Long Beach Airport

Long Beach Airport (IATA: LGB, ICAO: KLGB, FAA LID: LGB) is a public airport three miles northeast of downtown Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.[1] It was formerly called Daugherty Field. The airport is currently an operating base for JetBlue, but it will close on October 6 as the carrier will move its operating base to LAX.

Long Beach Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Long Beach
Servessoutheastern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County
LocationLong Beach, California
Focus city forJetBlue Airways (ends October 6, 2020)
Elevation AMSL60 ft / 18 m
Coordinates33°49′04″N 118°09′06″W
Websitewww.LGB.org
Maps

FAA airport diagram
LGB
LGB
LGB
LGB
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 10,000 3,048 Asphalt
8L/26R 6,192 1,887 Asphalt
8R/26L 3,918 1,194 Asphalt
16L/34R 3,330 1,015 Asphalt
16R/34L 4,470 1,362 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
H1 20 6 Asphalt
H2 20 6 Asphalt
H3 300 91 Asphalt
H4 20 6 Asphalt
H5 20 6 Asphalt
H6 20 6 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Total Passengers3,584,203
Aircraft operations293,587
Sources: FAA[1][2]

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.[3] Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 1,413,251 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008,[4] 1,401,903 in 2009 and 1,451,404 in 2010.[5]

Overview

Located near the Los Angeles County and Orange County borders, Long Beach Airport serves the Los Angeles MSA. Due to its close proximity to the busier and larger LAX 20 miles away, the airport sees more domestic commercial passenger, cargo, military, and general aviation activity. The airport's placement near many residential areas has made the airport have one of the country's strictest ordinances limiting airport noise.[6]

It is the 10th busiest airport in California based on passenger boardings, at 1.4 million. As of May 2018, JetBlue operates the most airline flights out of Long Beach; the other airlines are American, Delta, Hawaiian, and Southwest. Air cargo carriers, including FedEx and UPS, also use LGB. 57,000 tons of goods are carried each year.

The Boeing Company (formerly McDonnell Douglas) maintains maintenance facilities for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas/Douglas aircraft (including the historic DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft) at Long Beach, and produced the C-17 through 2015. Gulfstream Aerospace operates a completion/service center.

Airline flights are restricted, but there are many charters, private aviation, flight schools, law enforcement flights, helicopters, advertising blimps, planes towing advertising banners, etc. Long Beach airport is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, with 398,433 aircraft movements in 2007.[7]

The Long Beach Airport has an aggressive noise abatement program, with three full-time noise specialists.[8] Under Long Beach municipal law, the city can criminally prosecute the aircraft's owner and the pilots for breaking the noise ordinance. As the airport continues to grow and air traffic increases, so do the complaints about loud and low flying aircraft. The airport produces a monthly noise and complaint report.[9]

Long Beach Airport has one terminal in Streamline Moderne style that is a historical landmark and was renovated in early 2013.

History

The first transcontinental flight, a biplane flown by Calbraith Perry Rodgers, landed in 1911 on Long Beach's sandy beach. From 1911 until the airport was created, planes used the beach as a runway.

Barnstormer Earl S. Daugherty had leased the area that later became the airport for air shows, stunt flying, wing walking and passenger rides. Later, he started the world's first flight school in 1919 at the same location. In 1923 Daugherty convinced the city council to use the site to create the first municipal airport.

Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan used to fly regularly out of Daugherty Field. Before his infamous flight from Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland in 1938, he had flown from Long Beach to New York. After authorities refused his request to continue on to Ireland, he was supposed to return to Daugherty Field, but a claimed navigational error routed him to Ireland. He never publicly acknowledged having flown there intentionally.

In the 1940s and 1950s the only airline nonstops from Long Beach Airport were to Los Angeles, San Diego, and sometimes Catalina Island; in 1962 Western Airlines introduced a daily Electra to San Francisco and one a day to San Diego. Jet schedules began in 1968; in 1969 Western Boeing 737-200s flew to Las Vegas, Oakland, and San Francisco. In 1980 the only jets were Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) flights to SFO.

In 1981 a new airline based in Long Beach, Jet America, began nonstop MD-80s to Chicago and, in 1982, to Dallas-Fort Worth. That year Alaska Airlines began nonstop Boeing 727s to Portland and Seattle. In 1983 American Airlines introduced nonstops to Chicago O'Hare and Dallas-Fort Worth, and United Airlines began nonstops to Denver; Continental Airlines started nonstops to Denver as well. In 1984 United scheduled two Boeing 767-200s a day nonstop to Denver, the largest passenger airliners ever to serve LGB.

Between 1990 and 1992 Continental, Delta, TWA, and USAir ended service to LGB, and American Airlines left in early 2006.[10] Alaska Airlines later ended mainline service, and ended codeshare service in 2015. Delta Connection and American Eagle regional jet flights continue at LGB. In February 2016 Southwest Airlines announced plans to begin service to the airport with an initial 4 available slots. On July 9, 2020, JetBlue announced that they would end service to the airport in October 2020, instead expanding their operations at nearby Los Angeles International Airport.[11]

Military use
Douglas C-74 Globemaster at Long Beach Airport with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft in the background.

To attract the United States Navy, the City of Long Beach built a hangar and an administrative building and then offered to lease it to the Navy for $1 a year for the establishment of the Naval Reserve Air Base. On May 10, 1928, the U.S. Navy commissioned the field as a Naval Reserve Air Base (NRAB Long Beach). Two years later the city built a hangar and administrative building for the United States Army Air Corps as well. Significant developments to the little city airport began only after the city built hangars and administrative facilities for the Army and Navy in 1928–30.

As a Naval Reserve Air Base the mission was to instruct, train and drill Naval Reserve personnel. A ground school was offered three nights a week at the base and two nights a week at the University of California in Los Angeles until 1930, when ground school was continuously offered at the base. On April 9, 1939, training in night flight began, and shortly thereafter its facilities began to be used by fleet aircraft as well.

With increased activity by airlines and the private airplane industry, particularly with Douglas Aircraft showing an interest in the Long Beach Municipal Airport, the facility needed more space. With Douglas Aircraft as a resident, the attitude of Long Beach's authorities became openly hostile to naval aviation, with its city manager saying that "the sooner the Navy gets out of the Long Beach airport, the better we will like it."

So the Navy had begun a survey for another site — unknown to city officials at the time. Admiral Ernest J. King, then the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, and Admirals William D. Leahy, Joseph K. Taussig, and Allen E. Smith pointedly requested that the city of Long Beach repair the runways and reminded the city that the Pacific Fleet, then lying offshore in Long Beach and San Pedro harbors, had a payroll of more than $1 million a month. Eventually the city complied with the Navy's requests.

The city remained hostile toward approving a lease on any additional land that the Naval Reserve now required.

The Navy, fed up with the city of Long Beach, decided upon the purchase of some property owned by a Mrs. Susanna Bixby Bryant, a fact made known by the commander of the base, Commander Thomas A. Gray, to the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Admiral John H. Towers. The circumstances behind the purchase were revealed to James V. Forrestal, Under Secretary of the Navy, and by him to the House Naval Affairs committee who approved the purchase. Although Comdr. Gray had offered Mrs. Bryant $350 an acre, in the best patriotic spirit she sold the property at $300 an acre.

With the site acquired, in 1941, construction funds soon followed and NAS Los Alamitos began to take shape. Upon the transfer of the Naval Reserve Training Facility to Los Alamitos, to the surprise of city officials of Long Beach, in 1942, instead of returning the Naval Reserve Air Base facilities at Long Beach to the city, the Navy turned over the facilities to the United States Army Air Forces, which had established a training base next to it. NARB Long Beach was not totally abandoned but became a Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS).

Through World War II the airfield was given over to the war effort. In August 1941 the Civil Aeronautics Administration took over control of the airport, which had grown to 500 acres (2.0 km2). Once Los Alamitos became an operational base in 1941, NAAS Long Beach now turned to servicing carrier borne F4Fs, SBDs, FM-2s, F4Us, F6Fs, TBF/TBMs, and SB2Cs. In addition, it had utility aircraft and such patrol planes as the PBY, SNB, GB3, NH, GH, and SNJ.

Shops inside the terminal

As the Navy's activities began to be shifted to Los Alamitos the Long Beach Army Airfield at Long Beach became the home of the Army's Air Transport Command's Ferrying Division, with the 1736th Ferrying Squadron assigned,[12] which included a squadron of 18 women pilots commanded by Barbara London, a long time Long Beach aviator.

Like the Naval Air Ferry Command at NAS Terminal Island, the Army's ferrying work was an immense undertaking, thanks to Douglas Aircraft's wartime production. Ground was broken for the initial Douglas Aircraft facility in November 1940, with dedication in October 1941. Douglas had been drawn to Long Beach's growing municipal airport with its Army and Navy facilities. With wartime contracts the company went into intensive production. The company's first C-47 was delivered 16 days after the attack of Pearl Harbor and another 4,238 were produced during the war. The plant turned out some 1,000 A-20 Havocs, not to mention 3,000 B-17 Flying Fortresses and 1,156 A-26 Invaders.

With the end of the war the U.S. Navy abandoned any use of Long Beach Municipal Airport and with it the designation of Long Beach as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station.

Facilities
Long Beach Airport's runway 30
The old terminal building in 2009

Long Beach Airport covers 1,166 acres (472 ha) at an elevation of 60 feet (18 m). It has three asphalt runways:[1]

  • 12/30 is 10,000 by 200 feet (3,048 x 61 m)
  • 8L/26R is 6,192 by 150 feet (1,887 x 46 m)
  • 8R/26L is 3,918 by 100 feet (1,194 x 30 m)

It has six helipads:

  • H1 is 20 by 20 feet (6 x 6 m)
  • H2 is 20 by 20 feet (6 x 6 m)
  • H3 is 300 by 35 feet (91 x 11 m)
  • H4 is 20 by 20 feet (6 x 6 m)
  • H5 is 20 by 20 feet (6 x 6 m)
  • H6 is 20 by 20 feet (6 x 6 m)

Runway 16L/34R and runway 16R/34L were permanently closed on July 21, 2016. Runway 16L/34R was 3,330 by 75 feet (1,015 x 23 m), and runway 16R/34L was 4,470 by 75 feet (1,362 x 23 m). Both runways will be removed.[13]

In the year ending September 30, 2019 the airport had 293,587 aircraft operations, average 804 per day: 86% general aviation, 11% airline, 3% air taxi, and <1% military. 369 aircraft were then based at the airport: 224 single-engine, 46 multi-engine, 41 jet, and 58 helicopter.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
American Eagle Phoenix–Sky Harbor [14]
Delta Air Lines Salt Lake City [15]
Delta Connection Las Vegas, Salt Lake City [15]
Hawaiian Airlines Honolulu [16]
JetBlue Austin, Boston, Las Vegas, New York–JFK, Portland (OR), Reno/Tahoe, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma (all end October 6, 2020)[11]
Seasonal: Bozeman (ends October 6, 2020)[11] 		[17][18]
Southwest Airlines Austin (begins November 1, 2020),[19] Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix–Sky Harbor (begins November 1, 2020),[19] Sacramento, San Jose (CA) [20]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
FedEx Express Fort Worth/Alliance, Memphis
UPS Airlines Louisville

Statistics

Top destinations
Busiest domestic routes from LGB
(May 2019 – April 2020)[21]
Rank City Passengers Airlines
1 Oakland, California 236,000 JetBlue, Southwest
2 Salt Lake City, Utah 220,000 Delta, JetBlue
3 Sacramento, California 214,000 JetBlue, Southwest
4 Las Vegas, Nevada 204,000 JetBlue, Southwest
5 San Jose, California 147,000 JetBlue, Southwest
6 New York–JFK, New York 79,000 JetBlue
7 Seattle/Tacoma, Washington 75,000 JetBlue
8 San Francisco, California 68,000 JetBlue
9 Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Arizona 59,000 American
10 Honolulu, Hawaii 54,000 Hawaiian

Airline market share
Largest Airlines at LGB
(October 2018 - September 2019)[22]
Rank Airline Passengers Share
1 JetBlue Airways 1,938,000 56.10%
2 Southwest Airlines 1,063,000 30.76%
3 SkyWest Airlines 165,000 4.78%
4 Mesa Airlines 129,000 3.72%
5 Hawaiian Airlines 116,000 3.36%

Annual traffic
Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at LGB, 2000 through 2019[23][24]
Year Passengers Year Passengers
2000637,85320102,978,426
2001587,47320113,099,488
20021,453,55120123,206,910
20032,875,52520132,942,873
20042,926,87320142,823,996
20053,034,03220152,523,686
20062,758,36220162,852,294
20072,906,55620173,783,805
20082,913,92620183,884,721
20092,909,30720193,584,203

Ground transportation

Long Beach Transit Routes 102, 104, 111, and 176 serve the airport. The 405 Freeway can be reached from the airport via Lakewood Boulevard. Wardlow Road runs from the airport to the Los Angeles County/Orange County border, where it becomes Ball Road and crosses the north edge of the Disneyland Resort; Long Beach Airport is the second closest airport to Disneyland, after John Wayne Airport.

Airport Improvements Program

On December 12, 2012, the Long Beach Airport completed a $136 million improvement project designed to modernize the main terminal without sacrificing its historic Art Deco architecture or reputation among travelers for convenience.[25] It was developed to improve the customer experience by providing resort-like amenities, having a central palm garden, outdoor dining areas with fire pits, wine bars, and 11 gates.

A new 2,000-space parking structure was completed ahead of schedule and below budget. In addition, $5 million was spent to refurbish the old terminal, which was originally built in 1941 and declared a historic landmark by the city decades later.

The new terminal retains the open-air feeling of the current terminal complex, and passengers still walk across the tarmac when boarding or leaving their planes. The baggage claim also is partially enclosed, as it was before.[26]

Accidents and incidents
  • On March 16, 2011, a privately owned Beechcraft King Air crashed shortly after takeoff, killing five people and injuring another.[27] The NTSB determined the cause of the crash to be a result of poor pilot technique that failed to maintain aircraft control, following a momentary interruption of power to the left engine caused by water contamination of the fuel. The NTSB found the water contamination was allowed to build up in the aircraft's fuel sumps due to poor maintenance and pre-flight practices, and lack of communication between the pilot and aircraft mechanics over who was responsible for draining the sumps before each flight. Because of this, enough water was allowed to build up in the fuel sumps to initiate this accident.[28][29]
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See also

References
  1. FAA Airport Master Record for LGB (Form 5010 PDF)
  2. "Monthly Noise and Activity Reports". Long Beach Airport. January 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  3. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on 27 September 2012.
  4. "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. 18 December 2009.
  5. "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. 4 October 2011.
  6. http://www.lgb.org/information/noise_abatement/frequently_asked_questions.asp
  7. "Traffic Movements 2007 PRELIMINARY". Airports Council International. 2007.
  8. Sumers, Brian (September 22, 2013). "Long Beach makes noisy pilots — and airlines — pay". Press-Telegram. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  9. "Monthly Noise and Activity Reports". Long Beach Airport. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  10. "American Airlines to end service from Long Beach Airport". North County Times. Associated Press. December 18, 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  11. "JetBlue's West Coast Focus City Strategy Lands at LAX". BusinessWire. July 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  12. Associated Press, "Pilot Survives Crash in Storm", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, Friday 7 January 1955, Volume LXI, Number 111, page 1.
  13. "Long Beach Airport Runway Removal Paves Way for Economic Opportunities". Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  14. "Flight schedules and notifications". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  15. "FLIGHT SCHEDULES". Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  16. "Hawaiian Airlins plans Long Beach late-May 2018 launch". airlineroute. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  17. "JetBlue Airlines Timetable". Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  18. https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/jetblue-to-leave-long-beach-airport-will-move-to-lax/ar-BB16xTaL
  19. "Southwest Airlines Extends Published Flight Schedule Through Jan. 4, 2021". Southwest Airlines. May 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  20. "Check Flight Schedules". Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  21. "Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Airport (LGB)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  22. "Long Beach, CA: Long Beach Airport (LGB)". Bureau of Transportation Statistics. May 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  23. "The Economic Impact of the Long Beach Airport 2011. Retrieved on Feb 12, 2015".
  24. "Long Beach Airport (LGB) - Monthly Noise and Activity Reports". www.lgb.org.
  25. Meeks, Karen Robes. "Long Beach Airport unveils resortlike concourse, terminals". Long Beach Press-Telegram. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  26. Weikel, Dan (May 4, 2010). "Long Beach Airport Moves Ahead With Improvement Project". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 27, 2010.
  27. "Cause Of Long Beach, Calif. Plane Crash Probed". NPR. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  28. Brief of Accident (Technical report). National Transportation Safety Board. 2012. WPR11FA166.
  29. Factual Report – Aviation (Technical report). National Transportation Safety Board. 2012. WPR11FA166.


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