McGhee Tyson Airport

McGhee Tyson Airport Template:Airport codes is a public/military airport Template:Convert south of Knoxville,<ref name="FAA">Template:FAA-airport. Federal Aviation Administration. effective April 17, 2025.</ref> in Alcoa, Tennessee. It is named for United States Navy pilot Charles McGhee Tyson, who was killed in World War I.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Owned by the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, it is served by several major airlines and employs about 2,700 people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is a 30-minute drive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.<ref>City of Alcoa, official website</ref> The airport is the home of McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, an air base for the 134th Air Refueling Wing (134 ARW) of the Tennessee Air National Guard.

History

On August 1, 1930, the original McGhee Tyson airport opened, named for Charles McGhee Tyson. It was built on Template:Convert in West Knoxville where West High School is now located. In 1935, the city purchased Template:Convert in Blount County for the current airport. On July 29, 1937, an American Airlines Stinson Trimotor (about 10 seats) touched down, the first airline flight; before that, American's Stinsons landed at Island Airport on Dickinson Island east of town. The 1938 directory shows a Template:Convert N–S runway and a Template:Convert NE-SW runway at McGhee Tyson;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the 1939 directory shows Template:Convert N–S and Template:Convert NE-SW. The city built a control tower in 1941.

The development of TYS helped the City of Alcoa diversify its economy and gain its economic independence from what is today Arconic Inc. (formerly Alcoa Inc.), the world's third largest producer of aluminum.<ref name="cityofalcoa-tn.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alcoa Inc. built one of its production plants in Alcoa because of the proximity of dams along the Little Tennessee River which were a hydroelectric energy source for the production of aluminum.<ref name="cityofalcoa-tn.gov"/>

In 1951, the United States Air Force built several facilities on the field and Template:Convert runway 5L. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) added an Instrument landing system to runways 5L and 23R in 1959. In 1961, with financing by the Tennessee Air National Guard, runway 5L was extended to Template:Convert. The first scheduled airline jets were Delta DC-9s in December 1965.

In 1968, McGhee Tyson built a new air cargo facility; a new passenger terminal opened in 1974, a few years after runway 18/36 closed. Four years later, the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority (MKAA) was established. In 1990, runway 5R/23L was rebuilt to Template:Convert. In 1992, the airport authority built a new 21-acre cargo facility on the north side of the airport for Federal Express, UPS and Airborne Express. Buildings were designed to meet the carriers' needs; 90% of the air cargo operations are UPS and Federal Express. Cost of the project was estimated at $9.3 million.

In 2000, improvements to the passenger terminal were finished at a cost of $70 million, including two new concourses, 12 new gates, ticket counters, and a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. In 2002 an aircraft maintenance facility was built for Northwest Airlines, serving as their primary CRJ MRO facility.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The now-defunct ExpressJet Airlines built a heavy-maintenance hangar near the air cargo facilities for its fleet. In June 2009, a new food court was completed, featuring Starbucks, Quiznos, Cinnabon, and Zia locations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Zia location was replaced in April 2013 with an Uno Express Pizza.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Primary source inline

In November 2016, the agency that operates McGhee Tyson received a $27.9 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to complete the next phase of a multi-year runway expansion, the most expensive project the airport ever has undertaken.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The north runway, 5L/23R, is being lengthened to Template:Convert. During the work, Template:Convert of that runway were demolished while Template:Convert remained open for small planes. Airliners still land on Runway 5R/23L, which will remain Template:Convert long.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On December 17, 2021, the rebuilt 10,000-foot runway 5L/23R reopened.

In 2024, TYS Airport set an all-time record with 3.3 million passengers traveling through the airport, a 17.8% increase over 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Facilities

McGhee Tyson Airport covers Template:Convert at an elevation of Template:Convert. It has two parallel runways: 5L/23R is 10,000 by 150 feet (3,048 x 46 m) concrete and 5R/23L is 9,000 by 150 feet (2,743 x 46 m) asphalt.<ref name="FAA" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} FAA data effective April 17, 2025.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The fixed-base operator (FBO) at TYS is Signature Aviation, the parent company of Signature Flight Support. In July 2022 Signature Aviation announced the acquisition of the TAC Air division of TAC (Truman Arnold Companies) and the FBO was rebranded to join the Signature network.

Originally, Tac Air first moved into TYS on April 1, 2005, when it purchased Knox-Air, which had operated in TYS since 1974. Then a month later, on May 5, 2005, TAC Air purchased the only remaining FBO, Cherokee Aviation, which had been in operation since 1954. TAC Air combined these two FBOs under their own name, and they were the sole supplier of aviation fuel for commercial, corporate and general aviation aircraft as well as leased hangar space at the airport.

In 2023, the airport had 104,459 aircraft operations, averaging 286 per day: 46,858 general aviation, 18,433 air taxi, 9,952 military, and 29,216 air carrier.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, 186 aircraft were based at the airport: 84 single-engine, 26 multi-engine, 50 jet, 22 military, and 4 helicopter.<ref name="FAA" />

TYS is home to a maintenance base for Endeavor Air, crew base for Allegiant Air, and delivery, maintenance and training centers for Cirrus Aircraft.

Terminal

McGhee Tyson Airport has two levels. The top level is accessed via the curbside drop off and the parking garage. The top level has ticket counters, security, gates, restaurants and shops. It is designed with a Smoky Mountain theme, complete with faux waterfalls and wood carvings of bears. The bottom level is used for car rental counters, three baggage claims, airline offices, and airport offices.

Airbus A320 in Gate 2 at Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport

There are 12 gates. On a regular day Gates 2 & 4 are used by Allegiant Air, Gate 6 is a common use gate, Gates 8, 10, & 12 are used by American, Gates 1, 3 & 5 are used by Delta, and Gates 7, 9, & 11 are used by United. Gate assignments can be subject to change.

In July 2023, the airport announced the planning of a six-gate expansion to the terminal, with a target completion date of 2028, to meet the growing needs of the region.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In January 2024, airport officials announced they would be closing part of the airport's long-term parking lot to begin a project to build a new six story garage that would add 3,500 parking spots.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Destinations Map
Template:Location map+

Statistics

Top destinations

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Rank	Airport	Passengers	Airline
1	Template:Flagicon Atlanta, Georgia	277,650	Delta
2	Template:Flagicon Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas	196,820	American
3	Template:Flagicon Charlotte, North Carolina	158,210	American
4	Template:Flagicon Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois	154,890	American, United
5	Template:Flagicon Denver, Colorado	95,080	Allegiant, Frontier, United
6	Template:Flagicon Orlando/Sanford	94,990	Allegiant
7	Template:Flagicon New York–LaGuardia, New York	83,480	American, Delta
8	Template:Flagicon Fort Lauderdale, Florida	73,210	Allegiant
9	Template:Flagicon St. Petersburg, Florida	72,330	Allegiant
10	Template:Flagicon Houston–Intercontinental, Texas	66,840	United

Airline market share

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Rank	Airline	Passengers	Share
1	Allegiant Air	899,000	26.34%
2	PSA Airlines	417,000	12.22%
3	Endeavor Air	398,000	11.66%
4	American Airlines	389,000	11.40%
5	Delta Air Lines	362,000	10.60%
	Other	948,000	27.79%

Annual traffic

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Year	Passengers	Operations	Total Freight (lbs.)
2017	1,988,626	105,605	82,950,774(a)
2018	2,221,137	115,786	81,377,317(a)
2019	2,572,822	123,664	95,026,344
2020	1,161,447	92,406	84,151,936
2021	1,995,197	99,080	89,230,552
2022	2,495,737	102,702	79,334,045
2023	2,835,773	104,459	76,552,366
2024	3,339,757	108,402	69,762,953

Note:(a) Includes mail in final 2017 and 2018 total freight data.

Accidents and incidents

• On August 6, 1962, American Airlines Flight 414, a Lockheed L-188A Electra attempting to land at TYS in high winds associated with a thunderstorm veered off the right side of runway 04L and struck the raised edge of a taxiway that was under construction, causing the right hand main gear to separate. There were no fatalities and only one minor injury among the 67 passengers and 5 crew, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.<ref>Template:ASN accident</ref>
• On March 12, 1992, a USAir Express Jetstream 31 crashed on landing after the pilot failed to lower the landing gear. There were no passengers aboard, but the two crew members were killed.<ref>Template:ASN accident</ref>

References

• Template:Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Template:Official website
• 134th Air Refueling Wing
• Template:FAA-diagram
• Template:FAA-procedures