At 80, Hobby is still flying high
In its early days, Hobby Airport was a one-building terminal with no concourse. Now, even airport veterans can get lost in it. Renovations will update and expand the airport even more. Photo courtesy of the Houston Airport System. |
As a child, Dixie Lee Franklin’s favorite pastime was flying in the skies over Houston. Her father owned five airplanes that he flew out of Houston Municipal Airport.
“I was raised at that airport,” she recalled. “I was there all the time, flying out with him.”
In Franklin’s childhood, the airport was a simple, one-building terminal with no concourse or hallways. Now, as the William P. Hobby Airport celebrates its 80th birthday, it has four runways and is completing a capital improvement plan that will create a new 20-gate central concourse.
“I never, ever thought that I would see the day that I could go to Hobby and get lost,” said Franklin, an Aviation receptionist.
The municipal airport was already a veteran fixture when Franklin was born in 1946.
The airport opened in 1927 as a private airfield owned by the W.T. Carter Lumber Co. Braniff and Eastern airlines served the airport, and it was Howard Hughes’ base for his earliest aviation exploits.
In 1937, the city bought the airfield as its first public airport. The following year, its first control tower was built, and it was renamed the Howard R. Hughes Airport. But Hughes was still alive, and regulations at the time did not allow federal improvement funds to be used for an airport named after a living person. So the name quickly reverted back to Houston Municipal.
For the next 10 years, the city built hangers for rent. In the early 1940s, the airport got its first field lighting system and its paved runways and taxiways were.
Shortly after World War II, four additional airlines were serving the airport.
When Franklin was visiting the airport as a child in the 1950s, the old terminal was expanded and, in 1955, the present airline terminal was opened to traffic. Three new runways opened, high-intensity approach lighting was installed, and private owners constructed several new hangers.
In 1950, Pan Am started a Houston- to-Mexico City flight, and in 1954 the airport’s name was changed to Houston International Airport. In 1957, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines began flights between Houston and Amsterdam.
Also in ’57, the first turbojet landed at Houston International. Two years later, Runways 4/22 and 13/31 were expanded to 7,600 feet so they’d be long enough for jet transport aircraft. In ’61, the east wing of the terminal opened, and in ’63 the west wing was expanded to provide additional space for international passengers.
In 1967, the airport was renamed the William P. Hobby Airport after the former governor. But its days as the city’s primary airport were coming to an end.
Because of expansion limitations at Hobby, the city built Houston Intercontinental Airport. On June 8, 1969, all airline operations were moved to the new airport.
Then, in 1971, Southwest Airlines initiated intrastate service from Hobby. After the Federal Airline Deregulation Act went in effect in October 1978, new carriers sought service in Houston, and soon 12 carriers initiated service from Hobby.
Since then, Hobby has been the steady little brother to the bigger Bush. And it’s become one of the most favored airports in the United States. A recent J.D. Powers and Associates passenger survey found that Hobby is the number one airport in the country for customer satisfaction among airports serving less than 10 million travelers annually.
At 80, the airport is still going strong and its future is bright. But like many older Americans, it’s undergoing a little nip/tuck to keep it looking young.
Those projects include constructing the new central concourse, demolishing concourses B and C, and expanding and renovating the terminal to give passengers better access to the gates.
“People here know Hobby,” said Mary Case, airport manager. "They feel like they’ve grown up with the airport in their backyard, and so they take real pride in the progress that we are making.
“That makes our job so much easier. We know the community is behind us. All we have to do is continue keeping them satisfied.
“Connecting people, and connecting to people, is what we do.”
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