- SUN ‘N FUN 2000 AWARDS -ANTIQUES: Best Restored Classic (over 165 hp) Cessna C-195A-Nl95S – David L. Cole, Willis Texas; HOMEBUILT: Best Biplane, Starduster Too-NIOJH – Jim Hayden, Richmond, Texas; and Outstanding Aircraft, Christen Eagle-N106JP-Bill Postula, Montgomery, Texas.
- YOUNG EAGLES PROGRAM came to Wood County Airport (Mineola-Quitman) recently and gave young people ages 8 to 18 the opportunity to soar like eagles. The “Young Eagles Program” was started by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and has 200,000 members worldwide. Membership’s goal is to give a million young people the opportunity to experience the thrill of flight by the year 2003, which will be the 100th anniversary of man’s first powered flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903.
- TAYLOR MUNICIPAL AIRPORT- Scott and White’s emergency medical air transport, Medivac 1, in conjunction with the Southwest Helicopters of Tucson, Arizona, announced in June the expansion of its EMS helicopter service in Taylor. The EMS helicopter will be based at Taylor Airport to serve South Central Texas 24 hours a day.
- MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT announced in June that Continental Express was adding a sixth non-stop jet flight from Midland to Houston InterContinental Airport starting July 2, 2000.
- SOUTHWEST AIRLINES and Houston city officials broke ground in June for a new $78 million central concourse at Hobby Airport, designed to replace much of the current facility. When built, the “Y”-designed concourse will add 20 aircraft gates and an expanded terminal lobby area to the nation’s 40th busiest airport. The concourse is slated to be finished in August 2002.
- AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT celebrated its first birthday on May 23. One year after it opened, the $690 million airport is being hailed as a profitable success, with the number of passengers flying to and from Austin up by 15 percent. In 1999, 6.7 million passengers used the new airport, and officials expect that figure to exceed 7 million in 2000.
- 1999 REMAINED ONE OF COMMERCIAL AVIATION’S SAFER YEARS according to a National Transportation Safety Board report despite 12 killed in two jet accidents. No airline passengers were killed in 1998, the safest year in airline history. Only two passengers were killed in 1997. On general aviation planes, which include corporate jets, the number of fatal accidents decreased from 365 in 1998 to 342 in 1999, but the number of fatalities increased from 623 to 628.
- AUSTIN EXPRESS, INC. announced that a new service began on July 5, with four non-stop flights between Corpus Christi and Austin. The 55-minute flights will be made with Fairchild Metro III propjet aircraft. Additionally, there will be continuing service from Austin to Tyler.
- AIR CANADA launched daily nonstop service between Austin and Toronto in June. Air Canada is the only airline offering nonstop flights between the two cities, and the only airline offering regularly scheduled nonstop service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to another country.
- AMERICAN EAGLE began regional jet service between Midland-Odessa and its hub at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in May. The airline also announced that it will open a new terminal at DFW in October, a satellite terminal to its Terminal A. The new terminal will have 13 gates, each with a covered boarding bridge that passengers can cross to or from a regional jet or the ATR turboprops. Additionally, the airline will operate a shuttle bus every three minutes, carrying passengers to Terminal A to make connecting flights.
- LUBBOCK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, starting in April, achieved an immense goal: providing choices to passengers between four carriers all offering jet service to three airports, with more frequency. Passengers can now travel to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Love Field in Dallas or Dallas-Fort Worth International through the services of American Eagle and Atlantic Southwest Airlines. Indeed, new sleek regional jets are slowly replacing antiquated turboprops in short-haul markets to major hubs.
- EL PASO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’S projections show that about 95 tons of air cargo is expected to pass through the airport this year, compared with 38 tons in 1990; that by the end of the decade, about 220 tons of air cargo a year is expected to be shipped out of ELP; and according to Airport Director Pat Abeln, in order to accommodate the growth, a 300,000-square-foot cargo center is under way and will add to the existing facilities – a 40,000-square-foot center and a 60,000-square-foot center.
- TEXAS’ STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE recently bought two new M20S Eagles from Mooney Aircraft Corporation for use in the college’s advanced flight training program. The first of the 2000 model year aircraft, which are equipped with a range of features including dual Garmin GNS430 GPS/Nav/Coms, was delivered to TSTC in June. TSTC, a state-funded vocational-technical college with campuses across the state offers a two-year associate degree for pilots. TSTC also has teamed up with Baylor University to offer a joint four-year Aviation Science program.
Texas A&M Transportation Institute
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
(979) 317-2000