DuPage Airport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DuPage Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| IATA: DPA - ICAO: KDPA | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | DuPage Airport Authority | ||
| Serves | West Chicago, Illinois | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 758 ft (231 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 2L/20R | 7,570 | 2,307 | Concrete |
| 2R/20L | 5,100 | 1,554 | Concrete |
| 10/28 | 4,751 | 1,448 | Asphalt |
| 15/33 | 3,410 | 1,037 | Asphalt |
DuPage Airport (IATA: DPA, ICAO: KDPA) is owned by the DuPage Airport Authority which is an independent government body established by law by the State of Illinois. DuPage is a general aviation airport located 35 miles west of downtown Chicago in West Chicago, Illinois and serves as a General Aviation Reliever for O’Hare and Midway Airports. It has the most based aircraft (465) and most jet and turboprop aircraft of any airport in Illinois (95).
Contents |
[edit] Facilities
The DuPage Airport Authority owns 2800 acres and operates four separate business units. This multifaceted business portfolio includes the DuPage Airport, one of the busiest airports in Illinois; an FBO with an international reputation for excellence; a Robert Trent Jones, Jr. designed golf course, and the largest corporate research and development park in DuPage County.
DuPage Airport sits on 1,200 acres and is the only general aviation airport in Illinois with four active runways, two ILS approaches, a 24-hour FAA air control tower, and over 40 aviation and non-aviation support businesses. DPA has an on-site US Customs Office. It has the longest runway in Illinois outside of O’Hare and Rockford at 7,570’ x 100’.
[edit] History
DuPage Airport is located on what used to be sheep-grazing land, but in 1927 two Chicago entrepreneurs purchased the land and began barnstorming, using the field as a grass strip. In 1941 the U.S. Navy requisitioned DuPage Airport, built brick hangars, paved two runways in an “X” pattern and began training pilots for the war effort. Both the hangars and the original runway configuration still exist.
A year after the Navy began operations, Howard Aircraft Corporation opened a factory east of the airport across the road. The company built more than 500 trainer, transport and air ambulance aircraft for the military, and Howard employees were regularly seen pushing aircraft across the road to the little airport to test fly them.
In 1946, with the war over, the Navy sold the airport to DuPage County for $1. The post-war boom saw a lot of regional growth and the airport reflected it by adding an east/west runway and a five-story control tower and making plans for further expansion.
In the late 1970s DuPage Airport was designated a reliever airport for general aviation aircraft, and in the early 1980s the airport authority began an expansion project to accommodate the increased traffic.
However, planners learned a lesson from the plight of the beleaguered, land-locked Midway Airport. Surrounded by houses, restaurants and other small businesses, Midway found itself unable to expand and neighbors filed an endless succession of noise complaints. DuPage County would not make the same mistake.
The airport grew from 900 acres in 1985 to 2,800 acres by 1992, with the goal of maintaining control of all the property surrounding the runway complex. Much of the land was acquired to provide a large buffer zone around the airport.
During the planning for the parallel runways it became obvious that the increase in hard surface was a potential flooding problem from rain water runoff. The proposed solution was Prairie Landing Golf Club. DAA built the golf course to the south of the airport on the land it had acquired as a buffer zone. Airport drainage canals were then designed to empty into golf course water hazards. The compatible land use reduced both noise issues and approach path obstructions; solved the airport drainage problem; provided a place to offload the dirt moved during construction; and created a non-aviation-related revenue stream for the airport authority.
[edit] Criticism and support
The airport has faced severe political criticism in the 1980s and 1990s. A 1995 Chicago magazine exposé called it "A Monument to Lavish Spending of Taxpayers' Money, a Haven of GOP Patronage, and the Target of a Federal Probe."
According to an article by John K. Wilson:
- Philip, the patron of DuPage airport, helped push forward a disastrously expensive enterprise which included land purchases making it four times the size of Midway Airport, a $10 million terminal, a $14 million golf course, and a charter airline run by the airport. The DuPage Airport budget grew from $1.6 million in 1984 to $46 million in 1993 at a time when airport use was declining. In 1992, DuPage Airport handled only 177,000 takeoffs and landings, while Aurora Municipal Airport took care of 134,000 takeoffs and landings at a cost of only $2 million.[1]
According to a may 2006 article the leading business aviation magazine in the United States[citation needed] - Aviation International News:
- Before 2003, the airport had been on a trend of worsening annual operating losses. That trend was reversed in 2003 and the airport has continued to show improved operating results each quarter since. Last year the airport experienced a record-breaking year, with revenue up and expenditures down. The cornerstone of the airport’s financial turnaround is the mission statement developed by the airport’s Board of Commissioners in 2003. It establishes the framework for moving the airport toward operating as a self-sustaining facility while contributing to the economic impact of the county. The aggressive philosophy has resulted in two leases that will bring 60,000 sq ft of new hangar space to the airport. The airport is also developing another 48,000 sq ft of hangar space. [2]
[edit] External links
- Official DuPage Airport website
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KDPA
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KDPA
[edit] News
- DuPage Airport - Happy Flyer - Corporate Xpansion Magazine 1st Quarter 2006
- DuPage Airport - West Chicago airport prospers while positioning for the future - Phillips 66 Featured FBOs April 2006
- DuPage Airport Authority Chairman Details Airport’s Dramatic Financial Turnaround to County Board - April 2005
- DuPage Airport Makes Case To County
- DuPage Airport Authority Loses Tax Appeal
- DuPage Airport Authority And County Board Send Out Trial Balloon
- Board Candidate Hiram Wurf Announcing Petition To End Property Tax Support of Dupage Airport
- DuPage Democrats Blast County Technology Park
- U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals CITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER, ET AL. v DUPAGE AIRPORT AUTHORITY, ET AL.
