Jack Brooks Regional Airport , formerly Southeast Texas Regional Airport, is near

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United Sta ...

, nine miles (14 km) southeast of

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

and northeast of Port Arthur. It was Jefferson County

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

, but its name was changed to honor former U.S. Representative Jack Brooks (D - Beaumont). The airport is southwest of the city of Nederland in unincorporated Jefferson County, and is used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

ended scheduled jet service in 1980 and several other airlines have started and ended service as well including American Eagle, Continental, Delta/Delta Connection and United Express. The latest chapter is the resumption of service by

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

for

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW).

Facilities

The Jack Brooks Regional airport covers and has two paved

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: 12/30 is 6,750 x 150 ft (2,057 x 46 m) and 16/34 is 5,070 x 150 ft (1,545 x 46 m). In the year ending January 31, 2007, the Jack Brooks Regional airport had 59,010 aircraft operations, average 161 per day: 82%

, 11%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

, 7% military and less than 1% airline. In August 2017, 89 aircraft were based at this airport: 60 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 16 jet aircraft and 5

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Airlines and destinations: past & present

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

(

Colgan Air Colgan Air was an American certificated regional airline subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air were located in Memphis, Tennessee. Colgan Air operated for Continental Express/United Express, and US Airways Expre ...

)

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

turboprops flew to Houston (IAH) until July 1, 2012, when the airport lost all scheduled passenger air service. United Express then ran bus service to

George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...

announced their

affiliate would again serve the airport effective February 14, 2013, with flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth. The American Eagle service is currently operated by

Envoy Air Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airl ...

Embraer ERJ 135 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenge ...

regional jets with 37 coach seats.

Past airline service

Soon after the Jack Brooks Regional airport was built, BPT was a stop on the Houston-New Orleans route operated by

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

; it ended mainline service in 1966.

Chicago and Southern Air Lines Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S) was a United States airline that started life as Pacific Seaboard Air Lines in California and was organized on June 15, 1933. Following the move from California, the airline's headquarters were initially locat ...

arrived in 1947, and successor

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

continued mainline jet service into Beaumont/Port Arthur until 1979.

Trans-Texas Airways Trans-Texas may refer to: * Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), a transportation network in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. state of Texas * Trans-Texas Airways, a former a United States airline, known as Texas International Texa ...

(TTa) and successor

Texas International Airlines Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States airline, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTa), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. ...

served the Beaumont/Port Arthur area for over 30 years. In the fall of 1949 Houston-based TTa flew

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

s six times a day Houston

Hobby Airport William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially referred to as Hobby Airport, Houston Hobby, or simply Hobby) is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primar ...

- Galveston - Beaumont/Port Arthur - Lufkin, TX - Palestine, TX -

Dallas Love Field Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas., effective April 10, 2008 It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of a ...

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

s and

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (l ...

s flew to Houston/Hobby Airport and direct to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Some Eastern flights continued to Atlanta; Newark, Boston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville.

began

service in the 1950s flying a Houston

, TX - Beaumont/Port Arthur - Shreveport, LA - Little Rock, AR - Memphis, TN - St. Louis, MO - Chicago

Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

, IL routing. Delta inherited the Houston - Chicago route when it merged with Chicago & Southern Airlines, which flew

s to Beaumont starting in 1947. Six airlines have flown jets to BPT.

(which subsequently changed its name to

) flew

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast narrow-body aircraft, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDo ...

jets as well as

Convair 600 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

turboprops to Houston and Dallas. According to the February 1, 1976

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...

(OAG), Texas International was operating direct DC-9 jet service from Los Angeles (

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

) to Beaumont/Port Arthur via five stops en route in Albuquerque, Roswell, Midland/Odessa, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston.February 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide, North American edition Texas International merged into

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

which continued jet service from the airport. In 1979,

was operating four

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a 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 twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

flights a day nonstop to

. In July 1983, Continental was flying

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

s and

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

s nonstop to Houston (IAH).

flew

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...

s and

s nonstop to Houston (IAH) and Shreveport as well as direct to Atlanta.

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

, operated by

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) was a regional U.S. airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier on behalf of Delta Air Lines via a code sharing agreement and, as of ...

(ASA), flew

Canadair CRJ-200 The Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 (previously Canadair CRJ100 and CRJ200) is a regional jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace between 1991 and 2006, the first of the Bombardier CRJ family. The ''Canadair Regional Jet'' (CRJ) pro ...

s to Atlanta and

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...

s to Dallas/Ft. Worth, with the latter service ending when Delta closed their DFW hub in early 2005.

ExpressJet ExpressJet Airlines was a Regional airline, regional List of defunct airlines of the United States (D–I), U.S. airline headquartered in College Park, Georgia. The company originally operated as a contracted Codeshare agreement, codeshare part ...

operating as

Continental Express Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of the merger be ...

flew

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

s to Houston (IAH).

also served the airport with

Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

s followed by

s nonstop to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) for

USAir Express US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously o ...

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

s flew nonstop to New Orleans for

USAir US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon b ...

. Commuter airlines serving Beaumont/Port Arthur included

Metro Airlines Metro Airlines, originally Houston Metro Airlines, was a commuter airline that was originally headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States,. Metro subsequently moved its headquarters to north Texas. The airline had an operational base located ...

with

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

s and

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

s nonstop to Houston (IAH) and

s nonstop to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW),

Royale Airlines Royale Airlines was a regional airline with headquarters on the grounds of Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV) in Shreveport, Louisiana. Operations Royale operated scheduled passenger flights in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Florid ...

Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

s nonstop to Houston (IAH) and direct to New Orleans, Air Texana with nonstop

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

s to Houston

(HOU) and

(DAL) and nonstop

s to New Orleans, and

Conquest Airlines Conquest Airlines was an American regional airline initially headquartered in Jefferson County, Texas, and later headquartered in Austin, Texas. Conquest operated primarily on routes within Texas from its hub in Austin (at the now closed Robert M ...

s and

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...

s nonstop to Austin and

. Conquest Airlines was based in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area before moving its headquarters to Austin where it started a hub. In early 1985, the Jack Brooks Regional airport did not have jet service but was served by four different airlines operating a combined total of 41 flights every weekday into BPT. Most of these flights were nonstops from the Houston area with Metro Airlines operating

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

service as

Eastern Express The Eastern Express ( tr, Doğu Ekspresi) is an overnight passenger train operated by the Turkish State Railways. The train runs from Ankara Railway Station to Kars Railway Station in Kars. The train was the first overnight service east of Ank ...

on behalf of

with eleven flights every weekday from

Houston Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...

flown with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter commuter aircraft while Royale Airlines was operating code sharing service as

on behalf of

with nine flights every weekday operated with Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante commuter aircraft also from Houston Intercontinental for a total of 20 flights a day from IAH. At this same time, commuter air carrier Texas Airlines was operating seven nonstop flights every weekday from Houston

with small twin prop

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...

while Metroflight Airlines operating code sharing service as

on behalf of

was operating four flights every weekday nonstop from

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport , also known as DFW Airport, is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas Region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Air ...

with

turboprops which were the largest aircraft serving BPT as this time. By early 1987,

Rio Airways Rio Airways was a regional passenger airline headquartered in Killeen, Texas, United States, and was operational from 1967 to 1987. Rio Airways was initially based in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1970. The air carrier initiated service with thre ...

was operating "TranStar SkyLink" code sharing service with

commuter propjets on behalf of

TranStar Airlines Muse Air was a domestic U.S. airline founded in 1981, headquartered near Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas, later moving to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Southwest Airlines acquired Muse Air in 1985 and later renamed it TranStar Airlines, ...

(formerly

Muse Air In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

) with ten nonstop flights operated every weekday to Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) where connections were available to TranStar jet service.

Airline and destination

Hurricane Rita

On September 24, 2005,

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

hit the Beaumont-Port Arthur area. The then-named Southeast Texas Regional Airport passenger terminal had to be shut down with the airport authority then using the old terminal on a temporary basis. The renovated terminal reopened in May 2009 after several delays.

References

External links

Jack Brooks Regional Airport
official website

legacy web site * * * {{Port Arthur, Texas Airports in Texas Transportation in Jefferson County, Texas Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Texas