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 and northeast of Port Arthur. It was Jefferson County Airport, but its name was changed to honor former U.S. Representative

Jack Brooks Jack Brooks may refer to: * Jack Brooks (cricketer) (born 1984), English cricketer *Jack Brooks (footballer) (1904–1973), English footballer *Jack Brooks (lyricist) (1912–1971), British-American lyricist *Jack Brooks (American politician) (1922� ...

(D - Beaumont). The airport is southwest of the city of Nederland in unincorporated Jefferson County, and is used for general aviation.

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 for American Airlines to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW).

Facilities

The Jack Brooks Regional airport covers and has two paved runways: 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% general aviation, 11% air taxi, 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 helicopters.

Airlines and destinations: past & present

United Express (

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 Express ...

) Saab 340 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. American Airlines announced their American Eagle 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 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; it ended mainline service in 1966. Chicago and Southern Air Lines arrived in 1947, and successor Delta Air Lines continued mainline jet service into Beaumont/Port Arthur until 1979. Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) and successor Texas International 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 - 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 440s, Lockheed Constellations and Martin 4-0-4s 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. Delta Air Lines began Convair 440 service in the 1950s flying a Houston Hobby Airport, 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. Trans-Texas Airways (which subsequently changed its name to Texas International Airlines) flew Douglas DC-9-10 jets as well as Convair 600 turboprops to Houston and Dallas. According to the February 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG), Texas International was operating direct DC-9 jet service from Los Angeles ( LAX) 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 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). Delta Air Lines flew Boeing 727-200s and

s nonstop to Houston (IAH) and Shreveport as well as direct to Atlanta. Delta Connection, operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), flew Canadair CRJ-200s to Atlanta and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias to Dallas/Ft. Worth, with the latter service ending when Delta closed their DFW hub in early 2005. ExpressJet operating as Continental Express flew Embraer ERJ-145s to Houston (IAH). American Eagle also served the airport with Convair 580s followed by Saab 340s nonstop to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) for American Airlines. USAir Express Beechcraft 1900Cs flew nonstop to New Orleans for USAir. Commuter airlines serving Beaumont/Port Arthur included Metro Airlines 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 330s nonstop to Houston (IAH) and Short 330s nonstop to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Royale Airlines Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirantes nonstop to Houston (IAH) and direct to New Orleans, Air Texana with nonstop Beechcrafts to Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) and

(DAL) and nonstop

s to New Orleans, and Conquest Airlines Beechcraft 1900Cs and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners 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 on behalf of Eastern Airlines with eleven flights every weekday from Houston Intercontinental Airport flown with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter commuter aircraft while Royale Airlines was operating code sharing service as Continental Express 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 Hobby Airport 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 American Eagle on behalf of American Airlines was operating four flights every weekday nonstop from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with Convair 580 turboprops which were the largest aircraft serving BPT as this time. By early 1987, Rio Airways was operating "TranStar SkyLink" code sharing service with Beechcraft 1900C commuter propjets on behalf of TranStar Airlines (formerly Muse Air) 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