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Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport serving Burlington, Vermont's most populous city, and its
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
. Owned by the City of Burlington, the airport itself is located in neighboring
South Burlington South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292, making it the seco ...
, just three
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...
s (6 km) east of Burlington's central business district. It is by far the busiest airport in Vermont, with 100 times the traffic of the second-busiest, Rutland–Southern Vermont Regional Airport. It is the only airport in the state with mainline commercial service. As of 2015, around 40% of the airport's passengers come from
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada. In 2019, the airport had 687,436 passenger boardings according to
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) records, an increase of 4.33% from the year prior. This airport is included in the FAA's
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. With the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of September 3, 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to develop a ...
for 2021–2025, which categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year). The airport serves as the base of the 158th Fighter Wing,
Vermont Air National Guard The Vermont Air National Guard (VT ANG) is the aerial militia of the Vermont, State of Vermont, United States, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Vermont Army National Guard an element of ...
and an Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) of the
Vermont Army National Guard The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mo ...
and the Vermont State Guard. In 2023, the airport was renamed to honor former U.S. senator
Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy ( ; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he also was the pr ...
.


History

On Saturday, August 14, 1920, the first aircraft landed at what became the Burlington Municipal Airport. The pilot was Captain Hubert Stanford Broad, who served in the Air Forces of Great Britain during World War I. He circled the city of Burlington, did a few stunts for awaiting spectators and landed his Avro plane in the new field north of Williston Road. This marked Burlington Airport's first fly-in. Not long after the Wright Brothers took to the air in a powered flying machine, WWI pilot and future Mayor of Burlington, Johnny Burns, Aviation Commissioner Mason Beebe and Chamber of Commerce secretary James Taylor raised funds to purchase the land and transformed the field into a landing strip in 1920. The airstrip was leveled using a horse-drawn grader and steamroller owned by the City of Burlington. The airport office was configured in the 1853 Eldridge Schoolhouse, which was relocated to the airfield by Burlington City crews. Technology was nonexistent. In 1921, there were no instruments or beacons to guide pilots to a safe landing. Instead, a circle of crushed limestone showed pilots where to land. After improvements to the landing field, the Burlington Municipal Airport—Vermont's Aerodrome—was formally recognized at a dedication ceremony on September 22, 1921, by Governor Hartness, a pilot himself. Also, in 1921, when J. Holmes Jackson was Mayor, the airport came under the management of the City of Burlington. In 1928, after further improvements, Burlington received recognition from the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America, and the local Board of Airport Commissioners was formed. Initial steps were taken toward making the airport financially sustainable when the commission established the first set of fees—renting hangar space. By 1930, traveling to Albany or Montreal could be done in record time when Curtiss-Wright Flying introduced service for both passengers and freight.


1930s

The airport has attracted aviation record setters. Post and Gatty were the stars of an air meet in Burlington in 1931. Grace Hall Pugh was Vermont's "First Lady of Aviation." A teacher from Ferrisburgh, Vermont, and the stepdaughter of Arthur Ashley, BTV's first airport manager, Pugh received a learner's permit to fly in 1932, and became the first licensed female pilot in Vermont in 1938. "When I got my first license, she said, there wasn't an Aeronautics Board. I got my license from the Motor Vehicle Department." During this period, Harold Hugh, a skilled pilot, was managing the airport and became the president of the newly formed Vermont Pilot's Association. On May 22, 1934,
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
was presented with the keys to the City of Burlington at the airport.Tabor, James M., ''Burlington International Airport: A History 1920–2010'', ''Transcontinental Metrolitho, Inc.'', 2010 Renowned for her solo flights across the Atlantic and the continental U.S., Amelia Earhart's vision for the future of flying was for flight to become a conventional means of travel for everyone. She used her celebrity status to promote this idea during her visit to Burlington in 1934. Arriving at the airport on a Central Vermont/Boston-Maine Airways Stinson Trimotor, a company she helped found and of which she was vice president, she was greeted by 2,000 people. Also in 1934, hundreds of Civil Works Administration temporary workers helped to prepare the north–south runway and apron for hard surfacing, using equipment from City of Burlington Public Works. In 1935, Earhart returned to Vermont to speak at the Vermont State House in support of increased aviation in the region. In 1941, 75 acres of land adjacent to the airport were purchased through a City of Burlington bond as part of a major upgrade of the airport.


World War II

With the onset of the World War II, the United States federal government created a Defense Zone extending inland from the coastline, where private aircraft were restricted from operating. Burlington Municipal Airport was located approximately outside of the Defense Zone, allowing it to conduct pilot training both locally and from other airports located within the restricted zone, one such example being Boston's Logan Airport. Due to increased demand, the Burlington Municipal Airport was noted as being the busiest airport in the world on both August 14, 1942, and February 11, 1943, with 662 and 793 landings, respectively. During the Defense Zone period, flight training at the airport, led by Harold High, numbered over 100 pilots. The airport averaged 4 to 6 landings an hour for every 24 hour period. In 1948, airport manager Hugh Finnegan saw the airport through tremendous expansion. By the time of his unexpected death in 1958, BTV consisted of 942 acres (up from 72 in 1920), boasted a new terminal and modern control tower, improved runways, and thoroughly accommodated the swelling ranks and infrastructure needs of the Vermont National Guard. Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy visited the airport on November 7, 1960. The next day he won the presidency. In 1964, then-Michigan congressman Gerald Ford joined a celebration at BTV to commemorate Mohawk's new jet service at the airport. People could now fly from BTV to JFK in a mere 42 minutes. A few years later,
Expo '67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...
, Montreal's World's Fair, gave rise to another Mohawk jet route: direct service between BTV and
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. By the end of the '60s, BTV was serving about 100,000 passengers annually. On February 24, 1969, the Burlington Board of Aldermen voted to change the airport's title from "municipal" to "international" as a means of re-branding the airport and steering it away from the perceptions of it being a small, community-based airport. In 1970,
Mohawk Airlines Mohawk Airlines was a local service carrier operating in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, mainly in New York and Pennsylvania, from the mid-1940s until its acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972. At its hei ...
introduced the first jet service to the airport. On May 11, 1971, Burlington voters approved a $1.25 million bond for a new terminal that opened on October 7, 1973. Burlington's airport manager from 1983 to 1986 was Walt Houghton, a pilot who commuted from Shelburne, Vermont, in his 1941 N3N Biplane, "Yellow Bird." The 1980s saw further expansion. People Express, the first no-frills airline, started service at Burlington in 1982. With the airport's combined 400,000 passengers, parking was a challenge, the terminal was crowded, the restaurant was full, and office space for airport workers was at a premium. This surge in business prompted yet another expansion of the airport. In October 1984, Houghton and the Airport Commission shared plans for major development. The terminal would go from 40,000 to 61,000 square feet, providing additional space for a single departure lounge, an expanded baggage claim area, and more concession stands. New enclosed walkways for boarding were a welcome relief for passengers, especially in winter. Additional space to accommodate future airlines was included in the plan, as well. In 1986, funded primarily by the FAA, crews broke ground on the project. Just before the new millennium, BTV experienced the sting of competition. Southwest Airlines began flying out of Manchester, New Hampshire, with low fares that prompted travelers to drive south to save money. The BTV team, headed by airport manager, JJ Hamilton, began negotiations with the brand new, low-cost carrier, JetBlue. The deal was successful.


2000s

In 2000,
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...
started flying to BTV, serving JFK. In November 2001, the TSA imposed heightened security procedures at all airports. Before
9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, security at BTV was a minor part of the annual budget and operations. The airport's security needs were handled by a small team of Burlington Police Department officers. Today, at BTV and all U.S. airports, security is managed by TSA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. Since 2000, $24 million in renovations and expansion has been invested at Burlington. In 2008, the airport authority completed a $15 million expansion project which added five gates (four with boarding bridges) and customer service areas, plus a 948-space parking garage and an elevated connected walkway. The airport set a local record in July 2008 when 759,154 passengers flew from Burlington, the first time the figure crossed 700,000. However, FAA data from 2015 show a decrease to 581,143 total enplaned, a significant decrease given stronger regional competition due to the increasing popularity of the recently constructed and renovated
Plattsburgh International Airport Plattsburgh International Airport is a county public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of the city of Plattsburgh, within the Town of Plattsburgh in Clinton County, New York, Unit ...
in Plattsburgh, NY. The airport serves its metropolitan area, which contained over 219,433 residents as of 2019 U.S. census
estimates In the Westminster system of government, the ''Estimates'' are an outline of government spending for the following fiscal year presented by the Cabinet (government), cabinet to parliament. The Estimates are drawn up by bureaucrats in the finance ...
. Due to the relatively small size of the market,
airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...
mostly fly
regional airliner A regional airliner, commuter airliner or feeder liner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically ...
s on their Burlington routes. Among these are Bombardier
CRJ-200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) are regional jets designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pro ...
, CRJ-700, and CRJ-900 and Embraer
ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...
and ERJ-175 regional jets operated by most of the major carriers.
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
,
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
and
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
notably fly some of the only daily flights using mainline aircraft. Currently, the largest scheduled passenger planes to fly out of Burlington are
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...
and
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...
flown by
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
,
A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...
s flown by
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
and
A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...
s flown to PHL flown year-round by
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
. Denver, Colorado, is the farthest destination served by any airline out of BTV. In 2008,
Big Sky Airlines Big Sky Airlines was a commuter air carrier in the United States that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned s ...
stopped flying the Boston route. On February 3, 2010,
AirTran Airways AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it was acquired by Southwest Airlines May 2, 2011. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines b ...
announced that it would not be returning to Burlington. Service started in early 2009 on
Boeing 717 The Boeing 717 is an American five-abreast narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Twinjet, twin-engine airliner was developed for the 100-seat market and originally marketed by McDonnell Dougla ...
aircraft operating 55-minute flights from Baltimore, but after six months, AirTran changed BTV to seasonal service, operating during the summer months. AirTran planned on resuming service in the spring of 2010, but for unspecified reasons, they did not. AirTran service lasted for eight months in 2009.
Allegiant Air Allegiant Air is an American ultra low-cost carrier, ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ult ...
ended service from BTV in March 2017. In 2010, a city-owned cable provider was unable to pay the city of Burlington the $17 million it owed. As a result, Moody's downrated the debt for the city as well as the airport's credit rating. Although voters approved a $21.5 million bond for airport expansion, this downgrade made borrowing the money too expensive. The airport, therefore, borrowed $7.5 million from the city for a $14.5 million garage expansion. In June 2011, the city asked for the money back. The airport was in the process of expanding the parking garage by adding two more levels on the north end, which would have given it a total of 2,700 parking spaces. The project was later completed in early 2012. The airport finished renovating the upper concourses bathrooms in late 2013. A reconstructed, Burgess-Wright biplane circa 1912 hangs from the ceiling in the main concourse. The mezzanine level includes an exhibit highlighting Native American Abenaki culture. Installations throughout the airport feature Vermont artists. The end of the 2000s saw 15 different commercial carriers, three cargo/freight carriers, and Vermont Air National Guard's F-16s flying in and out of the airport. Approximately 1.5 million people—passengers, meeters, and greeters—passed through the terminal annually. Between 2011 and 2018,
Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase as porter) is a Canadian airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto. It is the third largest airline in Canada, behind Air Canada and WestJet. Owned ...
offered winter seasonal service from
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto C ...
to Burlington Airport, though the route was dropped due to delays over customs and immigration facility at the Burlington Airport. In collaboration with the City of Burlington and Burlington Electric Department, BTV installed a 2000-panel solar array on the rooftop of the airport's northern garage and partnered with
Tesla Tesla most commonly refers to: * Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor * Tesla, Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, formerly Tesla Motors, Inc. * Tesla (unit) (symbol: T), the SI-d ...
to bring twelve electric charging stations to the airport in 2019. In 2020, the airport had fifteen gates serving five airlines. In April 2023, Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger announced the renaming of the airport as the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport in honor of former U.S. senator
Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy ( ; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he also was the pr ...
. In October 2023, JetBlue announced it would stop flying to JFK. The last flight to JFK was in January 2024. In January 2024,
Breeze Airways Breeze Airways, legally Breeze Aviation Group, Inc., is an American low-cost airline headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. The airline was founded by David Neeleman, who previously co-founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue, and Azul Linhas ...
started flights to
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
. It then added flights to
Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
and
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
.


Facilities and aircraft

Burlington International Airport covers an area of at an elevation of 335 feet (102 m) above
mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
. It has two
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
s: 15/33 is 8,319 by 150 feet (2,536 × 46 m) with an
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
and concrete surface; 1/19 is 4,112 by 75 feet (1,253 × 23 m) with an asphalt surface.
Heritage Aviation
is providing services such as de-icing, hangars and customs service for international traffic. The company is also the sole provider of fueling services for general aviation, commercial, and Vermont Army National Guard aircraft. As a Burlington-owned facility, the airport purchases electricity from the city-owned Burlington Electric Department. In 2009, the Airport Authority sought $45 million for a parking expansion, providing 1,400 additional spaces onto the current 3-story, 2,100 spaces garage. It would hold 3,500 cars within 5 stories. Completed in late 2011, the extension had half of the proposed parking spaces. , annual aircraft operations averaged 250 per day: 68%
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
, 10%
air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...
, 16% scheduled commercial, and 7%
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
, with 130 aircraft based at the airport.


Military facilities

The airport hosts two military installations. The first is Burlington Air National Guard Base and the 158th Fighter Wing (158 FW) based there, an
Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...
(ACC)-gained unit of the
Vermont Air National Guard The Vermont Air National Guard (VT ANG) is the aerial militia of the Vermont, State of Vermont, United States, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Vermont Army National Guard an element of ...
, flying the
F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. A multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warf ...
since August 2019. The 158 FW consists of approximately 1,000
Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...
personnel, both full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel and traditional part-time Air National Guardsmen. The second installation is an Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) of the
Vermont Army National Guard The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mo ...
where the 1st Battalion, 103d Aviation Regiment and the 86th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) is based. The airport is the muster point for the Air Wing of the Vermont State Guard.


Ground transportation

Green Mountain Transit Green Mountain Transit (GMT) is the regional public transit system based in Burlington, Vermont, which was formed in 2016 through the merger of two more localized transit systems: the Chittenden County Transportation Authority and the Green Mount ...
provides daily route 11 bus service to and from Downtown Burlington and the
University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...
.


Airlines and destinations


Statistics


Top destinations


Airline market share


Air cargo service

Both major commercial parcel carriers (
UPS Airlines UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, US. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide World's largest airlines#Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions), in terms of freight volume flown, UPS Airlines f ...
and
FedEx Express FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's List of largest airlines, largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leadi ...
) fly into BTV, providing service for much of northern Vermont. UPS uses
Wiggins Airways Wiggins Airways is an American cargo airline and fixed-base operator. It is an operating base of Ameriflight. History Startup The business was incorporated in Massachusetts on 2 December 1930 as E.W. Wiggins Airways, Inc. by president Elmer W ...
to ferry packages between Burlington and larger cargo hubs. FedEx Express in fact operates the largest aircraft to frequently utilize the airport. Cargo is flown in from the company's hub in Newark, NJ, via Syracuse, NY or Portland, Maine, aboard medium ranged Boeing
757-200 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its maiden fl ...
aircraft (up until 2011 this was done by aging Boeing
727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...
s before these aircraft were replaced by the newer, more versatile 757s). Upon arriving from Syracuse or Portland some of the cargo is unloaded from the 757 distributed to smaller, propeller-driven Cessna 208Bs operated by Wiggins Airways and flown to closer destinations such as Bangor and other destinations. UPS flies exclusive connection flights with aircraft from Wiggins Airways to airports in the Northeast with Cessna 208s and small jet aircraft.


Accidents at or near BTV

On January 29, 1990, a
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...
operated by
Airborne Express Airborne Express was an express delivery company and cargo airline. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, its hub was in Wilmington, Ohio. Airborne was founded as the Airborne Flower Traffic Association of California in 1946 to fly flowers fro ...
struck trees and crashed 1 mile SE of Burlington International Airport in snowy conditions. The aircraft was overloaded with cargo and failure to de-ice the plane prior to departure caused the plane to stall and crash. Both occupants were killed.


See also

*
List of airports in Vermont This is a list of airports in Vermont (a U.S. state), grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airports that ...


References


External links


Burlington International Airport (BTV)

Aerial image as of 25 April 1999
from
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...
''
The National Map ''The National Map'' is a Collaboration, collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the eff ...
'' * * {{Authority control Airports in Vermont Transportation buildings and structures in Chittenden County, Vermont Buildings and structures in South Burlington, Vermont
International Airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
Airports established in 1920 1920 establishments in Vermont Patrick Leahy