Hickory Regional Airport

The history of the Hickory Regional Airport

The Hickory Municipal Airport was first opened to aircraft traffic on May 17, 1940. At that time,
there were two unpaved runways which were 2,700 and 3,100 feet in length. (See the attached
photograph

Shortly thereafter, the runway which came to be designated 6/24 was lengthened
and both of the existing runways were paved. On August 2, 1941, Pennsylvania Central Airline
which later became Capital Airlines, brought the first scheduled air-carrier service to Hickory.
This service was interrupted by World War II, and was suspended in May, 1942. During the war
years the Hickory Municipal Airport served as a Pilot Training center for the Military. In 1947, the
Civil Aeronautics Administration opened the Hickory Interstate Airways Communications Station,
which was housed in a wooden structure on the south side of the field, at the former FBO site.
Now known: as the Flight Service Station, this operation is now housed, along with a portion of
the Systems Maintenance Sector, in the Terminal Building. The main offices for the Systems
Maintenance Sector are now located in the present FBO office building. In Nay, 1950, the
City of Hickory contracted for the construction of a North-South Runway (runway 1/19), which
is a total of 4,400 feet in length. Capital Airlines resumed scheduled service in August 1951,
and continued until August 1952, at which time Piedmont Airlines began to serve Hickory.
Piedmont presently operates five flights daily to and from Hickory, and in the calendar year
1976 boarded 15,359 passengers here. Approximately the same number of persons deplaned
in Hickory. Since initial construction, runway 6/24 has been extended in length twice, to its
present length of 6,402 feet. A full Instrument Landing System (ILS) has been installed on
runway 24, and was commissioned during the calendar year, 1977. An Approach Lighting
System has also been installed on this runway.

In the early part of 1969, a new High Intensity Lighting system was installed on this runway,
and at the present time, lighting is being installed on the parallel taxiway. Also at this time,
a taxiway is being constructed, parallel to runway 1/19, complete with lighting. In this same
improvements project, runway 6/24 was overlayed for the purpose of increasing the pavement
strength, and a new 36-inch Airport Beacon is being installed.

In the Fall of 1973, the Federal Aviation Administration, following much planning and work,
commissioned an Air Traffic Control Tower at the Hickory Airport, and since that time,

all aircraft movement on the Air Operations Areas of the Airport and all aircraft movement within
the control zone of the air-port, a five mile radius, has been under the supervision and control of
personnel in the Control Tower.

Tn. 1960, the base of operations for the airport was moved from the south side of the field, when
a new terminal building was constructed. In the mid-1960's, the Fixed Base Operator, Cannon
Aviation, Inc., also moved from the south side of the field, into new quarters adjacent to the
Terminal Building. The Fixed Base Operation was later bought by a locally formed corporation,
Carolina Airways, Inc., and since that time, two substantial expansion projects have been completed.

For many years now, the airplane has ceased to be a novelty and has become, among other things,
a vital tool of modern business. And industry locates where it can use this tool. This has been
evidenced repeatedly in the case of the Hickory Municipal Airport. For example, in the March 1969
issue of "CONTRAILS", a publication of Lear Jet Industries, the owner of a 30-milliondollar-a-year
business (at that time) was quoted as saying that the reason for it moving his firm's base of
operations from a neighboring county to Catawba County, was "...to be nearer the airport...".

Officials of the J.P. Stevens Company, at the time of construction of a huge manufacturing plant
nearby, stated that the local airport was a major factor in the decision to locate here.

Also, when Superior Continental Corporation decided to locate a corporate office facility in Hickory,
company officials were quoted in the news media as saying that one of the primary reasons for
choosing Hickory was the easy accessibility of an adequate airport. These three examples only
serve to illustrate in token fashion what the airport means to our community. The airport is every
citizen's connecting link with everywhere.

Our airport is vital. It is vital to the continued growth. of our area, and aviation safety is vital to the
continued growth of our airport. Thus, to discontinue the safety of flight which is now afforded by
the Air Traffic Control Tower could have far-reaching effects in the possible growth of our community.