- For the World War II use of the airport see San Angelo Army Airfield
San Angelo Regional Airport (IATA: SJT, ICAO: KSJT, FAA LID: SJT), also known as Mathis Field, is a public airport serving the city of San Angelo, in Tom Green County, Texas, USA. The airport covers 1,503 acres (608 ha) and has three runways. The airport also offers free parking.
History
The airport, originally named Carr Field, was built in 1941 by the United States Army Air Forces as a pilot training airfield. Activated on 1 June 1942, the airfield was assigned to the AAF Gulf Coast Training Center, with the Army Air Force Pilot School (Bomber and Specialized 2/4-Engine) activated (phase 3 pilot training). The school's mission was to train cadets to fly transports and bombers. It was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 June 1946. Later the facility was disposed of by the War Assets Administration (WAA) and deeded to the local government.
The airport was later renamed in honor of local Jack W. Mathis, a bombardier who received the Medal of Honor. It now provides daily commercial service for the City of San Angelo, its adjacent metropolitan area, and nearby Goodfellow Air Force Base, with flights to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Overview
After receiving strong growth of 5.3% emplanements per year, Mathis Field was in need of new facilities.
Nearly $4.9 million was acquired to start construction. The crown jewel of the project was the terminal and apron that was built in 1955. The terminal has had the baggage claim area expanded to ease congestion, two new jetways added and more room made available for the TSA as new X-ray machines will be installed as required for every commercial airport.
San Angelo Regional Airport is classified as Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Index B, which makes the facility capable of handling regularly scheduled Boeing 737 Classic Aircraft.
Facilities and aircraft
Although the airport is open 24 hours, the control tower is operated by FAA contract employees and is staffed between the hours of 7:00Â a.m. until 9:00Â p.m.
The airport currently has two full service Fixed Based Operators and has two aircraft maintenance and repair operations on site. In addition to that, the facility is home to stations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol.
Many new services have been constructed since 2008 to replace or add convenience to the general aviation public. Much of the newly constructed services include a general aviation terminal, maintenance and fuel facilities, hangars, T-hangars and tie downs. With the new additions, there is a capability to hold about 170 aircraft. The tie downs are available at no cost.
A little more than 120 aircraft are based at airport. With more than 100,000 aircraft that operate out of Mathis per year, there is an average of about 279 per day.
Airline and destination
American Eagle service into San Angelo is currently operated by Envoy Air with Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets on behalf of American Airlines.
Historical airline service
Continental Airlines began scheduled passenger service to San Angelo during the 1940s and by 1948 was operating Douglas DC-3 aircraft on a daily round trip routing of San Antonio - San Angelo - Big Spring - Midland/Odessa - Hobbs, NM - Carlsbad, NM - El Paso - Albuquerque - Santa Fe, NM - Las Vegas, NM - Pueblo, CO - Colorado Springs - Denver. By 1951, Continental was operating Convair 240 propliners into the airport on the same basic San Antonio - Denver multi-stop round trip routing although their flights no longer stopped at Big Spring or Las Vegas, NM. Continental then introduced the first turbine powered airliner service into San Angelo with the British-manufactured Vickers Viscount four engine turboprop and by 1963 was flying a daily round trip routing of Houston Hobby Airport - Austin - San Angelo - Midland/Odessa - El Paso - Tucson - Phoenix - Los Angeles as well as operating direct Viscount propjet service to Lubbock and Amarillo via Midland/Odessa. Continental then ceased all service into the airport and by 1964 was no longer serving San Angelo.
In 1949, Houston-based Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) was serving San Angelo with 21-seat Douglas DC-3 aircraft (which the airline called "Starliners") flying a daily round trip routing of Dallas Love Field - Fort Worth - Brownwood, TX - Coleman, TX - San Angelo - Fort Stockton - Marfa/Alpine, TX - El Paso. By 1961, Trans-Texas was operating Convair 240 aircraft into the airport and was flying a routing of San Angelo - Brownwood, TX - Fort Worth - Dallas Love Field - Texarkana, TX - Hot Springs, AR - Little Rock - Pine Bluff, AR - Memphis with the Convair in addition to operating nonstop DC-3 flights to Dallas Love Field, San Antonio and Midland/Odessa as well as direct DC-3 service to El Paso and Shreveport. In 1966, all TTa flights into San Angelo were being operated with Convair 600 turboprops with nonstop service to Austin, Abilene, Brownwood and Midland/Odessa, and direct one stop flights to Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby Airport and El Paso. Trans-Texas Airways then changed its name to Texas International Airlines in 1969.
Texas International introduced jet service into San Angelo and in 1970 was operating nonstop Douglas DC-9-10 flights to Austin, Abilene and Midland/Odessa as well as direct, no change of plane DC-9 service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Houston Intercontinental Airport, San Antonio and El Paso. The airline was also serving the airport with Convair 600 turboprops at this time. Texas International continued to serve San Angelo with jets during the 1970s and by 1978 was operating all service from the airport with DC-9 twin jet aircraft with four direct flights a day to Dallas/Fort Worth with all flights making an intermediate stop in Abilene. The airline was subsequently merged into Continental Airlines in 1982 and ceased all service into San Angelo.
Following the cessation of service by Texas International, Rio Airways, which was an independent commuter airline at the time, began turboprop service into San Angelo and in 1983 was operating 50-seat de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7s and 19-seat Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners with eight nonstop flights a day to Dallas/Fort Worth. By 1985, Rio had become a Delta Connection air carrier via a code sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines and was providing passenger feed to and from San Angelo with 19-seat Beechcraft 1900C and de Havilland Dash 7 turboprops with seven round trip flights a day in support of Delta's connecting hub operation at this time at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). By 1989, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA, now ExpressJet) had replaced Rio as the Delta Connection carrier serving San Angelo and was operating 19-seat Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and 30-seat Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops on the DFW route. There was also competition at this time to Dallas/Fort Worth as American Eagle had begun service to San Angelo operating 19-seat British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and 37-seat Gulfstream I-C turboprops. In 1995, American Eagle and Delta Connection were continuing to compete on the DFW route with American Eagle operating all flights into the airport with 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops while Delta Connection/ASA was continuing to fly Embraer Brasila and Bandeirante aircraft on their San Angelo services. By 1999, San Angelo was no longer served by Delta Connection with Delta eventually closing their DFW hub thus leaving American Eagle as the only air carrier operating nonstop service to Dallas/Fort Worth which continues to be the case at the present time. American Eagle would eventually retire all of their turboprop aircraft system wide including the ATR-72 and begin operating regional jets on all code share flights operated on behalf of American Airlines which includes their current service into San Angelo.
Over 40 years after Continental Airlines had ceased mainline service into San Angelo, the airline established code share feeder service flown by Colgan Air operating as Continental Connection with Saab 340 turboprop service nonstop to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH). These flights were eventually discontinued in 2008 and Continental was merged into United Airlines.
Ground transportation
A number of companies offer taxi and shuttle service throughout San Angelo and the surrounding Tom Green County Area. The airport is served onsite by Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz and Thrifty car rental companies. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is available off site.
References
- Airport Master Record (FAA Form 5010), also available as a printable form (PDF)
- [4] (official web site)
External links
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KSJT
- ASN accident history for SJT
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KSJT
- FAA current SJT delay information