Albany International Airport - Recent History

Recent History

• Albany International Airport is receiving $5.9 million in federal stimulus money to benefit the effort to remove a water tower which is considered an obstruction by the FAA for incoming aircraft on the runway 28 approach.
• American Eagle ended service to ALB on November 1, 2008. Originally ALB had service by American Airlines, but that ended after 9/11.
• Albany International Airport is one of only 4 airports in the world using dual jet bridges (one bridge for the back, one for the front). However, only Southwest Airlines uses them, and not on all flights.
• US Airways used to have major operations at Albany, including its own hangar, MetroJet services to Orlando and Baltimore, and dozens of mainline flights a day. These services were cut down when US Airways went bankrupt in the period after the 9/11 attacks.
• Construction has recently been completed on the 1,300-foot (400 m) runway extension for runway 1/19. The runway now measures 8,500 feet (2,600 m).
• With the January 2006 shutdown of Independence Air, the airport is in further discussions with Frontier Airlines to expand service to the airport.
• In the past ALB had been serviced by Delta Express flying to Orlando and Tampa, MetroJet flying to Orlando and Baltimore. In those airlines' final years of operation, when they flew alongside Southwest Airlines, Albany had up to eight flights to Orlando.
• ALB has become a focus city for Cape Air flying to Watertown, Ogdensburg, Massena, and Boston.
• Albany currently faces high domestic air fare prices due to Southwest and US Airways, which make up a large portion of the operations at the airport. ALB has an agreement with Delta Air Lines to fly larger aircraft to and from Atlanta. The increase in operations paired with an increase demand is projected to allow the fares at ALB to decrease.
• In 2001, ALB completed a glycol waste-to-energy plant which treats de-icing fluid. This system removes 99.99% of glycol pollutants, and allows direct discharge into a nearby creek. The plant generates more power than it consumes, and saves the airport over $750,000 per year in sewage fees.
• In February 2011, the Albany County Airport Authority announced that they would be meeting with at least five airlines, some that don't currently serve Albany, about the rising fares and declining service at the Albany International Airport. Albany fares increased by 14.24 percent over 12 months to the third period of 2010 to $384.15. The percentage increase was the 19th greatest of the 100 major airports tracked in the DOT study. The airport also noted that the airport has seen a net loss of four daily flights over the past year, although there are promising signs with Delta Air Lines increasing mainline service to Atlanta International Airport on McDonnell Douglas MD-88 jets; as well as Cape Air's three new non-stop flights between Albany and Boston that began in March on the airline's Cessna 402s.
• In March 2011, Albany International Airport CEO John O'Donnell said that the airport was considering adding an incentives program to increase business at the airport. According to O'Donnell the program would offer significant incentives" for airlines to add service. A couple of the airports on the list of possible new destinations are Los Angeles, Denver, Fort Myers, Houston, and possible seasonal service to Myrtle Beach and Cancun.
• Airport CEO John O’Donnell announced in late March that he is confident that Southwest Airlines will start offering non-stop service to Atlanta in late 2011 following its merger with AirTran Airways that is scheduled to close in the second quarter of this year.
• In July 2011, Albany International Airport began to seek a $1.25 million grant to attract new destinations and airlines. Albany Airport is hoping that this grant will add nonstop service to Houston, Texas, as well as many other destinations.
• As of August 5, Albany International Airport is receiving $500,000 from local Capital Region businesses to add flights and airlines.
• In September 2011, the Albany International Airport received $750,000 in a federal grant that will be used to provide a revenue guarantee to an airline that will provide non-stop service to Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado or Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
• It was officially announced that November 16, 2011 would be the final day of service between Watertown and Albany. The service offered by Cape Air will be replaced by American Eagle, on 44-seat regional jets to Chicago-O'Hare. This will not affect Albany's service to Odgensburg and Massena.