History
Meacham Field was purchased by the city of Fort Worth on July 3, 1925, named Fort Worth Municipal Airport. In 1927, the airport was renamed Meacham Field. American Airways moved its headquarters to Meacham Field in the early 1930s. Meacham was Fort Worth's airline airport until April 1953 when the airlines moved to Amon Carter Field, later known as Greater Southwest International Airport. The January 1953 OAG shows 50 weekday airline departures from Meacham, 33 of which headed for Dallas. None of the others flew nonstop north of Wichita Falls, west of Midland, south of Austin or east of Dallas.
Since 1953 Meacham Field has been used for corporate aircraft, commuter flights, and student pilot training. It was renamed in 1985 to Fort Worth Meacham Airport, and in 1995 to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. Since 1953 seven airlines have tried scheduled passenger flights from Meacham; none lasted more than a couple of years. In chronological order they were:
- Air Texas (1968–1970) flew Beechcraft Model 99 and Beechcraft Queen Air turboprops from Meacham to Austin and Houston
- Tejas Airlines (1979–80) flew Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprops to Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Laredo
- Metro Airlines (1979–81) flew DHC-6 Twin Otters
- Texas Star Airlines (1981–83) connected Meacham to both Austin and Wichita Falls
- Fort Worth Airlines (1984–85) flew NAMC YS-11 turboprops
- Exec Express Airlines (1987–88), later known as Lone Star Airlines, flew Dornier Do 228 turboprops
- Mesa Airlines (1997–98) flew Bombardier CRJ jets
In 2001 Continental Airlines announced plans for Continental Express regional flights between Meacham and Houston Intercontinental Airport but this project was abandoned in the wake of the downturn in the aviation industry following the September 11, 2001, attacks. In April 2006 low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines expressed interest in operating out of the airfield as it started operations in 2007. Due to Skybus folding and the Wright Amendment not fully repealing until 2014 this service will never happen.
Read more about this topic: Fort Worth Meacham International Airport
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