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137-565: Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport ( IATA : BHM , ICAO : KBHM , FAA LID : BHM ), formerly Birmingham Municipal Airport and later Birmingham International Airport , is a civil-military airport serving Birmingham, Alabama . The airport also provides scheduled airline service for the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa metropolitan areas. It is located in Jefferson County , five miles northeast of Downtown Birmingham, near

274-446: A $ 201.6 million terminal renovation project. This project included a major renovation and upgrade to the airport's existing Concourse   C, which was dismantled down to its structural components and rebuilt. Concourse   B was completely demolished and new concourses A   and   B were built. All three concourses are now linked, allowing passengers to walk from Concourse   A, through to Concourse   C without exiting

411-516: A June 2018 governmental reorganization plan, the Donald Trump administration proposed turning USPS into "a private postal operator" which could save costs through measures like delivering mail fewer days per week, or delivering to central locations instead of door to door. There was strong bipartisan opposition to the idea in Congress. In April 2020, Congress approved a $ 10 billion loan from

548-943: A board member its new parent, XPO Logistics , whose postal contracts expanded during DeJoy's postmaster general role—was a major donor and fundraiser for the Republican Party (from 2017, a deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee , until appointed postmaster general, and later million-dollar donor to the 2020 Trump campaign while postmaster general). DeJoy immediately began taking measures to reduce costs, such as banning overtime and extra trips to deliver mail. While DeJoy admitted that these measures were causing delays in mail delivery , he said they would eventually improve service. More than 600 high-speed mail sorting machines were scheduled to be dismantled and removed from postal facilities, raising concerns that mailed ballots for

685-459: A digital flight arrival/departure screen fixture, added as part of the 2013–2014 renovation, fell on a mother and her children, killing ten-year-old Luke Bresette and injuring his mother and two other siblings of Overland Park, Kansas. In September 2014, the Bresette family and companies involved in the installation of the display reached a wrongful death settlement. A bronze relief of Luke Bresette

822-602: A disadvantage in accommodating traffic between East Coast points, and a relatively strong sales and marketing campaign by Atlanta under Mayor William Hartsfield . After the airport returned to city control in August 1948 Southern Airways began service. In March 1951 four runways were in use, Runways 5/23 (now 6/24) and 18/36, and runways at about 45/225 degrees north of Runway 5/23 and 85/265 degrees mostly south of Runway 5/23. Runway lengths were about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) to 5,500 feet (1,700 m). The runway at 45/225 degrees

959-412: A flat wall. The concourse walls had relatively few windows, typically at waiting and dining areas. The presence of multiple shops, restrooms and service areas reduced the need for windows in the concourses. Jetways were used for the majority of the gates and aircraft, though Delta Connection and United Express used stairs leading to the tarmac to board flights on regional jets (currently all flights at

1096-633: A high number of packages, and an electric delivery vehicle produced in partnership with Canoo that is a "pod-like" smaller van. The Department of Defense and the USPS jointly operate a postal system to deliver mail for the military ; this is known as the Army Post Office (for Army and Air Force postal facilities) and the Fleet Post Office (for Navy , Marine Corps , and Coast Guard postal facilities). In fiscal year 2022,

1233-546: A monopoly on traditional letter delivery within the U.S. and operates under a universal service obligation (USO), both of which are defined across a broad set of legal mandates, which obligate it to provide uniform price and quality across the entirety of its service area. The Post Office has exclusive access to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail" and personal letterboxes in the U.S., but has to compete against private package delivery services, such as United Parcel Service , FedEx , and DHL . The first national postal agency in

1370-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

1507-517: A partition is closed, redirecting deplaning passengers down a separate corridor to the customs facility. After being processed, passengers proceed through one-way doors into the main arrival hall. Concourse B, which opened on March 13, 2013, consists of five gates: B1–B5. It is used by American. Concourse C, which opened on August 14, 2014, consists of six gates: C1-C6. It is used by Southwest and United. Former Concourse B consisted of six gates, B1-B6. Prior to its closure and demolition, Concourse   B

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1644-461: A plan to close about 3,700 small post offices. Various representatives in Congress protested, and the Senate passed a bill that would have kept open all post offices farther than 10 miles (16 km) from the next office. In May 2012, the service announced it had modified its plan. Instead, rural post offices would remain open with reduced retail hours (some as little as two hours per day) unless there

1781-499: A route from Love Field in Dallas, Texas to Birmingham. When American Airways (now American Airlines ) began their Atlanta, Georgia to Fort Worth, Texas route, Birmingham was not included because their Ford Tri-Motors could not land at Roberts Field. Thus, Birmingham began construction of what is now Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. The airport opened on May 31, 1931 with a two-story, white, Georgian style terminal and

1918-527: A single east–west runway. The terminal was just east of the later 1962 and 1971 terminal complexes. No remains of the 1931 terminal or landscaping are visible. With the addition of American Airlines in 1931 and Eastern Airlines in 1934, air traffic increased enough to warrant a second runway. World War II saw the airport leased to the United States Army Air Forces for $ 1 a year to support national defense. Birmingham Army Airfield

2055-555: A state-by-state analysis concluded that 76% of Americans were eligible to vote by mail in 2020, a record number. The analysis predicted that 80 million ballots could be cast by mail in 2020 – more than double the number in 2016. The Postal Service sent letters to 46 states in July 2020, warning that the service might not be able to meet each state's deadlines for requesting and casting last-minute absentee ballots. The House of Representatives voted to include an emergency grant of $ 25 billion to

2192-567: Is "absolutely" safe. A music video for contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath 's song " Give Me Your Eyes " was filmed over the night of July 23–24, 2008 at the airport after most flights had landed for the night. It was directed by the Erwin Brothers and premiered on the Gospel Music Channel on August 23, 2008. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it

2329-433: Is 12,007 by 150 feet (3,660 x 46 m) and 18/36 is 7,099 by 150 feet (2,164 x 46 m). Atlantic Aviation operates two general aviation fixed-base operator facilities, and there are numerous corporate hangars north of Runway 6/24 and east of Runway 18/36. AirMed International , a fixed-wing air ambulance company, operates its main hub from here. There is a large, full service aircraft modification and maintenance facility on

2466-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

2603-677: Is a living plant wall entitled "Earth Wind and Water: The Landscape of Alabama". This living wall is the largest living wall inside any airport terminal in the United States. The wall is 100 feet wide, 14 feet high, and contains 1,400 square feet of vegetated area. The second major work of art is an electronic display which is approximately 50 feet long and made up of 26 large format electronic LCD displays. The displays contain pictures and video clips which are linked to form an ever-changing moving wall depicting various "stories" focussing on African American history and civil rights. An art program at

2740-627: Is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

2877-545: Is also on base. BHM currently has one new terminal building with three new concourses, which opened on March 13, 2013 (Concourses A, B) and on August 14, 2014 (Concourse C). The landside terminal (the area before the security threshold) has two levels. The upper level has ticketing and check-in facilities, a business center, and a large function room. The lower level has baggage claim facilities, airline baggage offices, airport operations offices, and meeting rooms available for use. The airport has its own police force with offices on

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3014-554: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

3151-523: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

3288-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

3425-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

3562-413: Is now being delivered in two days instead of one. Large commercial mailers can still have first-class mail delivered overnight if delivered directly to a processing center in the early morning, though as of 2014 this represented only 11% of first-class mail. Unsorted first-class mail will continue to be delivered anywhere in the contiguous United States within three days. In July 2011, the USPS announced

3699-847: Is now largely removed, though a paved portion remains crossing taxiway F near the Alabama Air National Guard facilities, used for airport equipment and helicopter landing/parking. The runway at 85/265 is also mostly removed, with remaining segments making up taxiway A5 and a portion of taxiway F east of Runway 18/36. By 1959 Runway 5/23 was 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and service was started to Birmingham by Capital Airlines with Vickers Viscounts . The first scheduled jets were Delta Convair 880s in October 1961, flying ATL-BHM-MSY-LAX and back. Birmingham then had nonstops to Newark and Washington, DC, but no other nonstops beyond Charlotte, Memphis and New Orleans, and no nonstops to Florida. In

3836-497: Is projected to raise approximately $ 50 million per year. (Shipping alcoholic beverages is currently illegal under 18 U.S.C.   § 1716 (f).) In 2014, the Postal Service was requesting reforms to workers' compensation, moving from a pension to defined contribution retirement savings plan, and paying senior retiree health care costs out of Medicare funds, as is done for private-sector workers. As part of

3973-465: Is the peak period for the Postal Service, representing a total volume of 11.7 billion packages and pieces of mail during this time in 2022. The USPS operates one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets in the world, with over 235,000 vehicles as of 2024, the majority of which are the distinctive and unique Chevrolet / Grumman LLV (long-life vehicle), and the similar, newer Ford-Utilimaster FFV ( flexible-fuel vehicle ), originally also referred to as

4110-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

4247-484: The Airbus A320 to their hub at Dallas/Fort Worth . The CRJ700/900 family was the most common regional aircraft, being used by American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express. The Canadair Regional Jets and ERJ 145 shared the second spot for regional jets, being utilized by the airlines above as well as American Eagle. Southern Airways Express formerly operated on-demand charter flights to select cities on

Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

4384-461: The Bahamas , Canada , and Mexico in the past, but as of March 2020, there are no scheduled international flights. However, air ambulance operator AirMed International regularly operates to and from destinations throughout the world; corporate aircraft routinely depart and arrive from foreign destinations, as well. The Southern Museum of Flight currently operates on Airport Authority property, to

4521-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

4658-643: The Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft (which was the only scheduled passenger service to BHM on turbo-prop aircraft). Mountain Air Cargo also operates daily flights to Memphis using the ATR-72 twin-turboprop aircraft on behalf of FedEx Express . FedEx operates their Boeing 757-200 ; while UPS uses their Boeing 767-300F as well as the Airbus A300-600 F, these are the only wide-body aircraft to routinely use

4795-503: The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 forgave the previous $ 10 billion loan. Voting by mail has become an increasingly common practice in the United States, with 25% of voters nationwide mailing their ballots in 2016 and 2018. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 was predicted to cause a large increase in mail voting because of the possible danger of congregating at polling places. For the 2020 election,

4932-902: The Embraer E-175 , the Boeing 717 , the Boeing 737 family, and the Airbus A319 / A320 . Currently, FedEx Express operates daily, weekday service to Memphis with a Boeing 757-200F , along with an ATR-72 , operated by Mountain Air Cargo . UPS Airlines operates daily, weekday service to Louisville . On Friday nights, instead of a direct flight to Louisville, UPS Airlines sends a Boeing 767-300F from New Orleans to BHM before continuing onto Louisville. On Saturday mornings, UPS Airlines sends an Airbus A300-600 F from Louisville to Birmingham, which then continues on to Pensacola . In April 2023, Kuehne+Nagel began twice weekly flights from Stuttgart, Germany to Birmingham, primarily to support

5069-784: The Environmental Protection Agency and an environmental lawsuit, and also due to availability of new funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 . The Act included $ 3 billion for electric USPS vehicles, supporting the initiative by Postmaster General DeJoy and the Biden Administration to add 66,000 electric vehicles to the fleet by 2028. The electric fleet will be composed of 9,250 EVs manufactured by Ford ; 11,750 commercial off-the-shelf EVs; and 45,000 Oshkosh Next Generation Delivery Vehicles . In February 2023,

5206-624: The National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA) was contacted for its input on the USPS's current study of the effect of five-day delivery along with developing an implementation plan for a five-day service plan. A team of Postal Service headquarters executives and staff was given a time frame of sixty days to complete the study. The current concept examines the effect of five-day delivery with no business or collections on Saturday, with Post Offices with current Saturday hours remaining open. On Thursday, April 15, 2010,

5343-472: The November 3 election might not reach election offices on time. Mail collection boxes were removed from the streets in many cities; after photos of boxes being removed were spread on social media, a postal service spokesman said they were being moved to higher traffic areas but that the removals would stop until after the election. The inspector general for the postal service opened an investigation into

5480-718: The Post Office , U.S. Mail , or simply the Postal Service , is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, its insular areas and associated states . It is one of a few government agencies explicitly authorized by the Constitution of the United States . As of 2023, the USPS has 525,469 career employees and 114,623 non-career employees. The USPS has

5617-688: The RF-84F Thunderflash , it had only recently retired its RB-26C Invaders, the last squadron in the Air Force to do so; thus the 117th was seen as the logical choice for the CIA's secret mission. Seven of the volunteer aviators participated combat operations during the final day of the invasion, on August 19, 1961. Birmingham natives Leo Baker, Wade Gray, Riley Shamburger, and Thomas "Pete" Ray were killed when their (two) aircraft were shot down. While American involvement had been suspected since before

Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue

5754-414: The $ 30 billion delivery budget; door-to-door city delivery costs annually on average $ 353 per stop, curbside $ 224, and cluster box $ 160 (and for rural delivery, $ 278, $ 176, and $ 126, respectively). S.1486, also with the support of Postmaster General Donahoe, would also allow the USPS to ship alcohol in compliance with state law, from manufacturers to recipients with ID to show they are over 21. This

5891-412: The 106Th Air Refueling Squadron (ANG), and the 99Th Air Refueling Squadron (USAF). The current complement of personnel is over 300 full-time personnel, including military and civilian employees. This expands to over 1,300 personnel for Unit Training Assembly (UTA) weekends and during activation. The Alabama Army National Guard (AL ARNG) and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) have facilities and units co-located on

6028-671: The 1940s, Birmingham was considered as a potential air transportation hub for the Deep South . However, Delta Air Lines , Eastern Air Lines and the United States Postal Service each opted to use Atlanta for this purpose instead. One factor was an aviation fuel tax imposed by the City of Birmingham in the 1940s; other factors included Birmingham's location in the Central Time Zone , which placed it at

6165-456: The 2010s. In 2012, in order to be able to meet obligations for payroll and continuing its operations, the Postal Service defaulted on payments due for retirements benefits in August and again in September that year. In September 2014, it defaulted on the payments for the fourth time, and continued to default into 2017. The Postal Service sought financial reforms from Congress for relief from

6302-510: The American Postal Workers Union's arguments that these counters should be staffed by postal employees who earn far more and have "a generous package of health and retirement benefits". On January 28, 2009, Postmaster General John E. Potter testified before the Senate that, if the Postal Service could not readjust its payment toward the contractually funding earned employee retiree health benefits, as mandated by

6439-660: The Boeing 737 and 717 to BHM. Southwest utilizes Boeing 737s for all flights. United Express ( GoJet Airlines , Mesa Airlines , SkyWest Airlines , Republic Airways ) operate the Embraer 170/175, Embraer 140/145, and the CRJ-550 for their flights. American Eagle ( PSA Airlines , Envoy Air , Mesa Airlines , and SkyWest Airlines ) operate the ERJ145 , ERJ175 , and CRJ700/900 family. Recently, American Airlines also offered service on

6576-744: The CRV (carrier route vehicle). The LLVs were built from 1987 to 1994 and lack air conditioning, airbags, anti-lock brakes, and space for the large modern volume of e-commerce packages, the Grumman fleet ended its expected 24-year lifespan in fiscal year 2017. The LLV replacement process began in 2015, and after numerous delays, a $ 6 billion contract was awarded in February 2021 to Oshkosh Defense to finalize design and produce 165,000 vehicles over 10 years. The Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), will have both gasoline and battery electric versions. Half of

6713-496: The Concourse   C and phase   2 completion was held on August 11, 2014, and Concourse   C officially opened for arriving and departing flights on August 14, 2014. Concourse A, which opened on March 13, 2013, consists of eight gates: A1–A8. It is used by Delta, Spirit, and American. It also contains U.S. Customs and Immigration facilities capable of processing arriving international aircraft. For international arrivals,

6850-588: The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to examine the status of the Postal Service and recent reports on short and long-term strategies for the financial viability and stability of the USPS entitled "Continuing to Deliver: An Examination of the Postal Service's Current Financial Crisis and its Future Viability". At which, PMG Potter testified that by 2020, the USPS cumulative losses could exceed $ 238 billion, and that mail volume could drop 15 percent from 2009. In February 2013,

6987-610: The House and the Senate; President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on April 6, 2022. Congress has limited rate increases for First-Class Mail to the cost of inflation, unless approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission . A three-cent surcharge above inflation increased the 1 oz (28 g) rate to 49¢ in January 2014, but this was approved by the commission for two years only. As of July 14th, 2024

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7124-479: The November election. He said he would reinstate overtime hours, roll back service reductions, and halt the removal of mail-sorting machines and collection boxes. However, 95 percent of the mail sorting machines that were planned for removal had already been removed, and according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , DeJoy said he has no intention of replacing them or the mail collection boxes. On December 27, 2020,

7261-676: The Post Office Department, during the Cold War, to redesign stamps to include more patriotic slogans. On March 18, 1970, postal workers in New York City—upset over low wages and poor working conditions, and emboldened by the Civil Rights Movement— organized a strike . The strike initially involved postal workers in only New York City, but it eventually gained support of over 210,000 postal workers across

7398-486: The Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2006, the USPS would be forced to consider cutting delivery to five days per week during June, July, and August. H.R. 22, addressing this issue, passed the House of Representatives and Senate and was signed into law on September 30, 2009. However, Postmaster General Potter continued to advance plans to eliminate Saturday mail delivery. On June 10, 2009,

7535-645: The Postal Service announced its purchase of the Ford EVs as well as 14,000 electric vehicle charging stations. The fleet electrification plan is part of the Postal Service's initiative to reduce carbon emissions from fuel and electricity 40 percent and emissions from contracted services 20 percent by 2030. In August 2024, the USPS deployed the first new vehicles from its fleet modernization project at its Topeka Sorting and Delivery Center in Kansas, including: an electric vehicle with higher clearance for routes delivering

7672-557: The Postal Service contribution to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). Most other employees that contribute to the CSRS have 7% deducted from their wages. Currently, all new employees contribute into Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) once they become a full-time regular employees. Running low on cash, in order to continue operations unaffected and continue to meet payroll, the USPS defaulted for

7809-480: The Postal Service had $ 78.81 billion in revenue and expenses of $ 79.74 billion. Due to one-time appropriations authorized by the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 , the agency reported a net income of $ 56.04 billion. In the 2023 fiscal, revenue had increased to $ 79.32 billion, but reported a net loss of $ 6.48 billion. In 2016, the USPS had its fifth straight annual operating loss, in

7946-533: The Postal Service to offer some non-mail services. As of 2023, the Postal Service operates 33,641 Post Office and contract locations in the U.S., and delivered a total of 127.3 billion packages and pieces of mail to 164.9 million delivery points in fiscal year 2022. USPS delivers mail and packages Monday through Saturday as required by the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 ; on Sundays only Priority Express and packages for Amazon.com are delivered. The USPS delivers packages on Sundays in most major cities. During

8083-577: The Treasury to the post office. According to The Washington Post , officials under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested using the loan as leverage to give the Treasury Department more influence on USPS operations, including making them raise their charges for package deliveries, a change long sought by President Trump. In May 2020, in a controversial move, the Board of Governors of

8220-503: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service ( USPS ), also known as

8357-486: The U.S. Postal Service, and took effect on July 1, 1971. Among the changes from the Postal Reorganization Act, a key aspect was the requirement for the USPS to be self-financing, which introduced a conflict with its other requirement to provide a nationwide service. The next major legislation affecting the service, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, was passed in 2006. This act limited

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8494-956: The US, known as the United States Post Office was founded by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 26, 1775, at the beginning of the American Revolution . Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general ; he also served a similar position for the American colonies. The Post Office Department was created in 1792 with the passage of the Postal Service Act . The appointment of local postmasters

8631-586: The USPS announced that in order to save about $ 2 billion per year, Saturday delivery service would be discontinued except for packages, mail-order medicines, Priority Mail, Express Mail, and mail delivered to Post Office boxes, beginning August 10, 2013. However, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 , passed in March, reversed the cuts to Saturday delivery. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) obligated

8768-402: The USPS operated 673 facilities. ) As of May 2012, the plan was to start the first round of consolidation in summer 2012, pause from September to December, and begin a second round in February 2014; 80% of first-class mail would still be delivered overnight through the end of 2013. New delivery standards were issued in January 2015, and the majority of single-piece (not presorted) first-class mail

8905-425: The USPS to fund the present value of earned retirement obligations (essentially past promises which have not yet come due) within a ten-year time span. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the main bureaucratic organization responsible for the human resources aspect of many federal agencies and their employees. The PAEA created the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund (PSRHB) after Congress removed

9042-413: The United States Postal Service appointed Louis DeJoy , the first postmaster general in the last two decades who did not emerge from the postal bureaucracy. Instead he had three decades of experience in the private delivery sector where he created a new national corporation with 80,000 employees. DeJoy—until 2014 CEO of New Breed Logistics (a controversial Postal Service contractor), and until 2018

9179-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

9316-508: The air cargo areas, including a new facility at the far west end of runway 6-24 which houses FedEx and United Parcel Service . A new FAA air traffic control tower located south of the terminal parking deck and measuring 198-foot (60 m) in height entered service in the Summer of 2001. The 1962 blue and white air traffic control tower was demolished in 2004. In 2006 Birmingham International Airport celebrated its 75th year. In July 2007 an 2,000-foot (610 m) eastward extension to Runway 6/24

9453-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

9590-498: The airport puts on display revolving collections of works throughout the terminal. The program includes works from local artists as well as artists from around the country. In addition there is a rotating Barber Motorsports exhibit on the lower level near the baggage claim. This exhibit features frequently changing displays containing various automobiles and race memorabilia such as driving suits and mounted steering wheels from famous race cars. There are many smaller works of art throughout

9727-432: The airport's footprint, but with minimal impact on the community and environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Delta Airlines stored several of their widebody jets as well as many narrow body jets at BHM during the downturn in global travel demand. Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport covers 2,170 acres (878 ha ) at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m) above mean sea level . It has two asphalt runways: 6/24

9864-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

10001-436: The airport. Numerous other aircraft are used for frequent charter flights. Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport is also a primary diversion airport for Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport due to its 12,007 ft runway, which frequently brings brief but unique visitors. Sumpter Smith Air National Guard Base is located at the airport. It covers approximately 147 acres and essential facilities to support

10138-428: The airside of the terminal, a large horizontal white sign with teal lettering identified the city as Birmingham. Externally, Concourse C and Concourse B before their reconstruction were radically different from the terminal structure, consisting of straight radial spokes clad with white panels. Concourse   C included a circular end which invokes the appearance of the terminal, whereas Concourse   B terminated at

10275-494: The amount of $ 5.6 billion, of which $ 5.8 billion was the accrual of unpaid mandatory retiree health payments. First-class mail volume peaked in 2001 to 103.65 billion declining to 52.62 billion by 2020 due to the increasing use of email and the World Wide Web for correspondence and business transactions. Private courier services, such as FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS), directly compete with USPS for

10412-487: The base. Alabama Army Aviation Support Facility #2 provides aircraft hangar and maintenance facilities for companies of the 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment which operate CH-47D Chinook and UH-72A Lakota aircraft. The Armed Forces Reserve Center Buildings 1&2 provide facilities for the 109th Evacuation Hospital, 20th Special Forces Group (1st Battalion), and a Detachment of the 450th Military Police Company (USAR). The (AL ARNG) Field Maintenance Shop #11(FMS-11) facility

10549-667: The central Alabama automotive manufacturing industry. The flights are operated by Atlas Air using a Boeing 747-8F . Instead of returning to Stuttgart , the aircraft repositions to Hong Kong , with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska . Also in April 2023, Air Atlanta Icelandic began operating flights between Liège, Belgium and BHM using Boeing 747-400F aircraft. The return flight stops in Atlanta before continuing on to Liège . In September 2013, Atlanta-based ExpressJet Airlines ,

10686-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

10823-442: The construction for future concourses A   and   B. Former Concourse   C consisted of 13 gates, C1–C14. It was the only concourse at the airport in operation and in use during the first phase of the terminal modernization project. Therefore, all commercial and charter services used this concourse. Concourse   C was then closed when the new concourses A   and   B opened on March 13, 2013. The 1974 terminal

10960-485: The cost of postage increased to 73 cents for first class mail. Comprehensive reform packages considered in the 113th Congress include S.1486 and H.R.2748. These include the efficiency measure, supported by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe of ending door-to-door delivery of mail for some or most of the 35 million addresses that currently receive it, replacing that with either curbside boxes or nearby "cluster boxes". This would save $ 4.5 billion per year out of

11097-461: The delivery of packages. Lower volume means lower revenues to support the fixed commitment to deliver to every address once a day, six days a week. According to an official report on November 15, 2012, the U.S. Postal Service lost $ 15.9 billion its 2012 fiscal year. In response, the USPS has increased productivity each year from 2000 to 2007, through increased automation, route re-optimization, and facility consolidation. Despite these efforts,

11234-410: The easiest access to roadside mailboxes. Some rural letter carriers use personal vehicles. All contractors use personal vehicles. Standard postal-owned vehicles do not have license plates . These vehicles are identified by a seven-digit number displayed on the front and rear. Starting in 2026, all delivery truck purchases are scheduled to be electric vehicles , partly in response to criticism from

11371-502: The east side of the north–south runway. There are plans for it to relocate to a new site near the Barber Motorsports Park . Commercial air service to Birmingham began in 1928 by St. Tammy and Gulf Coast Airways, at Roberts Field on the west side of Birmingham on a route from Atlanta, Georgia to New Orleans, Louisiana. Delta Air Service began service to Birmingham in late 1929 with six seat Travel Air airplanes along

11508-886: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

11645-421: The fare is $ 5.00. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Concourse A and Concourse B took place on February 26, 2013. The new terminal officially opened for business on March 13, 2013. The new Concourse   C was completed along with the second half of the main terminal building and baggage claim upon the completion of the second and final phase of the terminal modernization project. A ribbon cutting ceremony for

11782-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

11919-412: The first time on a $ 5.5 billion retirement benefits payment due August 1, 2012, and a $ 5.6 billion payment due September 30, 2012. On September 30, 2014, the USPS failed to make a $ 5.7 billion payment on this debt, the fourth such default. In 2017, the USPS defaulted on some of the last lump-sum payments required by the 2006 law, though other payments were also still required. Proposals to cancel

12056-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

12193-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

12330-401: The four weeks preceding Christmas since 2013, packages from all mail classes and senders were delivered on Sunday in some areas. Parcels are also delivered on holidays, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The USPS started delivering Priority Mail Express packages on Christmas Day in select locations for an additional fee. The holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas

12467-543: The funding obligation and debt from the defaults. Legislation was introduced in Congress in 2016 as well as in 2019, aiming to remove the benefits funding obligations, however no new legislation was passed until the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA). The PSRA was signed into law in April 2022. It forgave $ 57 billion in Postal Service debt and released it from the obligation to set aside funds for future retirees' healthcare, as well as adding requirements for delivery timing and reporting on performance metrics, and allowing

12604-418: The funding obligation and plan a new schedule for the debt were introduced in Congress as early as 2016. A 2019 bill entitled the "USPS Fairness Act", which would have eliminated the pension funding obligation, passed the House but did not proceed further. As of March 8, 2022, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 , which includes a section entitled "USPS Fairness Act" cancelling the obligation, has passed both

12741-404: The heavily used terminal spaces, dining areas, and restrooms. Numerous planters were positioned in hallways. The new terminal and concourses completed in the 2010s feature open spaces and clean lines. There is abundant natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows and large skylights. Neutral colors accented with soft blue and chrome are found throughout the terminal. In 2014, the airport completed

12878-441: The initial 50,000 vehicles will be electric, as will all vehicles purchased after 2026. The number of gallons of fuel used in 2009 was 444 million, at a cost of US$ 1.1 billion . For every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra US$ 8 million per year to fuel its fleet. The fleet is notable in that many of its vehicles are right-hand drive , an arrangement intended to give drivers

13015-423: The interchange of Interstates 20 and 59 . BHM served 3,056,215 passengers in 2023, and is the largest and busiest airport in the state of Alabama by passenger volume. The airfield can handle all aircraft types. The main runway is 12,007 feet (3,660 m) long. The secondary runway is 7,099 feet (2,164 m) long. A Category   II ILS allows operations in visibility as low as a quarter-mile. The airport

13152-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

13289-509: The invasion even began, Ray's frozen body was kept as concrete proof of U.S. support. Continued growth in passenger traffic by 1962 resulted in the construction of a second passenger terminal and a new air traffic control tower, built west of the original 1931 terminal. This was dedicated on February 11, 1962 as the Birmingham Air Terminal. Charles H. McCauley Associates was the supervising architect and Radar & Associates

13426-662: The late 1960s Douglas DC-8 , Douglas DC-9 , Convair 880 and Boeing 727s were all scheduled to BHM. During the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, pilots and crews from the Alabama Air National Guard 's 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Birmingham were selected to train Cuban exile fliers in Nicaragua to fly the Douglas B-26 Invader in the close air support role. Although the 117th was flying

13563-571: The late 1970s. Deregulation of the airline industry saw airlines such as Comair , Florida Express , People Express , Air New Orleans , L'Express Airlines , and Southwest Airlines enter the Birmingham market. The city unsuccessfully lobbied Piedmont Airlines to establish a Birmingham hub in the 1980s; American Airlines considered Birmingham as the site for a new north–south hub around the same time, but opted to establish hubs in Nashville and Raleigh/Durham instead. The original 1931 terminal

13700-541: The lower level of the terminal. There are vending machines and ATMs throughout both levels, pre-security. Terminal A referred to the former 1962 terminal, which was still in use as office space until it was closed in 2011. The former Concourse   B was closed in June 2011 and demolished alongside Terminal   A for the first phase of the terminal modernization project to make way for two new concourses, A   and   B, which opened on March 13, 2013. Concourse   C

13837-662: The mission of the 117th Air Refueling Wing (117 ARW), an Alabama Air National Guard unit operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC), as well as its KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. The 117 ARW occupies 101 facilities including offices, mission support structures, maintenance hangars, a petroleum/oil/lubricants (POL) storage and refueling station, a joint Army and Air Force evacuation hospital, as well as 24/7 Security Forces, Fire Response, Base Defense Operations Center, and Base Command Post. The 117 ARW has nine KC-135R Stratotankers allotted among two squadrons

13974-601: The name of the airport from the Birmingham International Airport to the Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport after the former civil rights activist. The name change cost about $ 300,000. The FAA approved the name change and signage of the airport took place on April 3, 2009. In 2011, The Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport broke ground on a comprehensive Terminal Modernization Project. This project

14111-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

14248-498: The nation. While the strike ended without any concessions from the federal government, it did ultimately allow for postal worker unions and the government to negotiate a contract which gave the unions most of what they wanted, as well as the signing of the Postal Reorganization Act by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970. The act replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with a new federal agency,

14385-456: The new concourses use jetways). Passenger gates and services are on the second floor with airside baggage handling and aircraft servicing on the ground level. The interior of the terminal was renovated in the early 1990s and completed in 1993 at a cost of $ 50.4 million which included new floor surfaces, lighting, wall coverings, renovated public spaces, and public art. The flooring was a mixture of carpet and large tiles, with tile primarily in

14522-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

14659-412: The opening of the concourse to flights on August 14, 2014. There is a rental car facility in an annex on the ground floor of the parking deck. Eight rental car companies are housed within this facility. The airport offers a parking deck with over 5000 spaces available for hourly and daily parking. A remote lot is available for long term parking, with over 700 spaces. A shuttle runs between the terminal and

14796-410: The organization saw an $ 8.5 billion budget shortfall in 2010, and was losing money at a rate of about $ 3 billion per quarter in 2011. On December 5, 2011, the USPS announced it would close more than half of its mail processing centers, eliminate 28,000 jobs and reduce overnight delivery of First-Class Mail. This will close down 252 of its 461 processing centers. (At peak mail volume in 2006,

14933-620: The post office to facilitate the predicted flood of mail ballots, but the bill never reached the Senate floor for a vote. A March 2021 report from the Postal Service's inspector general found that the vast majority of mail-in ballots and registration materials in the 2020 election were delivered to the relevant authorities on time. The Postal Service handled approximately 135 million pieces of election-related mail between September 1 and November 3, delivering 97.9% of ballots from voters to election officials within three days, and 99.89% of ballots within seven days. Postmaster General DeJoy helped

15070-402: The recent changes. On August 16 the House of Representatives was called back from its summer recess to consider a bill rolling back all of the changes. On August 18, 2020, after days of heavy criticism and the day after lawsuits against the Postal Service and DeJoy personally were filed in federal court by several individuals, DeJoy announced that he would roll back all the changes until after

15207-468: The remote lot continuously throughout the day. There is a free cell phone waiting lot with a digital flight display for people waiting on arriving passengers. Beginning in December 2015, Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority introduced two new express Airport Shuttle routes from downtown Birmingham hotels directly to the terminal. The shuttle routes operate hourly on Mondays through Saturdays and

15344-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

15481-619: The screening of checked luggage. The new terminal is said to be built with new efficient building standards, making it one of the greenest airports in the country. The first phase of construction was completed on February 26, 2013 with the entire modernization project completed in 2014, culminating in a ribbon cutting ceremony held on August, 7th 2014. The project team included KPS Group and KHAFRA (Architects & Engineers), A.G. Gaston Construction (Project Management), Margaret Jones Interiors, LLC and Brasfield & Gorrie and BLOC Global Services Group (Construction Management). On March 22, 2013,

15618-606: The secure area. The main terminal containing the ticketing and baggage claim areas has been completely gutted and remodelled. Additionally, there have been enhancements to the parking deck, allowing passengers to move between the terminal and the parking deck under cover and without navigating any stairs. There is now a single large security screening checkpoint with TSA PreCheck which provides access to all concourses. Many concessions and shopping, as well as US Customs and Border Protection offices have been added. A completely new integrated baggage screening system has been installed to handle

15755-430: The services that the Postal Service could offer to only those it already provided and also established a requirement for the USPS to save money for the medical benefits of future retirees. The Act set a goal to save $ 5 billion per year for the first 10 years of a 50-year schedule, however within 6 years the Postal Service began to default on its payments. The Postal Service experienced lower revenues as mail use declined in

15892-928: The south side of the airport. It was originally built during World War II , but was subsequently expanded. While little work is now performed at the complex, the facility sits on approximately 180 acres of land and has 1.7 million square feet under its roof. It has 10 aircraft pull-through bays with space under the roof for 54 737-size aircraft. In the year ending November 30, 2023, the airport had 98,681 aircraft operations, an average of 270 movements per day. Itinerant aircraft movements broke down as follows: 41% general aviation , 35% scheduled commercial , 17% air taxi , and 8% military . A total of 230 aircraft were then based at this airport. In September 2020, typical commercial passenger traffic included Boeing 737s , Boeing 717s , Embraer 170s , Embraer 145s , CRJ 900s , CRJ700s , CRJ550s , and CRJ 200s models on about 128 takeoffs or landings daily. Currently, Delta Airlines operates

16029-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

16166-454: The terminal, both pre and post-security. The airport website has an updated list of the various works of art on display. There are a range of dining and shopping options in the terminal, both pre and post-security. The airport features free Wi-Fi internet access throughout the terminal. In 2014, Yahoo Travel ranked the airport as the 49th out of 72 on a list of "Every Important U.S. Airport, Ranked by Its Food and Drink." As of January 2023,

16303-405: The then largest regional US passenger airline, told its pilots to avoid landing on Runway 18, following the crash of UPS Airlines Flight 1354 in Birmingham. An internal review following the accident concluded planes come "dangerously close" to nearby hills if even a few feet too low, that there is a significant "terrain threat" and a non-standard glide path. An aviation safety expert said the runway

16440-487: The top five markets served non-stop from Birmingham are Atlanta , Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas , Charlotte , Houston , and Denver . American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , and Southwest Airlines serve Birmingham with mainline, narrowbody aircraft. Regional airlines provide a large share of daily air carrier service to Birmingham. The most common aircraft serving the airport are the Bombardier CRJ700 / CRJ900 ,

16577-515: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

16714-412: The upper band of panels was decorated with raised circles of four sizes, two circles per size per panel. The roof is flat over the terminal and concourses; a series of steel columns painted white with stay cables for the terminal awning project from the roof. An enclosed white-clad Observation Deck jutted out from the airside terminal face at a sharp angle between the old concourses B   and   C. On

16851-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

16988-442: The wings of birds in flight or aircraft. In the 1990s terminal there were multiple pieces of art that became well known to frequent visitors to the airport. However, with the terminal modernisation project, most of these pieces were replaced with new, more modern, and in some cases, technologically advanced works. There are two unique major artwork displays in the terminal, both of which are in Concourse   B. The first major display

17125-684: Was a community preference for a different option. In a survey of rural customers, 54% preferred the new plan of retaining rural post offices with reduced hours, 20% preferred the "Village Post Office" replacement (where a nearby private retail store would provide basic mail services with expanded hours), 15% preferred merger with another Post Office, and 11% preferred expanded rural delivery services. In 2012, USPS reported that approximately 40% of postal revenue comes from online purchases or private retail partners including Walmart , Staples , Office Depot , Walgreens , Sam's Club , Costco , and grocery stores. The National Labor Relations Board agreed to hear

17262-605: Was a major venue for delivering patronage jobs to the party that controlled the White House. Newspaper editors often were named. It was elevated to a cabinet-level department in 1872, and was transformed by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 into the U.S. Postal Service as an independent agency. Since the early 1980s, many direct tax subsidies to the USPS (with the exception of subsidies for costs associated with disabled and overseas voters) have been reduced or eliminated. The United States Information Agency (USIA) helped

17399-465: Was a section assigned to the Third Air Force as a fighter base, operated by the 310th Army Air Force Base Unit. The Army Air Forces considerably improved the airport with land acquisitions, paving of additional taxiways, and construction of a control tower and an aircraft modification center south of the terminal, now operated by Stewart Industries for aircraft disassembly and disposal. Around

17536-524: Was built in the International style of architecture popular for American commercial and institutional buildings from the 1950s through the late 1970s. It consists of a single curved terminal with concourses radiating outward. Large floor to ceiling plate glass windows form curtain walls on the departure level of the terminal with horizontal bands of repetitive white architectural panels above and below. A slight departure from typical International style,

17673-409: Was closed on March 13, 2013 upon completion of Concourses A   and   B. Concourse   C was not demolished, but was completely gutted and structurally modified, removing the rotunda at the end of the old concourse and changing the structure to make a rectangle shape with the same width from end to end. It then underwent an intensive remodel covering all aspects of the concourse, culminating in

17810-400: Was completed in phases over three years, retaining with extensive renovations the 1973 landside terminal, demolishing the 1962 terminal and 1973 airside concourses and gates (portions of the 1973 Concourse C structure were reused), and constructing all new airside facilities with 19 gates equipped with jetways. Completed in 2014, the completed provided a beautiful new terminal that nearly doubled

17947-548: Was completed. Now 12,007 feet (3,660 m) in length, Runway 6/24 allows a fully loaded Boeing 747 to land or take off. On June 23, 2008 Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford announced his proposal to rename the airport as the Fred L. Shuttlesworth International Airport, in honor of civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth . On July 16, 2008, Mayor Langford and the Birmingham Airport Authority voted to change

18084-513: Was demolished in 2004 after being replaced by the 2001 air traffic control tower. This terminal was demolished to make way for the 2011 terminal expansion; the 1962 terminal being located in the area now covered by the aircraft apron for Gate A1. In 1973 a semi-circular terminal was completed west of the 1962 terminal and air traffic control tower. It had 15 aircraft gates and a 1,600 space parking deck. Allegheny Airlines (later US Airways ) began service from Birmingham to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in

18221-436: Was finally demolished between 1970 and 1992. With the introduction of flights to Canada and Mexico, the official name of the airport was changed to Birmingham International Airport on October 20, 1993. Also in 1993, the airport marked the completion of a $ 50.4m terminal renovation. In the early 1990s Runway 18/36 was extended to 7,100 feet, allowing use by airline jets. By the early 2000s, Birmingham had completed improvements to

18358-405: Was installed in the landside Departures level near the location of the accident. Several pieces of artwork are displayed within the terminal and on the airport grounds. Approaching the airport along Messer Airport Boulevard, travelers pass a series of white three dimensional triangular shapes placed on raised posts along the shoulder and median of the roadway with a mid-span folded crease to suggest

18495-547: Was renamed in July 2008 after Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth , founding president of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and a leader of the Birmingham campaign during the civil rights movement . The airport carries the designation of an international airport and has a staffed U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility on site. There have been scheduled seasonal international flights to

18632-435: Was the designing architect. It consisted of a single story building of repeated bays with steeply pitched roofs, which flanked a wider, higher center bay at the south end of the building for ticketing. A long, flat roofed northern section comprised the ground-level aircraft gates. The air traffic control tower, completed in 1962 and located immediately southwest of the terminal, was 87 feet (27 m) tall. The 1962 control tower

18769-490: Was used by Northwest/Northwest Airlink, American/American Eagle, Continental/Continental Express and US Airways Express. Northwest moved to Concourse   C in May 2009 and was merged into Delta a year later. American Airlines moved to Concourse   C on June 10, 2011; while US Airways and Continental moved to Concourse   C on June 24, 2011. Concourse   B was then closed and demolished in August 2011 to make way for

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