The Municipal Airport of Robert Mueller ( "Miller") was the first civil airport built in Austin, Texas, operating from 1930 to 1999. It was replaced as the main airport of Greater Austin by the Airport International Austin Bergstrom. Located a few miles northeast of downtown Austin, the airport is named after Robert Mueller, a city commissioner who had died while in office in January 1927. Mueller identified with three letter "AUS" airport code and the code "AUS" is then assigned to the Airport International Bergstrom Austin in 1999.
Video Robert Mueller Municipal Airport
Histori
Since the need for commercial air services became apparent in 1920, Austin voters supported the election of bonds to build a city-city airport in 1928. The airport was built a few miles northeast of the city center, on what subsequently became the suburbs.. The airport began operations on October 14, 1930, although commercial services would not begin until 1936.
In the 1950s, developers began to build residential areas under Mueller's flight path and, in parallel, the number of arrivals and departures at the airport increased dramatically in line with the city's population growth. April 1957 OAG registered a total of 33 business day departures operated by three airlines: fifteen on Braniff International Airways, ten on Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) and eight on Continental Airlines. No nonstop flights operated outside San Antonio, San Angelo, Dallas Love Field (DAL) or Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) at this time. The first nonstop flight outside Texas was flown from Mueller with Boeing 727 operated by Braniff to Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) in 1968; The flight lasted until 1980. It was the only non-stop of the country until Braniff attempted to serve Chicago O'Hare (ORD) unceasingly in 1978.
In 1963, Continental operated the British-made Vickers Viscount 4-engine turboprop on a daily commute from Houston Hobby Airport - Austin - San Angelo - Midland/Odessa - El Paso - Tucson - Phoenix - Los Angeles and flew Viscount propjet service directly to Lubbock and Amarillo. By 1964, Continental had stopped serving Austin; However, in 1970 the airline once again operated the flight to Mueller.
The jet age arrived in Austin in 1965 when Braniff introduced the British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jet with nonstop service to Dallas Love Field and San Antonio as well as immediate, no changes to jet service to Chicago O'Hare, Kansas City, Oklahoma City , Wichita, Amarillo, Lubbock and Corpus Christi. According to the system schedule of September 7, 1965 airline, Braniff also operates Lockheed L-188 Electra propjets currently nonstop to Dallas Love Field, Fort Worth (via Greater Southwest International Airport) and San Antonio with Direct Electra services flown from Austin to Washington DC National Airport (DCA), Denver, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City and Corpus Christi.
In 1968, Trans-Texas Airways operated the Douglas DC-9-10 twin jetliner to Mueller with nonstop to Dallas Love Field, Houston Hobby, and San Antonio as well as straight away, no change in jet service flown to New Orleans, Memphis, Little Rock and Corpus Christi.
In early 1976, three of the same airlines operated scheduled passenger services to the airport even though Trans-Texas Airways had changed its name to Texas International Airlines. According to the Official Flight Guide (OAG), Braniff operates up to eight nonstop people a day to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) with Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 jetliner and also operates the nonstop service to Washington Dulles Airport with 727- 200 and nonstop 727-200 to San Antonio. In addition, Braniff operates one stop, no change of the 727 service jet plane to Chicago O'Hare Airport, New York JFK Airport, Kansas City, Memphis and Amarillo and also direct, multi-stop 727 flights to Detroit, Newark and Washington National Airport (which will be Ronald Reagan-Washington National Airport). All Continental services are currently operated by Boeing 727-200 jet aircraft with three-day nonstop service to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Midland/Odessa with one stop, no change of jet service flown to Miami and El Paso. Continental also operates direct, multi-stop services several times a day to Los Angeles (LAX), Phoenix and Tucson, and then operates the Boeing 720B jet to Mueller on a multi-stop route between IAH and LAX which includes AUS. Texas International flies the Douglas DC-9-10 nonstop aircraft to Dallas/Ft. Worth Worth International Airport, Houston Intercontinental, Lubbock and San Antonio with one stop, no change in jet flights operated to Albuquerque, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Laredo and Little Rock. Texas International also operates a direct, multi-stop DC-9 flight to Denver and Los Angeles as well as nonstop Convair 600 turboprop flights to Houston in addition to the DC-9 service on the route. In 1979, Texas International flew the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet alongside the DC-9-10 and operated all jet flights from Mueller.
On February 13, 1978, Southwest Airlines operated as an intrastate airline that started the Boeing 737-200 jet service to Mueller. In July 1978, Southwest flew non-stop from Austin to Dallas Love Field (DAL), Houston Hobby (HOU), Corpus Christi and Harlingen. In 1979, Delta Air Lines and Eastern Air Lines began serving Austin with two nonstop airlines to Atlanta with Eastern also operating non-stop to Houston Intercontinental (IAH) with a one-stop, direct service to Boston. Delta operates a Boeing 727-200 jet while Eastern flies Boeing 727-100 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 to the airport at this time. In 1981, American Airlines started service to Mueller, followed in 1983 by United Airlines and USAir (which changed its name to US Airways and later joined American Airlines). American fly nonstop to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW), Chicago O'Hare, and Corpus Christi during the early 1980s and operated the Boeing 727-100s and 727-200s as well as McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide body jet to the airport. American introduced Austin's first extensive body service with a nonstop DC-10 flight to Dallas/Ft. Eligible and will operate Boeing 767 to DFW from Mueller as well. Also today, United operates a Boeing 727-100 nonstop service to Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and San Antonio while USAir flew incessantly to the Houston Intercontinental with one daily flight operated with Boeing 737-200 with a one-stop, direct service to Pittsburgh. Other airlines that operated jet services to Austin during the 1980s included America's West Airlines, Emerald Air (based in Austin and operated not only independently but also as Pan Am Express), Muse Air and its successors, TranStar Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Pan Am, Trans World Airlines (TWA), and Western Airlines. In the late 1980s, every major US airline at that time served Robert Mueller Municipal Airport in a mainstream jet airliner.
Expansion
A new passenger terminal and control tower was built in 1961. The control tower is known for its light blue and light blue porcelain panels alternately. Terminals and control towers are dedicated in ceremonies attended by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Austin Mayor Lester Palmer.
Major expansions in Mueller occurred in the 1970s, including improvements to runways and terminals. Prior to the expansion, the departure area consists of 4 to 5 gates, not covered but covered by large tents; no jetway at that time. Mueller's longest runway was 7,269 feet (2,216 m) long, and by the late 1990s the passenger terminal was operating at full capacity with 16 gates.
For several years, the Texas Army National Guard also has facilities at the airport.
Closure and replacement
Whether Mueller's aging should be moved to Manor, Texas, is a perennial problem in Austin politics, until the close of Bergstrom Air Force Base opens another possibility.
The nearby Bergstrom Air Force Base in southeastern downtown Austin closed down as an active military base in 1993, and it was deactivated as a reserve base in 1996. The main runway, designed for high-performance military and jet cargo, was left intact and required a bit of work to return to useless condition. Smaller military-era buildings on site were destroyed, and construction of new terminals and traffic/parking infrastructure built on their premises, creating an international civil airport capable of replacing Mueller Airport.
Mueller Airport's commercial services ended on 21 May 1999, replaced by the new Austin Bergstrom International Airport; while general aviation activities at Mueller continued until June 22, 1999.
Redevelopment as Mueller Community
711 hectares (3 km 2 ) of land that was once a residence at the airport was empty and not used for more than half a decade until the city approved the development plan. The Mueller community only started operations in 2007 and is expected to take at least ten years to be fully developed.
The airport control tower has been preserved and restored in response to the wishes of the local community to preserve the iconic structure of 1961. The view from the Texas State Capitol from the base of the tower became one of the Capitol View Corridors that protected state and local laws from barriers by tall buildings in the year 1983, although the rebuilding of Mueller's subdivision is exempt from the regulation.
This is the current location for production company Robert Rodriguez, Troublemaker Studios.
Maps Robert Mueller Municipal Airport
References
External links
- Media related to Robert Mueller Municipal Airport on Wikimedia Commons
- Master Mueller Developer Site
- Airport diagram for April 1986
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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