Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (IATA: AUS, ICAO: KAUS, FAA LID: AUS, formerly BSM) is a Class C international airport located in Austin, Texas the capital of Texas, and serving the Greater Austin metropolitan area, the 34th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Located about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Downtown Austin, it covers 4,242 acres (1,717 ha) and has two runways and three helipads. The airport is named after Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, an officer who served for the 19th Bombardment Group.^[2]

The airport began passenger service on May 23, 1999. A total of 9,080,875 passengers traveled through the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in 2011,^[3][4][5] making the airport the 38th busiest airport for total passengers in the United States.^[6]Austin-Bergstrom International Airport set an all-time record with 9,430,314 passengers in 2012. The airports annual passenger total increased by 4%, or 349,439 passengers, from the previous record year of 2011.

History [edit]

The first officially sanctioned landing field in Austin was Penn Field. At the Chamber of Commerce's behest, a United States Army delegation came to Austin in 1917 to scout out suitable sites for an airfield to serve the region. After the initial suggestion of Camp Mabry was rejected, a 318-acre (1.29 km²) parcel of land just south of St. Edward's University in South Austin was deemed suitable. Penn Field opened in 1918, named after Austin aviator Eugene Doak Penn, who died while training in Italy during World War I.^[7]

Robert Mueller Municipal Airport [edit]

As the need for commercial service became clear in the 1920s, Austin voters supported a bond election to build a municipal airport in the city in 1928. Located a few miles northeast of downtown, the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport served Austin's air traffic needs beginning October 14, 1930, although commercial service would not begin until 1936. The airport was named for Robert Mueller, a city council member who died in 1927.^[8]

In the 1950s, developers began building residential areas beneath the flight paths of Mueller and, in parallel, the number of arrivals and departures at the airport increased dramatically because of the growth of the city. Also, at 7,269 feet (2,216 m), the runway at Mueller was too short to handle new planes such as the 747. However, larger aircraft such as American Airlines DC-10s and Continental Airlines Boeing 720s have been regularly scheduled in the past. Before major expansion at Mueller took place in the 1970s, the departure area consisted of 4 to 5 gates, not enclosed but covered by a large awning. No jetways existed at this time.^[9]

The city began considering options for a new airport as early as 1971, when the Federal Aviation Administration proposed that Austin and San Antonio build a joint regional airport. That idea was rejected, as few Austinites supported driving half way to San Antonio to catch a flight. In the 1980s, neighborhoods around Mueller applied enough political pressure to force the city council to choose a site for a new airport from locations under consideration. On November 1, 1987, a voter referendum finally approved a site near Manor. The city began acquiring the land and fighting lawsuits from the Sierra Club and others concerned about the Manor location.^[10]

The plans to construct a new airport at the Manor location were abandoned in 1991 when the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure and gave the nod to the city for it to be used as a civilian airport.

Robert Mueller Municipal Airport closed to commercial passenger traffic on May 22, 1999, and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport opened to the public on May 23, 1999. Robert Mueller Municipal Airport remained open for general aviation use through June 22, 1999. After closing its doors, it was eventually designated to be a planned urban development for the city of Austin. Groundbreaking for the new Mueller Community began in 2007.^[8]

Bergstrom Air Force Base [edit]

In 1942, the city of Austin purchased land and donated the land to the United States government for a military installation, with the stipulation that the city would get the land back when the government no longer needed it. This land became Bergstrom Air Force Base. Del Valle Airfield was activated on 19 September 1942 on 3,000 acres (12 km²) leased from the City of Austin.

The name of the base was changed to Bergstrom Army Airfield (AAF) on 3 March 1943, in honor of Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, a reservist in the 19th Bombardment Group, who was killed at Clark Field, Philippines on December 8, 1941. He was the first Austinite killed in World War II. The base was again renamed Bergstrom Field on November 11, 1943. With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the name of Bergstrom again changed to Bergstrom Air Force Base on 24 June 1948.^[2]

On the early stages of exploring options for a new airport, the city submitted a proposal to the United States Air Force for joint use of Bergstrom AFB in 1976. The Air Force rejected the proposal in 1978 as being too disruptive to its operations. In 1991, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected Bergstrom AFB for closure and gave the nod to the city for it to be used as a civilian airport. The city council decided to abandon the original plan to build the new airport near Manor, and resolved instead to move the airport to the Bergstrom site. The City of Austin hired John Almonda civil engineer who had recently led the airport design team for the new airport expansion in San Jose, Californiaas Project Director for the new $585 million airport in Austin and to put together a team of engineers and contractors to accomplish the task.

The issue of a $400 million bond referendum was put to a public vote in May 1993 with a campaign managed by local public affairs consultant Don Martin and then-Mayor Bruce Todd and voters approved the move by 63% of the vote. Groundbreaking for the airport was November 19, 1994 and air cargo operations began on June 30, 1997. Bergstrom had the designator BSM until Mueller's final closure, when it took Mueller's IATA code of AUS.^[11] After the new airport opened, the Mueller Airport was turned over to a private corporation for development of a mixed-use housing and commercial retail neighborhood.

Nerd Bird service [edit]

The route between Austin and San Jose International Airport is popularly called the "Nerd Bird" because of the concentration of technology companies located at both ends of the route, including Sun Microsystems, Dell Computer, Apple Inc. and Hewlett-Packard. American Airlines was the sole operator of this route from Bergstrom's opening until 2009.^[12] Following AA's withdrawal from the market, Alaska Airlines announced that it would begin operating the route.^[13] Southwest Airlines added competing service on the route in November 2010, and Alaska cancelled the route the following May.^[14]

Facilities [edit]

Terminal [edit]

Barbara Jordan Terminal was designed by the Austin firm of Page Southerland Page with associate architect Gensler under contract to the New Airport Project Team, with lead architect University of Texas at Austin Architecture professor Larry Speck.^[15] The terminal is 660,000 square feet (61,000 m²) with a total of 25 gates. Inside the terminal, many local restaurants have leased concession space so that visitors can get a "taste of Austin" as they come through. The terminal also has a live music stage on which local bands perform in keeping with the spirit of Austin's proclamation as "The Live Music Capital of the World." The terminal is connected to a 3000 space parking garage used for public parking as well as rental car pick-up and return.

A new dedicated facility known as the South Terminal Austin was approved by the Austin City Council in order to accommodate the arrival of Mexican-based, low-cost airline, VivaAerobus, which launched operations on May 1, 2008. That terminal was closed on June 1, 2009, after VivaAerobus terminated service to Austin.^[16][17]

Both American Airlines and United Airlines operate lounges at this airport for members of their executive lounge programs. Members of Alaska Airlines's executive lounge program also have access to American's facilities.

Runways [edit]

Runway 17R/35L, to the west of the terminal, is the original runway built and used by the Air Force. The 12,248-foot-long (3,733 m) runway was reconditioned when Austin-Bergstrom was built. The 23-inch-deep (580 mm) concrete runway is dedicated to former President Lyndon B. Johnson.^[18]

Runway 17L/35R is a new 9,000 foot (2,700 m) runway on the east side of the terminal and parallel with runway 17R/35L. This runway is dedicated to former Congressman J. J. "Jake" Pickle.^[18] This runway contains a Category IIIB instrument landing system, the first in Austin.

The runways are watched over by a new 20-story air traffic control tower.^[19] The tower formerly used by the Air Force has been demolished.

Airlines and destinations [edit]

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is served by 10 commercial airlines and their regional partners.

Top destinations [edit]

Ground transportation [edit]

The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates "Airport Flyer" bus services to and from the University of Texas main campus, stopping in Downtown Austin each way.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (official site)
• SpottersWiki The Ultimate Airport Spotting Guide: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
• Concourse map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective May 2, 2013
• FAA Terminal Procedures for AUS, effective May 2, 2013
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KAUS
  • ASN accident history for AUS
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KAUS
  • FAA current AUS delay information