Long Island MacArthur Airport: New York

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Long Island MacArthur Airport

Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Town of Islip
Serves Islip, New York
Elevation AMSL 99 ft (30.2 m)
Coordinates 40°47′42.9?N, 73°06′00.8?W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
6/24 7,006 2,135 Asphalt
10/28 5,034 1,534 Asphalt
15R/33L 5,186 1,581 Asphalt
15L/33R 3,175 968 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Size Surface
ft m
H1 50 15 Asphalt
H2 50 15 Asphalt

Long Island MacArthur Airport (IATA: ISP, ICAO: KISP) is located on Long Island in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County, New York. It is owned and operated by the Town of Islip, therefore some people call it “Islip Airport”. It is the only airport in Suffolk and Nassau County with scheduled service on major airlines and serves over two million passengers a year.

History

The airport began in 1942 as three paved runways built by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration) during World War II. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation built the first hangar at the airport in 1944. The Town of Islip built a terminal in 1949, after taking the airport back from the Army Air Corps at the end of the war. Through the 1950s, MacArthur was used by Sperry Corporation for aviation research. Allegheny Airlines was its first commercial airline in 1960, offering flights to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. The Douglas MacArthur terminal was completed in 1968 and American Airlines began operating non-stop flights to Chicago in 1971.

Expansion and corruption scandal

The airport embarked on an expansion in 2004 that included a $50 million Southwest Airlines terminal. Investigators subsequently uncovered a six-year history of corruption in which Islip town officials expanded the town-owned airport while ignoring state regulations for fire detection and suppression.
A major proponent of the expansion was Peter J. McGowan, the former Islip town supervisor and one of the most influential Republicans on Long Island. McGowan saw his name emblazoned on the new terminal, built without state approvals and in violation of fire and safety codes, and then removed after he resigned in disgrace in March 2006 under felony indictments of grand larceny, tampering with a witness, bribe receiving, and filing a false instrument. He was jailed for 56 days for taking kickbacks and misusing more than $30,000 in campaign donations. The new terminal was renamed Veterans Concourse to honor Islip’s servicemen and women.

The former Islip town engineer and deputy planning commissioner, Steven J. Rizzo, admitted in August 2006 that he approved construction at the airport knowing that it violated the state’s fire and safety codes. Among the sites Rizzo admitted he knew lacked the required fire-suppression system and therefore was unsafe was a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant included in the expansion. On August 2, 2006, Fridays was closed due to these health hazards and will not be reopened until the proper corrections are made.

The troubled expansion area consists of an Irish pub, A&W Restaurant, an Italian eatery, a Rapidos sandwich shop, a CNBC store, and four new gates. The concourse and gates are currently separate from the rest of the terminal, but will in the near future be connected as newer gates are opened. Southwest is currently adding four additional gates to the airport to bring their total to eight gates by summer 2006. All food in the Airport is run by HMSHost Corporation after taking over from Anton Airfood

Long Island MacArthur Airport: New York :: New York Travel Guide

Long Island MacArthur Airport: New York

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Long Island MacArthur Airport: New York ::New York Travel Guide