Macarthur Airport

It is seven miles (11 km) northeast of the central business district of the Town of Islip, which owns and operates the airport. It is named for General Douglas MacArthur and also known locally as Islip Airport; it is the only airport in Suffolk or Nassau County with scheduled service on major airlines and serves over two million passengers a year.


History
The airport began in 1942 as three paved runways built by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration) during World War II. The Town of Islip built a terminal in 1949, after taking the airport back from the Army Air Corps at the end of the war.

Through the 1950s, MacArthur was used by Sperry Corporation for aviation research.
Allegheny Airlines was its first commercial airline in 1960, offering flights to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. The Douglas MacArthur terminal was completed in 1968 and American Airlines began operating non-stop flights to Chicago in 1971.

American Eagle did hold non-stop flights to Boston too, but later discontinued service into the airport. Continental Express and Continental Connection flew into the airport as well, offering non-stop flights to Albany and to Cleveland, but discontinued service in 2005.
Spirit Airlines also had scheduled service to Florida and Detroit before they moved their New York destination to LaGuardia Airport in Queens during the early part of 2001.On July 3, Spirit Airlines once again announced they would discontinue service from Long Island MacArthur Airport on August 1, 2008 due to the rising cost of oil. In the same release, the airline announced that service would return when economic conditions improve. Delta Express, which offered non-stops to Orlando and Ft.

Lauderdale pulled out of Islip in the summer of 2003, after experiencing a decline in passenger traffic, dramatically decreasing passenger traffic at the airport. The airline then ceased operations in November 2003 after it was replaced by Song Airlines.

Delta has previously added service to and from Atlanta on Delta Connection, but that service ended on May 1, 2008.
Currently, US Airways operates short distance shuttles out of the old B concourse, featuring only one jetway and other gates that board from the tarmac. Southwest Airlines has established service to Florida, Baltimore, Chicago and Las Vegas.
In late September 2007, Ryanair, an Ireland-based airline, proposed to fly between MacArthur Airport and Dublin, Ireland.This will force the airport to build a customs and immigration area and will make MacArthur Airport the second airport in the state of New York having scheduled flights to another continent, the first being John F. As of right now, Ryanair has pulled their offer until they get aircraft with long enough range.
2004 Expansion and Corruption Scandal


FAA Diagram



Terminal area



The new control tower on the left is officially to begin operations in 2010.

The earlier tower on the right was built in 1962.



A Southwest Airlines 737 departing Runway 24

The airport embarked on an expansion in 2004 that included a $65 million Southwest Airlines terminal which was constructed and approved per all state regulations and codes. During the expansion construction period investigators discovered that the Islip town officials made modifications to the existing town-owned airport (not the Southwest expansion project) while ignoring state regulations for fire detection and suppression.
A major proponent of the expansion was Peter J.

McGowan's name was removed from the terminal after he resigned in March 2006 under felony indictments of grand larceny, tampering with a witness, bribe receiving, and filing a false instrument. He was jailed for 56 days for taking kickbacks and misusing more than $30,000 in campaign donations.Phase II consisting of four new Southwest gates opened in November 2006, giving them a total of eight gates. The new gate area is also the exit point of the terminal to the baggage claim, when before passengers would have to pass back through the ticketing area of the airport.

The New York - LaGuardia bound flight lost control soon after take off.
On July 25, 2008, at approximately 6:50 am, a bomb threat was received for a Chicago bound Southwest Airlines plane at gate A4, Flight 2622. The Southwest terminal was evacuated for several hours and a thorough search of the airplanes and buildings commenced with the Suffolk County bomb squad and K9 units.

No bomb was found and the terminal reopened around noon the same day.
On October 16, 2008, officials found a suspected pipe bomb in a passenger's luggage. Many hotels in the surrounding area also provide shuttle service to and from the airport.Suffolk Transit's S57 route also serves the airport connecting it with Sayville and the Smith Haven Mall.
Facilities and aircraft
Long Island Mac Arthur Airport covers an area of 1,311 acres (531 ha) which contains four runways and two helipads.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 173,346 aircraft operations, an average of 474 per day: 79% general aviation, 15% scheduled commercial, 6% air taxi and <1% military. There are 302 aircraft based at this airport: 58% single engine, 13% multi-engine, 18% jet aircraft, 9% helicopters, 1% ultralight and 3% military (percentages rounded).
The Suffolk County Police Aviation Section bases a Law Enforcement and MEDEVAC helicopter at the airport.

The base is staffed 24 hours a day by Police Officer pilots as well as a Flight Paramedic employed by Stony Brook University Hospital. The department is equipped with two crash trucks in addition to rescue and medical units.
Up until the early '90's, the 2nd Battalion (Attack), 142nd Aviation Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division's Aviation Brigade (NYARNG), flying Bell AH-1F Cobra gunships, was based at MacArthur Airport.
Construction on a new Control Tower for MacArthur Airport began in late 2008.

The tower is well on its way to be in use and will become a new landmark for KISP. The old Control Tower is very old and run down, which necessitated building a new control tower.
Popular Culture
The airport scene in The Out-of-Towners where George Kellerman (Jack Lemmon) and his wife depart Ohio for John F.