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114-664: Sacramento International Airport ( IATA : SMF , ICAO : KSMF , FAA LID : SMF ) is an international airport located in Sacramento , 10.5 mi (16.9 km) northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California , United States and covers 6,000 acres (2,400 ha). It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area , and it is run by the Sacramento County Airport System. The airport

228-533: A focus city airport for the company. By 2010, Pittsburgh was no longer listed as a US Airways focus city. US Airways now operated an average of only 39 departures a day exclusively to domestic destinations, compared to 2001 when it was a hub with 500+ flights a day with service across the United States and to Europe. Western Pennsylvania leaders and most notably the designer of the 1992 modernization of Pittsburgh International, Tasso Katselas , pointed out that

342-546: A brand new terminal by the year 2012. In 2008, the Sacramento County Airport System broke ground on the largest capital improvement project in the history of the County of Sacramento: "The Big Build." The expanded Terminal B was designed by Corgan Associates, Inc. in association with Fentress Architects . The landside (pre-security) portion of Terminal B was built by the joint venture of Austin Commercial, LP and Walsh Construction, and

456-675: A company founded in 1939 by du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont and Alexis Felix du Pont Jr. Headquartered in Pittsburgh , the airline served the Ohio River valley in 1939. In 1949 the company was renamed All American Airways as it switched from airmail to passenger service; it changed its name again to Allegheny Airlines on January 1, 1953. Allegheny's first jet was the Douglas DC-9 in 1966; it absorbed Lake Central Airlines in 1968 and Mohawk Airlines in 1972 to become one of

570-453: A concessionary agreement, forced US Airways into a second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings on September 12, 2004. Widespread employee discontent and a high volume of employee sick calls were blamed by the airline for a staff shortage around the 2004 Christmas holiday, a public relations disaster which led to speculation that the airline could be liquidated; the USDOT found that

684-712: A flight between SMF and Los Angeles by offering the airline $ 400,000 to operate out of terminal A or $ 150,000 to operate in terminal B; other airports were also trying to entice the airline. On July 6, 2013, the airport was one of ten airports that hosted flights diverted from San Francisco International Airport after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed short of the runway. On December 17, 2013, Aeroméxico began seasonal service to Del Bajío International Airport . On November 18, 2014, United Airlines announced it would suspend service to Washington D.C. from January 6, 2015, to April 6, 2015, citing seasonal demand. On May 4, 2015 Delta Air Lines started service to Seattle–Tacoma with

798-527: A new Terminal C that would contain 12 gates. At buildout, SMF is expected to have 50 gates over two or three Terminals. Future expansion plans include an extension of the Green Line to the airport, connecting passengers to Downtown Sacramento and a long-standing proposal to extend one of the airport's runways to 11,000 feet (3,400 meters) to support long-haul international flights, as well as the relocation of certain key taxiways. In mid-2024, construction began on

912-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

1026-552: A new terminal at its hub in Pittsburgh . In 1996 the alliance between USAir and British Airways ended in a court battle when British Airways announced its intentions to partner with American Airlines. About March 1, 1997 USAir changed its name to US Airways and introduced a new corporate identity. A stylized version of the United States flag was adopted as a new logo. The new branding was applied to terminals and ticket jackets. The airline painted aircraft in deep blue and medium gray with red and white accent lines. That same year,

1140-604: A press conference on July 15, 2011, at the California State Fair, announcing the terminal would open on October 6, 2011. This was many months ahead of schedule compared to the original projected opening in 2012. d The new Central Terminal B became fully operational on October 6, 2011. Salvage and deconstruction of the International Arrivals Building and demolition of the original Terminal B was completed November 2012. Travel + Leisure named Terminal B one of

1254-531: A process of de-emphasizing its hub-and-spoke system to capitalize on direct flights between major eastern airports such as Washington National Airport and New York-LaGuardia . The airline became the 15th member of the Star Alliance on May 4, 2004. Fuel costs and deadlocked negotiations with organized labor, chiefly the Air Line Pilots Association , traditionally the first group to come to

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1368-443: A renovation which replaced the asphalt with concrete. When winds are from the south (about 70% of the year), the airfield operates in "South Flow", with arrivals and departures on runways 17R and 17L. Arrivals from the south fly past the west side of the airport before turning 180 degrees and landing on 17L or 17R. This is done so that arriving aircraft clear departing aircraft, which generally turn southeast after departing. During

1482-446: A single contract, each group of crewmembers would fly only on its pre-merger airlines' aircraft and the flights would be marked accordingly. Since the computer systems were merged, former America West-operated flights were marketed as though America West was a wholly owned carrier. This marketing is common practice for airlines that have code-share agreements with other airlines operating aircraft for feeder or regional routes and although

1596-508: A site located on the north side of the Airport. It will stand 192-feet in height and the current cost estimate is between $ 60 million and $ 80 million. Construction is expected to finish by 2026. In January 2018, Sacramento International Airport's solar array was commissioned; it is rated at 7.9 MW and will supply around 30% of the airport's electricity needs. The electricity will be purchased by NRG Energy for an agreed period of 25 years. The project

1710-967: A smaller sample size, conducted in April, found that US Airways remained in last place, with its score dropping an additional 10 points. Also in 2007, the Today/Zagat Airline Survey rated US Airways as the worst airline overall in the United States, ranking it 10/30 for comfort, 5/30 for food, 10/30 for service and 15/30 for its online reservations system. On August 1, 2008, US Airways ceased providing free drinks; passengers could buy bottled water or soda for $ 2 or coffee and tea for $ 1. Shuttle flights between LGA , DCA and BOS continued to offer free beverages. US Airways resumed serving complimentary drinks in March 2009. US Airways ranked last out of 20 domestic airline carriers for on-time performance in March, April, and May 2007, according to DOT figures. According to

1824-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1938-777: Is also a gateway to various attractions in Northern and Central California, such as Heavenly Mountain Resort , Lake Tahoe , Yosemite National Park , Old Sacramento State Historic Park history of gold rush, underground tunnels, floods, and fire, etc., California State Capitol , Wine Country , Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area , Cosumnes River Preserve , Hawver Cave with a lake inside, Sutter's Mill and Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park and Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta . Sacramento International Airport (SMF) opened on October 21, 1967, as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport (the airfield itself

2052-544: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

2166-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

2280-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

2394-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

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2508-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

2622-415: Is preferred at night (between 2145 and 0745 local time), conditions permitting, to route flights over agricultural land. The airport has two terminals, Terminal A, with 13 gates; and Terminal B, with 19 gates; totaling 32 gates. The old Terminal B had 14 gates. 8 airlines operate out of Terminal B and 4 airlines operate out of Terminal A. All indoor public areas have free wi-fi (wireless Internet) provided by

2736-519: Is three times the size of the original Terminal B with the two parts of the complex – airside and landside – connected by the SMF Automated People Mover . The capacity of Terminal B is 16 million passengers per year, which is not expected to be reached until late in the 2020s. Approximately half of the $ 1 billion cost of the new terminal comes from a new ticket surcharge of $ 4.50 per passenger and parking fees. Airport officials held

2850-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

2964-517: The 2008 fuel crisis ended those plans. As a further result of the skyrocketing fuel costs, the airline rolled back the planned summer 2007 service upgrades as well as ending its existing in-flight entertainment on all domestic routes. A Consumer Reports survey of 23,000 readers in June 2007 ranked US Airways as the worst airline for customer satisfaction. The survey was conducted before the airline's March 2007 service disruptions. A follow-up survey polling

3078-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

3192-470: The Seabury Group , suggested putting the airline up for sale. The following month, US Airways Group and America West Holdings resumed their discussions. On May 19, 2005, both airlines officially announced the merger deal, structured as a reverse takeover . Financing for the deal was supplied by outside investors included Airbus , Air Wisconsin (a US Airways Express operator), and ACE Aviation Holdings ,

3306-602: The United States . It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation , which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed Allegheny Airlines and operated under that name for a quarter-century. In October 1979, after the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act , Allegheny Airlines changed its name to USAir. A decade later it had acquired Piedmont Airlines and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), and

3420-435: The consolidated rental car facility and Terminal A (designed by Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects) opened. The consolidated rental car terminal was the first of its kind in the nation and gave all rental car customers a single point of access that could be reached on a single shuttle. This innovation streamlined bus operations to reduce congestion at the terminal and improve air quality while enhancing customer service. With

3534-537: The largest airline in the world . The holding companies of American and US Airways merged effective December 9, 2013. The combined airline carried the American Airlines name and branding and maintained the existing US Airways hubs for a period of at least five years under the terms of a settlement with the Department of Justice and several state attorneys general. US Airways management ran the combined airline from

Sacramento International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-446: The "Coolest New Airport Terminals" in 2012. The airport's first waiter-serviced restaurants were introduced to the new Terminal B when it opened. These two restaurants are Esquire Grill by famous restaurateur Randy Paragary, a trendy and upscale option, and Cafeteria 15L, a low-cost and budget-inspired restaurant with fast food. Other Sacramento favorites held concession stands in the terminal, creating an entirely new Farm To Fork vibe in

3762-470: The 2010s. On June 1, 2023, Air Canada expanded its service at SMF by adding nonstop service to Toronto year-round. On June 15, 2023, the Sacramento County Department of Airports announced funding had been secured for the construction of a new air traffic control tower to replace the original tower that had been in place since the airport opened in 1967. The new tower will be constructed at

3876-633: The American headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas . On April 8, 2015, the FAA officially granted a single operating certificate for both carriers, marking the end of US Airways as an independent carrier. The brand continued to exist until October 2015. Its first hub was in Pittsburgh , and it operated hubs in Charlotte , Las Vegas , Philadelphia , Phoenix–Sky Harbor , and Washington–Reagan . The final US Airways flight

3990-507: The Bureau of Transportation Statistics June 2008 report (using data from May 2008), US Airways ranked seventh for percentage of on-time arrivals. US Airways was the leader in service complaints with 4.4 complaints per 100,000 customers. The US Airways rate of customer complaints was 7.5 times the rate of JetBlue (0.59 complaints per 100,000 customers) and 11 times the rate of Southwest Airlines (0.4 complaints per 100,000 customers). US Airways had

4104-475: The Pittsburgh airport itself, since US Airways had signed a 30-year lease and the county had issued $ 600 million in bonds for construction, which were supposed to be paid by US Air. US Air's move eliminated thousands of jobs and was a financial gut punch for the entire Pittsburgh region; former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said US Air's departure was the "second devastating economic blow after steel in

4218-420: The Sacramento County Airport System (previously the Sacramento County Department of Airports), including SMF, are self-supporting through user fees and rentals. No local, state or federal tax funds are used for operating costs. The airport initially had five airlines: Pacific Air Lines , Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), United Airlines , Western Airlines and West Coast Airlines . In the 1980s, SMF added:

4332-478: The Sacramento County Airport System. Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture has been the Architect of Record for SMF since its inception. The original Terminal B (1967) and Terminal A (1998) were designed by Dreyfuss + Blackford, and they served as the local architect for the new Central Terminal B (landside building, 2011) with Corgan Associates and Fentress Architects. A Hyatt Place hotel is planned to be built between

4446-453: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . USAir US Airways was a major airline in

4560-734: The US Airways and America West computer reservation systems merged. US Airways, which previously used the Sabre airline computer system, switched to the new QIK system, an overlay for the SHARES system, that had been used by America West. A few of the features from the Sabre system were incorporated into the new joint system, with the most prominent being the continued utilization of the Sabre ramp partition "DECS" for all computer functions related to weight and balance, aircraft loading and technical flight tracking within

4674-510: The US Airways brand. Operations were not fully integrated until October 2008, when government approval was obtained to allow the airlines to operate under a single operating certificate . In May 2006, the US Airways and America West web sites were merged. The new US Airways web site united the two brands using graphics and styles reflective of the airline's new livery and services. In July 2006, US Airways and America West ordered 20 new Airbus A350 aircraft. In December 2006, US Airways became

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4788-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

4902-538: The airline also introduced a single-class subsidiary known as MetroJet , which competed with low-cost carriers like Southwest Airlines expanding to the East. MetroJet operated Boeing 737-200s , the oldest aircraft in the fleet, allowing it to achieve the best utilization possible before being retired. On November 6, 1996, immediately prior to the rebranding to US Airways, the airline placed an order for up to 400 Airbus A320-series narrow-body aircraft, with 120 firm orders at

5016-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

5130-404: The airport surpassed its 2007 high of 10.7 million passengers, with 10.9 million passengers. Amongst the 35 largest metropolitan regions in the country, Sacramento has the fewest international flights. In 2016, American Airlines announced that it would begin flying between Sacramento and Chicago O'Hare beginning in June with twice daily flights for the summer season and a single nonstop the rest of

5244-478: The airport which Northern California is so renowned for. The Terminal B lobby prominently features the 2011 artwork "Leap" by Lawrence Argent , consisting of a 56-foot (17 m) long red aluminum rabbit leaping into a large granite suitcase, resulting in the unofficial nickname "the Hare-port." In total, 14 artists were commissioned at a sum cost of $ 6 million to create artworks for the new Terminal B, including

5358-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

5472-479: The availability of financing and merger partners, and after no financing was available, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in 2004 for the second time in two years. The airline merged in 2005 with America West Airlines . Under terms of the merger agreement, the America West board of directors created two new entities. First, a new "US Airways Group" was created to receive the bankrupt US Airways' assets and form

5586-1008: The call sign "CACTUS", while the pre-merger US Airways crews primarily flew with their respective aircraft and used the call sign "US AIR". In October 2008, the company began operating under a single operating certificate (that of the former US Airways). This required operation under a single call sign and identifier and that of America West ("CACTUS" and "AWE") were chosen as a sign of the company lineage. In addition, flights operated using former America West aircraft and crews were numbered 1–699, whereas flights operated by pre-merger US Airways aircraft and crews were numbered 700–1999. (Flights numbered 2000–2199 were shuttle services and those 2200 and higher were operated by express subsidiaries.) Aircraft operated by pre-merger US Airways crews or former America West crews flew under two different United States Department of Transportation operating certificates until September 25, 2007. However, until pilot and flight attendant union groups from both sides successfully negotiated

5700-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

5814-422: The company. America West Airlines and US Airways merged FAA certificates on September 25, 2007. Former America West employees (including pilots, fleet service personnel, flight attendants) remained on their original America West union contracts and did not fully combine workforces with their pre-merger US Airways counterparts. Until October 2008, former America West aircraft flew with their respective crews and used

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5928-425: The completion of the International Arrivals Building for federal inspection services. The Terminal A Parking Garage opened on September 23, 2004. The six-story structure had covered parking, a short walk to the terminal and public art ("Flying Gardens" by Dennis Oppenheim ) installed outside the garage, and "Flying Carpet" by Seyed Alavi, installed in the connecting walkway. In 2006, Sacramento International Airport

6042-738: The convenience of flying through SMF for residents on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area . Due to the Terminal B rebuild, until recently SMF charged some of the highest fees for airlines, which discouraged some carriers from operating through SMF, although SMF has since regained its reputation as a relatively budget-friendly airport, with extensive service by low-cost carriers, such as Frontier and Spirit Airlines. The Oakland and San Francisco airports attract Sacramento-area residents seeking lower fares and more destinations. Air Canada , American , Delta , and United operate out of

6156-461: The deal. As the largest carrier at Washington National Airport , US Airways was disproportionately affected by that airport's extended closure following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The resulting financial disaster precipitated the closure of the airline's MetroJet network, which led to the closing of the subsidiary's primary operating base at Baltimore-Washington International Airport and

6270-468: The downturn, new services began and several airlines merged. America West and US Airways merged, Northwest and Delta merged, and United and Continental initiated their merger by the end of 2011. Despite these challenges, Alaska added nonstop flights to Guadalajara, Mexico (now discontinued), and Hawaii (Maui) while Aeromexico's (2011) debut reestablished foreign-flag service with daily nonstops to Guadalajara, Mexico. The new Terminal B opened on October 6, 2011,

6384-519: The early '80s ." In August 2004, US Airways attempted to build a Latin American gateway at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood , announcing service to 10 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The attempt was largely unsuccessful and short-lived, in part due to Fort Lauderdale's proximity to American Airlines' hub at Miami International Airport and its extensive Latin American network. US Airways also began

6498-563: The early 1990s, USAir expanded to Europe with flights to London, Paris, and Frankfurt from its four main hubs. The company formed partnerships, marketing the Trump Shuttle as the "USAir Shuttle" and accepting a large investment from British Airways that started one of the first transatlantic alliances , resulting in several Boeing 767-200ERs being painted in the British Airways livery, but operated by USAir. In 1992, it also invested in

6612-663: The end of the decade. Although the airline returned to profitability in the mid-1990s, its route network's concentration in the Northeastern United States and high operating costs prompted calls for the company to merge with another airline. Beginning in 2000 US Airways started retiring aircraft in an attempt to simplify its fleet and reduce costs, replacing many of its older planes with the new Airbus A320 -family aircraft. On March 30, 2000, US Airways received its first Airbus A330-300 . On May 24, 2000, US Airways announced plans to be acquired for $ 4.3 billion by UAL Corp.,

6726-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

6840-414: The first 5 years of expansion that will ultimately lead to the completion of the 20 year Master Plan envisioned in 2020. Over the next five years, the airport plans to build complete the following: The current version of the 2020 Master Plan calls for SMF to expand and add up to 18 more new gates to existing Terminals A and B, including the proposed six to eight gates proposed with SMForward, or to construct

6954-501: The first American "legacy" carrier to add the Embraer 190 to its mainline fleet. It remains one of only three American carriers to operate the E190 in scheduled service, JetBlue and Breeze being the others. At the end of 2006, US Airways made a bid for competitor Delta Air Lines , which it opposed, treating it as a hostile takeover by US Airways. The final bid was valued at $ 10 billion but

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7068-559: The first plane on November 28, 1984. In 1979, USAir's network was east of the Mississippi, plus spokes to Houston and Phoenix; it added Dallas-Ft Worth and Kansas City in 1981, Denver in 1982 and Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in 1983. It acquired two commuter airlines, Pennsylvania Airlines and Suburban Airlines , in 1985. It bought San Diego –based Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in 1986 and Winston-Salem, North Carolina –based Piedmont Airlines in 1987. The PSA acquisition

7182-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

7296-493: The flights operated by SkyWest Airlines . On December 3, 2014, United Express ended service to Arcata/Eureka and Crescent City. On February 9, 2015, SeaPort Airlines began service to Visalia . On June 18, 2015, JetBlue Airways started seasonal service to Boston. On April 8, 2015, Southwest Airlines started service to Dallas–Love . They also announced (later in the year) service to Boise beginning January 6, 2016. On March 26, 2015, Aeroméxico started service to Mexico City. In

7410-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

7524-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

7638-521: The furloughing of thousands of employees. The airline entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 11, 2002, but received a government-guaranteed loan through the Air Transportation Stabilization Board and was able to exit bankruptcy in 2003 after a relatively short period. The airline made major cost reductions during its bankruptcy, but it still encountered higher-than-average per-seat-mile costs. In 2003, US Airways began exploring

7752-416: The glass and aluminum facade was constructed by AGA (Architectural Glass and Aluminum) . The airside gates and people mover were built by Turner Construction . The $ 1.03 billion terminal modernization project replaced the airport's original, aging Terminal B to meet the rising demand for passenger services and improved the airport's ability to attract new carriers and routes. The Central Terminal B complex

7866-434: The in-flight catering facility (1980), an FAA Flight Inspection Field Office (1985), a second air cargo facility (1985) and the east runway (1987). The east runway's opening was celebrated by the landing of a Concorde SST . America West Airlines , Continental Airlines , Morris Air , Northwest Airlines and American Eagle Airlines joined the original carriers at Sacramento Metropolitan Airport during this time. In 1998,

7980-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

8094-547: The largest airport terminal in the United States to achieve LEED Silver status. On June 5, 2008 US Airways began seasonal flights to Charlotte and Philadelphia . Sacramento was the origin for the last scheduled MD-80 flight on Alaska Airlines, Flight 363 from Sacramento to Seattle on August 24, 2008. In the summer of 2010, Delta Air Lines began seasonal flights to Detroit . Continental Airlines , which later merged with United Airlines , previously had seasonal flights to Newark . Sacramento's seasonal route operated during

8208-429: The largest carriers in the northeastern United States. In 1973 it was the ninth-largest airline in the free world by passengers carried (and 24th largest by passenger-miles). With expansion came growing pains: in the 1970s Allegheny had the nickname "Agony Air". Allegheny's agreement with Henson Airlines , the forerunner to today's US Airways Express carrier Piedmont Airlines , to operate "Allegheny Commuter" flights

8322-561: The list of carriers at Sacramento. Southwest and Alaska Airlines grew quickly, offsetting the departure of airlines such as American Eagle, Continental and USAir which had acquired PSA . September 11 did not deter growth at Sacramento International Airport. Four airlines were soon added to Sacramento International: Continental returned (2000) and Frontier Airlines (2002), Mexicana Airlines (2002), Hawaiian Airlines (2002) and Aloha Airlines (2003) initiated service. Mexicana's arrival initiated international nonstop flights and necessitated

8436-498: The merger to close on September 27. Since the merger, US Airways had been headquartered at the former America West corporate offices in Tempe, Arizona , and America West executives and board members were largely in control of the merged company. The company's aircraft merged FAA operating certificate included America West's airline call sign and identifiers "CACTUS" and "AWE". During 2006, the airline began consolidating its operations under

8550-524: The mixed media wood-and-crystal sculpture "Acorn Steam" by Donald Lipski (named as an anagram of "Sacramento"), the interactive "Your Words are Music to My Ears" by the collaboration Living Lenses, consisting of artists Po Shu Wang and Louise Bertelsen, a large wooden sculpture portrait entitled "The Baggage Handlers" by Christian Moeller , and a painted steel-and-glass house entitled "The House Will Not Pass for Any Color but Its Own" by Mildred Howard . IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

8664-410: The month of May, American Airlines added a fifth flight to Dallas Fort-Worth. On April 23, 2015, the airport announced that it had posted twelve consecutive months of improved passenger traffic that started in April 2014, and 8.9 million passengers were served in 2014. Passenger growth continued in 2015 and 2016, with 9.6 million passengers served in 2015 and 10.1 million in 2016. In 2017,

8778-493: The most efficient, least costly, and least financially wasteful airfield in the world. Although conceding that those updates cost more, he argued they were more than offset by Pittsburgh's vast built-in nonnegotiable fuel and time, and to a lesser degree, labor savings. Local officials maintain that Allegheny County "bent over backwards" to accommodate US Airways and saved them millions of dollars, only to be abandoned. US Airways's abandonment of its Pittsburgh hub nearly bankrupted

8892-474: The name US Airways Express via code sharing agreements. The airline had severe financial difficulties in the early 2000s, filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in two years. In 2005, America West Airlines carried out a reverse merger , acquiring the assets and branding of the larger US Airways while putting the America West leadership team largely in charge of the merged airline. In 2013, American Airlines and US Airways announced plans to merge, creating

9006-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

9120-481: The new corporation. Second, "America West Holdings" was merged into "Barbell Acquisition Corporation", a subsidiary of the new "US Airways Group", on September 27, 2005; through this transaction, "America West Holdings" became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new "US Airways Group". The "America West Holdings" stockholders were required to authorize these changes. Upon completion, 37% of the new "US Airways Group" would be owned by "America West Holdings" stockholders, 11% by

9234-523: The new gate A13 to a total back to 13 gates. Future expansion at Terminal A may include conversion to an airside concourse and the addition of a second automated people mover. Aeromexico , Alaska , Frontier , Hawaiian , JetBlue , Southwest , Spirit , and Volaris are located in the nineteen gates in Terminal B. The old Terminal B was built in 1967 as the main terminal building for the new Sacramento Metropolitan Airport with 14 gates before being demolished in 2012. The newer and bigger rebuilt Terminal B

9348-582: The next few years USAir closed down PSA's hubs in California and Piedmont's hubs in Dayton and Syracuse , though both remained focus cities. By 1990, the airline had consolidated its headquarters, moving from Washington National Airport to a new building at Crystal City , in Arlington County, Virginia , near the airport. Maintenance and operations headquarters remained at Pittsburgh International Airport. In

9462-441: The old "US Airways Group" debtholders and 52% by new equity investors. The result was the fifth largest US-based airline in terms of revenue. The merger was completed on November 4, 2007. While America West was the nominal survivor, the merged airline retained the US Airways name, since studies indicated that "US Airways" had better brand recognition worldwide than did "America West". In early 2003, US Airways management liquidated

9576-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

9690-476: The opening of the new Terminal A, the airport was renamed Sacramento International Airport , though it did not receive international flights until 2002 when Mexicana started nonstops to Guadalajara . The airport was designated a port of entry on October 5, 2006. The Sacramento County Airport System launched its website in April 1997. Southwest Airlines (1991), Alaska Airlines (1993), Horizon Air (1993) and Trans World Airlines (TWA) (1994) were added to

9804-472: The other 30% of the year (typically between the fall and spring), the airfield operates in "North Flow", with arrivals and departures on runways 35L and 35R. As in South Flow, departing aircraft generally turn east to southeast immediately after taking off, so arrivals from the north pass west of the airport before turning north to land. Residences near SMF are typically south and east of the airport, so North Flow

9918-540: The parent company of Air Canada . The merged airline retained the US Airways name to emphasize its national scope, as well as to capitalize on US Airways' worldwide recognition, Dividend Miles frequent flyer program , and Star Alliance membership. On September 13, 2005, America West shareholders voted to approve the merger agreement and three days later the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia approved US Airways' emergence from bankruptcy, allowing

10032-439: The parent company of United Airlines , the world's largest commercial carrier at the time. The complex deal drew immediate objections from labor unions , consumer advocates and antitrust regulators. Negotiations stalled; with both airlines losing money and the deal all but certain to be blocked by the federal government, UAL withdrew its purchase offer on July 27, 2001, paying US Airways a $ 50 million penalty for withdrawing from

10146-450: The pedestrian walkway connecting Terminal B to Concourse B. Preparation for the new parking garage to the west of Terminal B also started, with the current Daily B parking lot being closed to passengers. Sacramento International Airport covers 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) and has two parallel runways: The runways were redesignated 17/35 from 16/34 on May 20, 2020. The west runway, 17R/35L, was closed from April 2019 to October 23, 2019, for

10260-518: The pensions of its 6,000 pilots by releasing their pensions into the federal pension program Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation . The company was one of the first major airlines to eliminate pilots' pensions in order to cut costs. Following a trial run of selling in-flight food in 2003, US Airways discontinued free meal service on domestic flights later that year. In late 2003-early 2004, US Airways lobbied for lower operating fees at Pittsburgh International Airport , citing its economies of scale as

10374-437: The practice is uncommon for major airlines, it greatly simplified the process for passengers connecting between historically US Airways-operated flights and former America West-operated flights. In the summer of 2007, US Airways began upgrading its in-flight services, from food and entertainment to the training of flight attendants. The airline was planning to test-market a new seatback entertainment system in early 2008, however,

10488-422: The primary carrier and largest tenant at the airport. US Airways attempted to leverage its adverse cash position and "red ink" in the years following 9/11 to negotiate better financial terms with the airport. The Allegheny County Airport Authority rejected US Airways' demands for reduced landing fees and lower lease payments, in part due to antitrust and FAA regulations that required the airport operator to extend

10602-562: The problems were caused primarily by poor airline management. Even before the second bankruptcy filing of 2004, one of the alternatives US Airways Group explored was a possible merger with America West, as the two airlines had complementary networks and similar labor costs. The parties held preliminary discussions and conducted due diligence from February through July 2004. Ultimately, these talks ended due to issues related to labor, pension, and benefit costs. By December 2004, US Airways had cut labor costs significantly. Its investment adviser,

10716-452: The reason fees and payments were higher than average is expressly because US Airways requested the most modern and advanced airport in the world in return for basing its hub there. Katselas has also been vocal that the issue of negotiable fees and payments are irrelevant when compared to the three biggest costs of any airline: fuel, time, and labor, all of which his redesign of PIT from 1987 to 1992 helped to reduce. In fact, those changes created

10830-682: The same financial terms to all carriers if it accepted US Airways' demands. US Airways threatened to move traffic to rival hubs in Philadelphia and Charlotte, and the airline made good on its threat in November 2004, reducing its flights at Pittsburgh International Airport from primary-hub to secondary-hub status. This action also resulted in the closing of the commuter terminal, also known as concourse E. The airline, led by former ExpressJet Airlines CEO David N. Siegel , continued to demote Pittsburgh International Airport in subsequent years until it became only

10944-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

11058-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

11172-622: The summer and fall. On January 6, 2013, Frontier Airlines ended service to Denver . US Airways previously flew to Las Vegas , but ended service after closing its Las Vegas hub. Long dominated by Southwest and United ( United Express ), the intra-California market was joined in 2011 by American (American Eagle Airlines, April 2011) and Delta ( Delta Connection ) which provide service to and from LAX . Frontier Airlines previously provided service between SMF and Redding . Sacramento County tried (and failed) to entice Virgin America into adding

11286-444: The thirteen gates in Terminal A. Terminal A opened in 1998 with 275,000 sq ft (25,500 m) of floor space and 12 gates, able to accommodate expansion to 22 gates. The food court in Terminal A was remodeled in 2014–15 in an effort to bring a similar customer experience with unique-to-Sacramento restaurants as provided in Terminal B. Also, the airport re-added another gate back into its Terminal A and opened on March 18, 2021,

11400-520: The time of signing. The order was regarded as the largest bulk aircraft request in history. In 1998 the airline followed with an order for up to 30 Airbus A330-series wide-body aircraft , with an initial firm order for seven of the Airbus A330-300s. These orders enabled US Airways to replace its older aircraft with newer, more efficient aircraft. In 1997 US Airways bought the remains of Trump Shuttle . US Airways expanded its flights to Europe through

11514-438: The two current terminals. Previously, the onsite Host Hotel was demolished in 2008 during Terminal B construction. An in-terminal hotel was proposed for Terminal B, but plans were temporarily dropped during the economic downturn of 2008, although subsequent economic regeneration and aviation growth have since revitalized such plans. Sacramento County Airport System has rolled out an advertising campaign dubbed "Easy as SMF" to tout

11628-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

11742-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

11856-500: The year. In 2017, Southwest added nonstop service to Long Beach and Spokane, Air Canada resumed its nonstop service to Vancouver, and United added nonstop service to Newark. In 2018, Southwest added nonstop service to Austin, New Orleans, Orlando, San Jose del Cabo, and St. Louis. By 2019, Southwest added much-awaited service to Honolulu and Kahului, exemplifying the evolution and growth of Sacramento International Airport as well as its burgeoning route network offerings, especially in

11970-430: Was San Francisco to Philadelphia via Phoenix and Charlotte , operating as Flight 1939 with 1939 commemorating the birth of All American Aviation, which eventually became US Airways. Repainting of US Airways' planes into the American Airlines scheme was expected to take until "late 2016", with new flight attendant uniforms also being introduced in 2016. US Airways traces its history to All American Aviation Inc.,

12084-435: Was Sacramento Metropolitan Field), with one 8600-foot runway. The initial runway was on the west side of the airfield and is now named to the headings of 17R/35L. Previously, air service to Sacramento was handled by Sacramento Municipal Airport (SAC), now known as Sacramento Executive Airport . Sacramento Metropolitan was the first purpose-built public-use airport west of the Mississippi when it opened in 1967. All airports under

12198-455: Was built by Borrego Solar using LG solar panels at a cost of $ 15 million. The solar power costs 7 cents per kWh as opposed to 9 cents, so the airport expects to save nearly $ 1 million annually. On February 1, 2023, the airport announced a $ 1.3 Billion dollar expansion that would surpass the Big Build project as the largest expansion in the airport's history. Called SMForward, this expansion covers

12312-441: Was completed and opened in 2011 with 19 gates, but the original plan was supposed to be 22 gates in total due to the high costs. Dreyfuss + Blackford, the original architects, also designed a renovation and expansion completed in 1999. By that time, Terminal A was complete and frequent travelers described the 1967 Terminal B as "often overcrowded with waiting travelers." On June 7, 2006, plans were announced to replace Terminal B with

12426-666: Was completed on April 9, 1988, and the Piedmont acquisition on August 5, 1989. The PSA acquisition gave USAir a network on the West Coast, while the Piedmont acquisition gave USAir a strong East Coast presence and hubs in Baltimore and Charlotte , which remained hubs for USAir. The Piedmont acquisition in 1989 was the largest airline merger until then and USAir became one of the world's largest airlines, with more than 5,000 flights daily to 134 airports (plus 48 more airports on USAir Express). In

12540-620: Was one of the U.S.'s seven transcontinental legacy carriers . In 1997, it rebranded as US Airways. The airline had an extensive international and domestic network, with 193 destinations in 24 countries in North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. The airline was a member of the Star Alliance , before becoming an affiliate member of Oneworld in March 2014. US Airways had 343 mainline jets, as well as 278 regional jet and turboprops flown by contract and subsidiary airlines under

12654-499: Was one of the first airports in the nation to offer free wireless Internet service (WiFi). As the nation's economy was taking a hit in 2008, commercial aviation was challenged by reduced passenger numbers and increasing fuel and other costs. The airport was a focus city for ExpressJet which independently operated Embraer ERJ-145s on point-to-point, "hub bypass" routes. In 2008, ExpressJet ended all independent flying and refocused its business on codeshares for major airlines. Prior to

12768-515: Was the industry's first code-share agreement, a type of service now offered throughout the industry. Allegheny changed its name to USAir in 1979 after the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act the previous year, which enabled the airline to expand its route network to the southeastern United States. USAir was a launch customer for the Boeing 737-300 , as the airline needed an aircraft with greater capacity to serve its growing Florida markets. USAir

12882-569: Was the world's largest operator of DC-9 aircraft at the time and approached McDonnell Douglas to negotiate a new design. However, in the late 1970s, the McDonnell Douglas' proposed successor to the DC-9-50 did not suit USAir. After the negotiations with McDonnell Douglas broke down, Boeing came forward with a proposed variant of the 737. USAir selected the new 737 and the company worked closely with Boeing during its development, taking delivery of

12996-434: Was withdrawn on January 31, 2007, since US Airways failed to secure backing from Delta's creditors. The airline stated that it would no longer pursue a possible takeover of Delta. Aircraft were equipped with Verizon Airfone in every row of seats. Since Verizon ended this service, the airline has deactivated the service and as of 2007, has removed the phones or has covered them in all aircraft. Overnight on March 4, 2007,

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