Pueblo Memorial Airport

Pueblo Memorial Airport
Pueblo Army Air Base
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Pueblo
Serves Pueblo, Colorado
Elevation AMSL 4,729 ft / 1,441 m
Coordinates 38°17′21″N 104°29′47″W / 38.28917°N 104.49639°W / 38.28917; -104.49639Coordinates: 38°17′21″N 104°29′47″W / 38.28917°N 104.49639°W / 38.28917; -104.49639
Website http://www.flypueblo.com...
Map
PUB
Location of airport in Colorado / United States
PUB
PUB (the US)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
8R/26L 10,498 3,200 Asphalt
8L/26R 4,690 1,430 Asphalt
17/35 8,310 2,533 Asphalt
Statistics
Aircraft operations (2013) 165,876
Based aircraft (2017) 128

Pueblo Memorial Airport (IATA: PUB, ICAO: KPUB, FAA LID: PUB) is a public airport located six miles east of Pueblo, in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States.[1] It is primarily used for general aviation.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 4,345 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[2] 5,192 in 2009 and 11,641 in 2010.[3] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a non-primary commercial service airport based on enplanements in 2008/2009 (between 2,500 and 10,000 per year).[4]

History

Built in 1941 as the Pueblo Army Air Base, it was used as an advanced flying school to train B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator four engine heavy bomber crews. It was under the command of the United States Army Air Forces Second Air Force 360th Army Air Force Base Unit. Known bomb groups which trained or based at Pueblo were:

  • 94th Bombardment Group (B-17) January - April 1943
  • 302d Bombardment Group (B-24) 30 September 1942 - 1 December 1942
  • 351st Bombardment Group (B-17) 1 March - 12 April 1943
  • 381st Bombardment Group (B-17) 5 April - 9 May 1943
  • 400th Bombardment Group (B-17) 2 May - 31 July 1943
  • 466th Bombardment Group (B-29) 25 July - 15 August 1945
  • 469th Bombardment Group (B-24) 1–7 May 1943
  • 471st Bombardment Group (B-24) 7 May 1943 - 28 January 1944
Pueblo Memorial Airport terminal

The history of the Air Base is preserved with the Pueblo Historical Aircraft Society and its Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum.[5]

In 1948 it was handed over to the City of Pueblo. In the 1960s the main east-west runway (8/26) was extended from 6,000' to 10,000' to accommodate jet aircraft.

Today, Pueblo Memorial Airport is home of the United States Air Force's Initial Flight Training (IFT) program under the cognizance of the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph AFB, Texas and the 306th Flying Training Group at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado. IFT began operations on October 1, 2006, replacing the former Pilot Indoctrination Program (PIP) for USAF Academy cadets, the Flight Instruction Program (FIP) for Air Force ROTC cadets, and the Initial Flight Screening (IFS) program previously operated at South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo, Texas for USAF officers commissioned via Officer Training School. Doss Aviation, under contract with the USAF, conducts flight training for between 1300 and 1700 USAF officer student pilot and student combat system officer trainees annually.[6]

Facilities

Pueblo Memorial Airport covers 3,872 acres (1,567 ha) at an elevation of 4,729 feet (1,441 m). It has three runways:[1][7]

  • 8R/26L is 10,498 by 150 feet (3,200 x 46 m), the primary runway.
  • 17/35 is 8,310 by 150 feet (2,533 x 46 m)
  • 8L/26R is 4,690 by 75 feet (1,148 x 23 m)

Runways 8R/26L and 17/35 are asphalt with a porous friction course overlay to improve surface drainage and increase aircraft braking action. Runway 8L/26R has a 3-4 inch asphalt overlay on 7 inches (180 mm) of Portland cement concrete.[7]

In the year ending January 1, 2011 the airport had 182,119 aircraft operations, an average of 498 per day: 95% general aviation, 3% air taxi, <1% airline and 2% military. In March 2017, there were 128 aircraft based at this airport: 109 single-engine, 9 multi-engine, 8 jet, 1 helicopter and 1 glider.[1]

Airline Service

Four airlines operated scheduled jet flights with mainline aircraft types into the airport in the past. The original Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) flew Boeing 727-200 and 737-200s to Denver, Trans World Airlines (TWA) Boeing 727-200s flew to St. Louis and America West Airlines Boeing 737-200s flew to Phoenix. Some of these flights stopped at Colorado Springs Airport en route. Allegiant Air operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s non-stops to Las Vegas beginning in October 2010; however, this service was ended on April 8, 2012.

Prior to the advent of jet service at Pueblo, the original Frontier Airlines operated nonstop and direct flights to Denver and Santa Fe, NM with Convair 580 turboprops and flew direct to Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson and other cities in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Central Airlines Convair 600 turboprops flew nonstop to Denver and Amarillo as well as direct to Kansas City and other cities in Kansas.[8] The original Frontier Airlines acquired Central in October 1967. Continental Airlines served Pueblo in the early 1960s with Vickers Viscount four engine turboprops with service to Denver, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and El Paso. Later, Rocky Mountain Airways de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters and DHC-7 Dash 7s flew nonstop or direct to Denver. Rocky Mountain Airways later operated Continental Express service to Denver on behalf of Continental Airlines with ATR 42 and Beechcraft 1900 turboprops.[9] Mesa Airlines flying as United Express on behalf of United Airlines also operated service to Denver with Beechcraft 1900 turboprops.[10]

In early 2014 Great Lakes Airlines was the only passenger airline at Pueblo, flying Beechcraft 1900Ds to Denver. This service was replaced by SkyWest Airlines operating as United Express and flying 30-seat Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops to Denver on April 1, 2014. SkyWest briefly operated Bombardier CRJ-200 regional jet service on the route to Denver after the EMB-120 was retired from the fleet; however, SkyWest then ceased all service in the spring of 2015. Great Lakes airlines resumed service to Denver in 2016 in beechcraft 1900's. Skywest operates flight to Denver on behalf of United Express again with CRJ200 aircraft which started on December 1, 2017.[11]

Airline and destination

AirlinesDestinations
United Express Denver

The service between Pueblo and Denver is operated by SkyWest on behalf of United Express.

Carrier shares: (July 2017 - June 2018)
Carrier Passengers (arriving and departing)
SkyWest Airlines
10,821(100%)
Top destinations
(July 2017 - June 2018, enplanements)
Rank Airport Passengers Carrier
1 Denver, Colorado 5,296 SkyWest Airlines [12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 FAA Airport Master Record for PUB (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective Mar 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF, 2.03 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010.
  5. ↑ Colo State's Pueblo Army Airbase Website
  6. ↑ DOSS Initial Flight Screening Company Website
  7. 1 2 Pueblo Memorial Airport: General Information
  8. ↑ timetableimages.com., July 1, 1967 Central Airlines timetable
  9. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 15, 1989 & Oct. 1, 1991 Official Airline Guide (OAG) editions, Denver-Pueblo schedules
  10. ↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Oct. 1, 1991 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Denver-Pueblo schedules
  11. ↑ 2017, UBM (UK) Ltd. "United resumes Denver – Pueblo route from Dec 2017". Routesonline. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  12. ↑ https://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=PUB&Airport_Name=Pueblo, CO: Pueblo Memorial&carrier=FACTS

Other sources

  •  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket OST-1999-6589) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Order 2004-7-10 (July 15, 2004): selects Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service with 19-passenger B1900D aircraft at Alamosa and Cortez, Colorado, for two years for annual subsidy rates of $1,083,538 and $853,587, respectively, and Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a Air Midwest to provide essential air service with 19-passenger B1900D aircraft at Pueblo, Colorado, for two years at a subsidy rate of $618,621 annually. Also authorizes Great Lakes Aviation to reduce its current Pueblo service to two round trips each weekday and each weekend, and set a final subsidy rate of $687,616 on an annual basis for that service until Air Midwest inaugurates its service at Pueblo.
    • Order 2005-11-26 (November 22, 2005): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd., to provide essential air service with 19-passenger B1900D aircraft at Pueblo, Colorado, for two years at a subsidy rate of $780,997 annually.
    • Order 2007-11-10 (November 15, 2007: selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at Pueblo, Colorado, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,057,128, for two years, beginning February 1, 2008.
    • Order 2009-11-15 (November 23, 2009): selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to continue to provide essential air service (EAS) at Pueblo, Colorado, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,299,821, for the two-year period from February 1, 2010, through January 31, 2012.
    • Order 2011-12-4 (December 13, 2011): re-selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to continue to provide essential air service (EAS) at Pueblo, Colorado, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,592,276, for the two-year period from February 1, 2012, through January 31, 2014.


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