Memorial Field Airport is located in City of Hot Springs, in Garland County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, United States, southwest of Downtown Hot Springs. It serves nearby

Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs National Park is an American national park in central Garland County, Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Hot Springs, the county seat. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 18 ...

. The airport 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 ...

; airline flights are subsidized by the federal government's

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...

program at a cost of $1,637,012 (per year). The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2021–2025 categorized it as a ''

'' airport (the ''commercial service'' category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year).

Facilities

Memorial Field covers 844

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (342 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of 540 feet (165 m). It has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

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: 5/23 is 6,595 by 150 feet (2,010 x 46 m) and 13/31 is 4,098 by 100 feet (1,249 x 30 m). The airport is non-towered (the existing tower is no longer staffed). In the year ending August 31, 2021, the airport had 29,800 aircraft operations, an average of 82 per day: 91%

, 6% air taxi and 3% military. In April 2022, there were 77 aircraft based at this airport: 60 single-engine, 9 multi-engine, 6 jet and 2

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

Historical airline service

Hot Springs' first commercial airline service began in the late 1940s with

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 ...

(C&S). In 1950 C&S was operating daily round trip

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 ...

service on a routing of Detroit - Toledo, OH - Fort Wayne, IN - Indianapolis - Evansville, IN - Paducah, KY - Memphis - Hot Springs - Shreveport - Houston (Hobby Airport). C&S merged with

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 ...

in 1953 and Delta continued serving Hot Springs using

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 inro ...

propliners with nonstop flights to Little Rock and Shreveport and direct, no change of plane service to Chicago ( Midway Airport), 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 ...

), New Orleans, St. Louis and other destinations. Shortly before discontinuing service in mid-1969, Delta had upgraded their flights to

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 ...

jets.

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 An airline is a company that p ...

, (TTa), began service in 1953 using

aircraft with a daily round trip "

milk run The phrase milk run originated in World War II, when United States Army Air Corps and Royal Air Force aircrews used it to describe a mission with little danger. Other sources show the term "milk run" to be in use in rural areas of the American Upp ...

" flight routing of Memphis - West Helena, AR - Stuttgart, AR - Pine Bluff, AR - Little Rock - Hot Springs - Texarkana - Tyler, TX - Dallas - Fort Worth. During the 1960s TTa upgraded their service using

Convair 240 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 inro ...

piston propliners and later to

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 In 1968, the airline began operating the first jet service to Memorial Airport using the

Douglas DC-9-10 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 ...

with a daily nonstop flight to Dallas and was also flying direct, one stop DC-9 service to Memphis via Little Rock. Trans-Texas then changed its name to

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. ...

in 1969. Texas International (TI) continued to serve Hot Springs with DC-9 jetliners on a daily basis and in 1970 was flying nonstop to Memphis and Texarkana with continuing, direct service to Dallas and Houston. By 1972, TI was operating daily 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 Hot Springs via intermediate stops in Albuquerque and Dallas ( Love Field).

Central Airlines Central Airlines was a passenger airline (the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) called it a "local service" air carrier) in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas from 1949 to 1967. It was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to oper ...

began service to Hot Springs by 1955 on a new route between Tulsa and Little Rock which made stops in Ft. Smith and Hot Springs using

s and later upgrading to

turboprops in the mid 1960s. Central was merged into

Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

in 1967 and continued to serve Hot Springs 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 ...

and

turboprops nonstop to Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, Little Rock and Memphis at different times over the years. In 1967, Frontier was flying nonstop to Fort Smith and Little Rock with direct service being operated to Kansas City, Omaha and Denver. Through the 1950s and 1960s Hot Springs was served by three airlines consecutively. In early 1969 there were a total of 13 departures per day, four of them on DC-9 jets operated by both Delta and Texas International. With the passing of the

Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Boa ...

, Frontier and Texas International both discontinued service by 1979 at which time commuter airlines began serving Hot Springs with direct propjet flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Memphis and Tulsa.

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 ...

served from 1979 through 1983, Scheduled Skyways from 1983 through 1985, Air Midwest from 1985 through 1986, and

Lone Star Airlines Lone Star Airlines was an American regional airline that operated both domestic and international flights. For much of the airline's life its headquarters were located in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas. The airline's largest hub w ...

from 1989 through 1998. All flew

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. Rio previously flew

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

turboprops nonstop to Dallas/Fort Worth and Memphis and Lone Star operated

Dornier 328 The Dornier 328 is a turboprop-powered commuter airliner. Initially produced by Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the 328 family in Oberpfaffen ...

propjets on the DFW route as well. Lone Star first operated as Exec Express II using

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

twin prop aircraft to DFW and was operating as Aspen Mountain Air at the end of their service. From early 1999 through September, 2002, Big Sky Airlines served Hot Springs followed by

Mesa Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air ...

from October, 2002 through May, 2008.

SeaPort Airlines SeaPort Airlines was a US-based regional airline with its headquarters at Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon. It operated scheduled service from its bases at Portland International Airport (PDX) (Pacific Northwest region) and M ...

began flights in March, 2010 using Pilatus PC-12 aircraft but went out of business in September, 2016. The current provider,

Southern Airways Express Southern Airways Express is a commuter airline operating across the United States with headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. Southern Airways acts as a local service airline for dozens of cities across all U.S. time zones, Approximately a third o ...

, began service in March 2017 with nonstop flights to DFW using single engine

Cessna 208 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 Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...

aircraft. Memorial Airport had several periods in between carriers where there was no airline service. Most passengers now use the

Clinton National Airport Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport , also known as Adams Field, is a joint civil-military airport on the east side of Little Rock, Arkansas.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective December 30, 2021. It is operated by the Little Rock ...

in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Accidents at or near HOT

On August 25, 1992, a

Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III on a test flight crashed after takeoff 1km SE of Memorial Field Airport due to improper maintenance of all primary flight control cables. All three occupants were killed.

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-1997-2935
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

: *
Order 2005-1-14
selecting Air Midwest, Inc., to provide essential air service at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas, at a subsidy rate of $4,155,550 annually for a two-year rate term. *
Order 2007-1-7
selecting Air Midwest, Inc. to provide essential air service at El Dorado/Camden, Jonesboro, Harrison and Hot Springs, Arkansas, at a subsidy rate of $4,296,348 annually for the two-year rate term beginning April 1, 2007. *
Order 2009-6-25
tentatively selecting Alaska Juneau Aeronautics, Inc. d/b/a SeaPort Airlines (SeaPort) to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at El Dorado/Camden, Harrison, Hot Springs, and Jonesboro, Arkansas, for two years. *
Order 2009-7-8
making final the tentative selection of Alaska Juneau Aeronautics, Inc. d/b/a SeaPort Airlines, to provide essential air service at El Dorado/Camden, Harrison, Hot Springs, and Jonesboro, Arkansas.

External links

Memorial Field Airport
official website

at City of Hot Springs website

from Arkansas Department of Aeronautics
Aerial image as of 25 January 2001
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a 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 effort is to prov ...

'' * {{AR-Airports, state=expanded Airports in Arkansas Essential Air Service Transportation in Garland County, Arkansas Buildings and structures in Garland County, Arkansas