base.

On January 16, 2019 the Regional Airport Authority voted to change the name of the airport to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in honor of the Louisville native.^[9] It will take a few months to finalize the change, since the FAA has to approve the change before it becomes official.^[10]

History

Standiford Field was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 on a parcel of land south of Louisville that was found not to have flooded during the Ohio River flood of 1937. It was named for Dr. Elisha David Standiford, a local businessman and politician, who was active in transportation issues and owned part of the land. The field remained under Army control until 1947, when it was turned over to the Louisville Air Board for commercial operations.^[11]

Until around 1947 Bowman Field was Louisville's main airport. For many years passenger traffic went through the small brick Lee Terminal at Standiford Field. Today's more modern and much larger facilities were built in the 1980s. Most of the Lee Terminal was later torn down.{{citation needed|date = December 2012}}

The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 45 weekday departures on Eastern Airlines, 19 American, 9 TWA, 4 Piedmont and 2 Ozark. Scheduled jet flights (Eastern 720s to Idlewild) began in January–February 1962. Parallel runways, needed for expanded UPS operations, were part of an airport expansion begun in the 1980s.{{Citation needed|date = December 2012}}

When Louisville International Airport was built by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 1941, it had one {{convert|4000|ft|m|adj=on}} runway and was called Standiford Field. The airfield opened to the public in 1947 and all commercial service from Bowman Field moved to Standiford Field. American, Eastern, and TWA were the first airlines and had 1,300 passengers a week. The airlines used World War II barracks on the east side of the field until May 25, 1950, when a proper terminal opened. Lee Terminal could handle 150,000 passengers annually and included 6 new gates, which increased terminal space to {{convert|114420|sqft|m2}}. The three runways (1, 6 and 11) were all 5000 ft.

In 1970 the terminal again expanded; the main lobby was extended and the {{convert|33000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} Delta Air Lines concourse was built.^[11]

The 1980s brought plans for a new terminal, the Louisville Airport Improvement plan (LAIP). Construction of a new landside terminal designed by Bickel-Gibson Associated Architects Inc. began, costing $35 million with capacity for nearly 2 million passengers in 1985.^[12] Most of the improvements began construction in the 1990s and the airport was totally renewed. During the 1990s Southwest Airlines passenger boardings increased 97.3 percent. In 1995 the airport's name was changed from Standiford Field to Louisville International Airport. Around that time SDF got two new parallel runways: runway 17L/35R, {{convert|8578|ft|m}} long and runway 17R/35L, {{convert|11887|ft|m}}; both are {{convert|150|ft|m}} wide. The Kentucky Air National Guard moved its base to SDF with 8 military aircraft; a new UPS air mail facility, new corporate hangars, a 4 level parking garage and a new control tower were also added. A new FBO was added, run by Atlantic Aviation and managed by Michael Perry. In 2005 a $26 million terminal renovation designed by Gensler Inc. was completed.^[13] Yearly passenger enplanements are about 1.7 million and are forecast to increase in the next 5 years. Louisville International is served by several airlines including Allegiant, American, Delta, Southwest, United, FedEx, and UPS.^[14]

On January 16, 2019, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority voted to rename the airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, after boxing legend Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native.^[15]

Facilities

Louisville International-Standiford Field covers {{convert|1200|acre|ha}} at an elevation of {{convert|501|feet|m}}. It has three concrete runways: 17R/35L is 11,887 by 150 feet (3,623 x 46 m); 17L/35R is 8,578 by 150 feet (2,615 x 46 m); 11/29 is 7,250 by 150 feet (2,210 x 46 m).^[1] Runway 17R and 17L will be lengthened to 13,000 feet and 10,500 feet respectively within the next 2–3 years as an extra margin of safety for the new generation of cargo and passenger super-jets.

In the year ending May 31, 2018, the airport had 167,470 aircraft operations, an average of 459 per day: 76% airline, 15% air taxi, 7% general aviation, and 2% military. 36 aircraft were then based at this airport: 75% jet, 22% military, and 3% single-engine.^[1] The terminal is named the Jerry E. Abramson Terminal Building and acquires 23 gates.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

| {{nowrap|Southwest Airlines}} | Baltimore, Chicago–Midway, Dallas–Love, Denver, Houston–Hobby, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Tampa | ^[22]
| United Express | Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, Washington–Dulles | ^[23]
}}

Cargo

Statistics

Airline market share

Top destinations

Annual traffic

Operations

Louisville International Airport is home to a Republic Airline maintenance complex, capable of holding nine planes.

In addition to commercial air traffic there is a significant amount of general aviation activity at Louisville International Airport, for business travel and other purposes such as the Kentucky Derby.^[24]

Worldport

Worldport is the worldwide air hub for UPS (United Parcel Service) located at the Louisville International Airport. Although UPS has had a hub at Louisville since 1980, the term was not used officially by the company until 2002, after a $1 billion, five-year expansion.^[25] Previously, the project was named Hub 2000. The facility is currently the size of 5.2 million square feet (48 ha; 80 football fields) and capable of handling 115 packages a second, or 416,000 per hour.^[26] With over 20,000 employees, UPS is one of the largest employers in both the city of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a whole. The facility, which serves all of the company's major international and domestic hubs, mainly handles express and international packages and letters.

A one-million-square-foot expansion was completed in spring 2006 to integrate heavy freight into the UPS system. The expansion was prefaced by the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, formerly Emery Worldwide. The new facility, designated Worldport Freight Facility (HWP), went online in April 2006 and was the first of the company's regional hubs to begin integrating the Menlo volume into the system. Menlo's facility in Dayton, Ohio, was taken offline in June 2006.

In May 2006, UPS announced that for the third time in seven years it would significantly expand its Worldport hub, with a second billion-dollar investment. The second expansion was completed in April 2010, with the facility now measuring {{convert|5200000|sqft|m2}}, with a perimeter of {{convert|7.2|mi}}. The plan was for more than one million square feet to be added to its existing facility, with another {{convert|334500|sqft|m2|adj=on}} of space to be renovated with new technology and equipment. Worldport sorting capacity was to expand from 300,000 packages per hour to 416,000 packages per hour. Additionally, several ramps at the Louisville International Airport were to be built or altered bringing a total increase of just over {{convert|3000000|sqft|m2}}.

Since many of the jobs are part-time and overnight, UPS has hired mostly college students by offering both nationwide tuition reimbursement and a special program called Metropolitan College, in which University of Louisville and Jefferson Community and Technical College students who work part-time overnight can receive 100% tuition reimbursement.

Worldport was featured on an episode of the television show Ultimate Factories in June 2008.

Accidents and incidents

• On December 21, 1978, TWA Flight 541 from Louisville to Kansas City International Airport was hijacked by 17-year-old Robin Oswald to Williamson County Regional Airport in Illinois in attempt to secure the release of Garrett Brock Trapnell who was serving time at United States Penitentiary, Marion, for the January 28, 1972, hijacking of TWA Flight 2 from Los Angeles to New York. Oswald's mother, Barbara Oswald, was killed May 24, 1978, after hijacking a helicopter in an attempt to rescue Trapnell (and Martin J. McNally, who was serving time for the June 23, 1972, hijacking of a St. Louis-Tulsa American Airlines flight). Robin Oswald surrendered after 10 hours at the Williamson airport.^[27][28]
• On August 14, 2013, UPS Airlines Flight 1354 registration N155UP from Louisville to Birmingham, Alabama crashed while attempting to land on Runway 18 at Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. Both pilots were killed.

See also

• Kentucky World War II Army Airfields
• Bowman Field
• UPS Airlines
• World's busiest airports by cargo traffic
• Transportation in Louisville, Kentucky

References

External links

• Louisville International Airport, official site
• Kentucky Air National Guard, official web site
• Standiford Field ANG / Louisville International Airport at GlobalSecurity.org
• Aerial image from USGS The National Map
• {{FAA-diagram|00239}}
• {{FAA-procedures|SDF}}

• {{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

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