Florida Keys Marathon Airport
Encyclopedia
The Florida Keys Marathon Airport is a public airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located along the Overseas Highway (US1) in Marathon
Marathon, Florida
Marathon is a city on Knight's Key, Boot Key, Key Vaca, Fat Deer Key, Long Point Key, Crawl Key and Grassy Key islands in the middle Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 10,255. As of 2005, the population estimated...

, in Monroe County
Monroe County, Florida
Monroe County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 79,589. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county was 74,737....

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The airport covers 190 acres (77 ha) and has one runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

.

History

Marathon Airport was originally constructed by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in the early 1940s as Outlying Field Marathon (OLF Marathon), an auxiliary airfield to Naval Air Station Key West
Naval Air Station Key West
Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States....

. It was deactivated as a military facility at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and transferred to the government of Monroe County for use as a civilian airport. For most of its existence, the airport has been a general aviation facility. Regional propeller service began in the 1960s with National Airlines treating it as a "flag stop." A person on the ground would "wave" a large flag as the aircraft passed overhead from Key West, if there were Marathon - Miami passengers waiting. Later, American Air Taxi (AAT Airlines) ran a limited passenger service into Marathon. In the late 1960s Southeast Airlines serviced the airport with three flights daily to and from Miami, via Key West, utilizing two Martin 4-0-4
Martin 4-0-4
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Andrade, John. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979, pp. 95, 217. ISBN 0-904597-22-9....

s and a Fairchild F-27
Fairchild Hiller FH-227
The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States...

. After the demise of this service, an airline founded in Key West (Air Sunshine) serviced Marathon with Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...

 aircraft to and from Miami. For a time in the early 1970s, Air Florida provided service to Marathon and Key West, followed by Provincetown-Boston Airlines
Provincetown-Boston Airlines
Provincetown-Boston Airline , or better known as PBA, was an airline that operated between 1949 and 1989. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States before its purchase by People...

 (PBA) which used a combination of DC-3s and modern turboprop aircraft.

Marathon Airport was served by American Eagle Airlines
American Eagle Airlines
American Eagle Airlines is a brand name used by American Eagle Airlines, Inc. , based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Executive Airlines based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the operation of passenger air service as regional affiliates of American Airlines. All three airlines are wholly owned subsidiaries...

 until 2000. In mid-2006, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

 announced planned non-stop service to Marathon via its regional
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...

 subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines
Atlantic Southeast Airlines
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is an American airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier and, as of February 2010, commenced service as a United Express carrier. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. ASA operates...

 (ASA). Shortly after the Delta announcement, Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...

 announced that it would begin services to Marathon via its Florida subsidiary Gulfstream International. In July 2006, the Transportation Security Administration
Transportation Security Administration
The Transportation Security Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States....

 (TSA) notified airport officials at Marathon Airport that due to a shortage of personnel, the TSA would not be able to staff Marathon Airport with federal security screeners; passengers would have to board and disembark airline aircraft at the general aviation ramp area located on the opposite end of the runway instead of at the airport's passenger terminal. Both Continental and Delta have since stated that using this area is inconvenient to both passengers and airline staff, as it will cause lengthy delays in boarding due to all passengers having to be screened as they enter the aircraft rather than before reaching the gate. Connecting passengers will also have to be rescreened at the intermediate destination before boarding their connecting aircraft, causing further inconveniences in passenger connections; both airlines stated that if the airport cannot resolve the TSA issue before their announced service start days, they would withdraw their previously announced scheduled service offers.

However on December 1, 2006, the TSA bowed to the effective lobbying efforts of local government, congressional and business officials when it announced that screeners would be provided at the airport no later than February 15, 2007, even if it meant using a contractor http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=1777http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/16703445.htm. As a result of the TSA decision, ASA began daily scheduled service on February 15, 2007. In late spring of 2007, Delta began using Freedom Airlines
Freedom Airlines
Freedom Airlines, Inc. was an American FAA Part 121 certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number FDKA087K issued on April 1, 2002. The Nevada Corporation is headquartered in Irving, Texas and is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group...

 and ended its ASA service. The reason for this switch was because Marathon's published runway length is 5000 feet (1,524 m) and Freedom Airlines' Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet aircraft have better short field performance. When ASA serviced the airport it used special 40 seat Canadair CRJ-100 regional jets because the performance and takeoff weight of the 50-seat versions would exceed safety margins, given Marathon's comparatively short runway length.

In mid summer of 2007, Delta announced it would end service to Marathon Airport due to low demand.

On October 4, 2008, Continental Airlines announced it would begin commercial service to Marathon Airport via a Cape Air
Cape Air
Hyannis Air Service, Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, Florida, the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic States, Midwest, and Micronesia...

 codeshare to Southwest Florida International Airport
Southwest Florida International Airport
-Statistics:-Accidents and incidents:* November 28, 2007 - A single-engine fixed wing aircraft crashed about 9:20 a.m. one mile west of Runway 6. The crash killed the pilot...

 in Fort Myers, with TSA security clearance to occur once on the ground in Fort Myers, if connecting to another flight. Service began on December 19, 2008 but has since ended. Also in 2008, Marathon Airport was featured in Army of Two
Army of Two
Army of Two is a third person shooter video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on March 4, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. The game is centered upon two mercenaries fighting through war, political turmoil, and a conspiracy from 1993 to 2009...

, a third person shooter video game by EA Montreal
EA Montreal
EA Montreal is a video game development studio owned and operated by Electronic Arts. The studio is based in Montréal, Québec. It was inaugurated by EA on March 17, 2004. The studio was founded by Alain Tascan a former Ubisoft and BAM! Entertainment executive. It is one of a few examples where EA...

.

External links


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