McGhee Tyson Airport

On August 1, 1930, the original McGhee Tyson airport opened, named for Charles McGhee Tyson. It was built on 60 acres (24 ha) in West Knoxville where West High School is now located. In 1935, the city purchased 351 acres (142 ha) 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 3,100-foot (940 m) N–S runway and a 4,200-foot (1,300 m) NE-SW runway at McGhee Tyson;[8] the 1939 directory shows 4,000 feet (1,200 m) N–S and 5,000 feet (1,500 m) 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.[9] 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.[9]

In 1951, the United States Air Force built several facilities on the field and 7,500-foot (2,300 m) 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 9,000 feet (2,700 m). 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 9,000 feet (2,700 m). 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.[10] 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.[11] The Zia location was replaced in April 2013 with an Uno Express Pizza.[12]

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.[13] The north runway, 5L/23R, is being lengthened to 10,000 feet (3,000 m). During the work, 3,000 feet (910 m) of that runway were demolished while 6,000 feet (1,800 m) remained open for small planes. Airliners still land on Runway 5R/23L, which will remain 9,000 feet (2,700 m) long.[14]

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

McGhee Tyson Airport covers 2,250 acres (9.1 km²) at an elevation of 979 feet (298 m). 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.[4][15][16]

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 2022, the airport had 102,702 aircraft operations, averaging 281 per day: 47,954 general aviation, 17,923 air taxi, 9,875 military, and 26,950 air carrier.[17] In 2018, 186 aircraft were based at the airport: 73 single-engine, 31 multi-engine, 35 military, 44 jet and 3 helicopter.[4]

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

• 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.[28]
• 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.[29]

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to McGhee Tyson Airport.

• Official website
• 134th Air Refueling Wing
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 5, 2023
• FAA Terminal Procedures for TYS, effective October 5, 2023
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KTYS
  • ASN accident history for TYS
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KTYS
  • FAA current TYS delay information