The Eastern Iowa Airport

Airline Service

The airport in recent years has been served almost entirely by regional jets, however this is beginning to change. Delta now offers Boeing 717 flights to Atlanta and this summer United will upgrade all flights to Denver on Airbus 319s. American, Delta, and United still utilize a majority of regional jets, although the size has increased on a majority of flights to 70-76 seat regional jets with first class cabins while Allegiant flies MD80s and Frontier flies Airbus 319s. The airport sees five airlines with non-stop flights to thirteen cities. The airport has 13 gates; six gates on the upper concourse (C) have jet bridge boarding and Gates B1-B7 are ground level boarding areas. Concourse B will be renovated beginning this summer to add a second level and 3 more gates.

Arriving passengers have a short walk to the baggage claim area. Several national rental car company counters and a courtesy shuttle counter are in this area.

On July 8, 2016 the airport announced new twice daily service from CID to Charlotte. The service will start November 4, 2016 and will be flown on CRJ-700 aircraft by PSA Airlines on behalf of American Airlines. This will mark the 13th destination out of Cedar Rapids and the newest destination since 2014 when service to Los Angeles was announced.

Runway reconstruction

On June 3, 2010, Runway 9/27 closed for reconstruction, reopening on September 23. A temporary runway had been set up parallel to the closed runway. Beginning July 3, 2010, and lasting for 4 weeks, Runway 13/31 was also closed as they rebuilt the intersection with Runway 9/27. [1]

History

Cedar Rapids' first airport was Hunter Field, a private airport established by Dan Hunter in the 1920s on Bowling Street SW north of U.S. Highway 30. The airport was used for private charter service, pilot training, and airmail, but it was unusable during bad weather.

Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport was completed with military funding in 1944 but was not dedicated until April 27, 1947. The Cedar Rapids Parks Department operated the airport until a new Airport Commission was established in 1945; Donald Hines, who led the effort to build the airport, was the commission's director until he retired in 1973 (he died in 1975). Scheduled east-west passenger service from United Airlines began in 1947, and north-south passenger service from Ozark Air Lines began in 1957. By 1969 the airport had 31 airline flights per day and recorded 353,000 passengers a year.

The present terminal designed by Brown, Healey, Bock Architects and Planners was dedicated in 1986 with a ceremony that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole attended. The Cedar Rapids Airport was renamed The Eastern Iowa Airport in 1997 to reflect its status as a regional airport. In 2008 the airport enplaned and deplaned one million passengers for the first time in its history; it set a record in 2014 with 1,132,991 passengers.

Airlines and destinations

Eastern Iowa Airport has two passenger concourses: Concourse B with gates B1–B7, and Concourse C with gates C1–C6.

Airport management

Accidents and incidents

August 30, 1970 – US Navy Blue Angels pilot Lt. Ernie Christensen belly-landed his F-4J Phantom at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids with one engine stuck in afterburner during an airshow at the airport. He ejected safely, while the aircraft ran off the runway.

July 11, 1975. A Grumman G-159 Gulfstream I took off from Cedar Rapids to Dallas-Addison Airport in Dallas, Texas. The aircraft encountered heavy rain on short final, and attempted a go around. The plane crashed on the runway on its second attempt to land. Probable cause was wind shear or sudden windshift. All occupants survived.

General aviation

Scheduled airline traffic shares the Eastern Iowa Airport with cargo and general aviation traffic. There are numerous nearby airports that specialize in general aviation; the closest of these is Green Castle Airport.