Sources: Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport,[1][2]FAA[3]
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (IATA:SDF,ICAO:KSDF,FAALID:SDF) – also known by its former official names asStandiford Field andLouisville International Airport – is a civil-military airport inLouisville, Kentucky. The airport was renamed after boxer and Louisville nativeMuhammad Ali in 2019, three years after his death. The airport covers 1,500 acres (610 ha)[4][a] and has threerunways.[6] Its IATA airport code, SDF, is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field. Despite being called an international airport, it has no regularly scheduled international passenger flights, but is aport of entry, handling manyUPS Airlines international cargo flights through theUnited Parcel Service's worldwide air hub, often referred to asUPS Worldport.[7]
Over 4.8 million passengers passed through the airport in 2024, while over 6.95 billion pounds (3.48 million tons) of cargo passed through in 2024.[1] It is also the third-busiest in the United States in terms of cargo traffic, and sixth-busiest for such in the world.[8] TheNational Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015categorized it as a "primary commercial service" airport, since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year.[9]Federal Aviation Administration records show the airport had 2,402,517 revenue enplanements in 2024.[10]
Standiford Field was built by theArmy Corps of Engineers in 1941 on a parcel of land south of Louisville that was found not to have flooded during theOhio River flood of 1937. It was named forDr. Elisha David Standiford, a local businessman and politician, who was active in transportation issues and owned part of the land. The field remained under Army control until 1947, when it was turned over to the Louisville Air Board for commercial operations.[14]
Until around 1947,Bowman Field was Louisville's main airport, which was too close to downtown to expand. For many years, passenger traffic went through the small brick Lee Terminal at Standiford Field. Today's more modern and much larger facilities were built in the 1980s. Most of the Lee Terminal was later torn down.[citation needed]
When Standiford Field was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1941, it had one 4,000-foot (1,200 m) runway. The airfield opened to the public in 1947 and all commercial service from Bowman Field moved to Standiford Field.American,Eastern, andTWA were the first airlines and had 1,300 passengers a week. The airlines usedWorld War II barracks on the east side of the field until May 25, 1950, when a proper terminal opened. Lee Terminal could handle 150,000 passengers annually and included 6 new gates, which increased terminal space to 114,420 square feet (10,630 m2). The three runways (1, 6 and 11) were all 5000 ft.
The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 45 weekday departures on Eastern Airlines, 19 American, 9 TWA, 4 Piedmont and 2 Ozark. Scheduled jet flights (Eastern 720s to Idlewild) began in January–February 1962.
In 1970, the terminal again expanded; the main lobby was extended and the 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) Delta Air Lines concourse was built.[14]
The 1980s brought plans for a new terminal, the Louisville Airport Improvement plan (LAIP). Construction of a new landside terminal designed by Bickel-Gibson Associated Architects Inc. began, costing $35 million with capacity for nearly 2 million passengers in 1985.[15] Parallel runways, needed for expandedUPS operations, were part of the airport expansion.[14] Most of the improvements were completed in the 1990s and the airport was totally renewed.
During the 1990s,Southwest Airlines began service to the airport which helped passenger boardings increase 97.3 percent. In 1995, the airport's name was changed from Standiford Field to Louisville International Airport. Around that time, SDF opened the two new parallel runways: runway 17L/35R, 8,578 feet (2,615 m) long and runway 17R/35L, 11,887 feet (3,623 m); both are 150 feet (46 m) wide. The Kentucky Air National Guard moved its base to SDF with 8 military aircraft; a new UPS air mail facility, new corporate hangars, a four-level parking garage and a new control tower were also added. A new FBO was added, run by Atlantic Aviation and managed by Michael Perry.
In 2005, a $26 million terminal renovation designed byGensler Inc. was completed.[16] As of 2024[update], the airport is in the midst of a major renovation project called SDF Next, which includes more than $1 billion in planned enhancements to theJerry E. Abramson Terminal, work on the baggage claim, updates to security and lighting, and changes to the rental car counters, among other improvements.[17]
On January 16, 2019, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority voted to change the name of the airport to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in honor of the boxer and Louisville nativeMuhammad Ali.[18] On June 6, 2019, the airport unveiled its new logo, featuring "Ali's silhouette, arms up and victorious, against the background of a butterfly".[19]
The Jerry E. Abramson Terminal, named after formerLieutenant Governor and five-termLouisville mayorJerry Abramson, is the airport's main commercial terminal. It consists of two floors with ground transportation and baggage claim services on the first floor and ticketing, passenger drop off, and concourse access on the second floor.[20] There are 24 gates in the two concourses. These concourses are connected by arotunda and connector that contains a unified security checkpoint located in the main section of the terminal.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport has three concrete runways, two of which are parallel with one crosswind. The westernmost runway (17R/35L) is the longest of the three at 11,887 feet (3,623 m) and was extended in 2007 to accommodate larger aircraft flying nonstop to destinations as far away as the Pacific Rim and Asia. The other two runways, 17L/35R, measures 8,578 feet (2,615 m) and 11/29 measures 7,251 feet (2,210 m)[21][22]
UPS Worldport at Louisville International Airport in 2004
Worldport is the worldwide air hub forUPS (United Parcel Service) located at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Because of UPS, Louisville is the sixth-busiest cargo airport in the world, and the third busiest in the United States.[13][23] Although UPS has had a hub at Louisville since 1980, the name 'Worldport' was not used officially by the company until 2002, after a $1 billion, five-year expansion.[24] Previously, the project was named Hub 2000. The facility is currently 5.2 millionsq ft (48ha; 80football fields) in size and capable of handling 115 packages per second, or 416,000 per hour.[25][26] With more than 20,000 employees, UPS is one of the largest employers in both the city of Louisville and the state of Kentucky as a whole. The facility, which serves all of the company's major international and domestic hubs, mainly handles express and international packages and letters.
A 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m2) expansion was completed in spring 2006 to integrate heavy freight into the UPS system. The expansion was prefaced by the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, formerlyEmery Worldwide. The new facility, designated Worldport Freight Facility (HWP), went online in April 2006 and was the first of the company's regional hubs to begin integrating the Menlo volume into the system. Operations at Menlo's facility inDayton, Ohio, ended in June 2006.
In May 2006, UPS announced that for the third time in seven years it would significantly expand its Worldport hub, with a second investment of $1 billion. The second expansion was completed in April 2010, with the facility now measuring 5,200,000 square feet (480,000 m2), with a perimeter of 7.2 miles (11.6 km). The plan was for more than 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) to be added to its existing facility, with another 334,500 square feet (31,080 m2) of space to be renovated with new technology and equipment. Worldport sorting capacity was to expand from 300,000 packages per hour to 416,000 packages per hour. Additionally, several ramps at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport were to be built or altered bringing a total increase of just over 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2).
September 28, 1953:Resort Airlines Flight 1081, aCurtiss C-46 Commando leased from theUnited States Air Force, crashed on landing at Louisville-Standiford Field when the aircraft ballooned slightly during the flare-out on runway 24, causing a loss of control when it climbed to 300 feet (90 m) and stalled. Out of the 41 on board, 22 passengers and three crew were killed. Failure of the left elevator during landing was the cause.[44]
March 10, 1957:Eastern Air Lines Flight 181, aMartin 4-0-4 crash-landed at SDF on runway 11. All 34 passengers and crew aboard survived with just one serious injury. The pilot's improper landing approach caused an excessive sink rate, causing a portion of the left wing to separate inboard of the #1 engine and left the aircraft partially inverted. The plane was damaged beyond repair.[45][46]
September 8, 1970:Delta Air Lines Flight 439, aMcDonnell Douglas DC-9 inbound fromChicago–O'Hare attempting an instrument landing at night at SDF landed 156 feet (48 m) short of the threshold of runway 29, hitting sloping terrain, becoming airborne, bouncing and then skidding down the runway for nearly 1,500 yards (1,370 m) before coming to a stop. All five crew and 89 passengers survived. The aircraft was substantially damaged, but repaired and later put back into service. Pilot error was the cause.[47]
June 7, 2005:UPS Airlines Flight 6971, aMcDonnell Douglas MD-11 with four occupants aboard, suffered a nose gear collapse after touchdown on runway 17L. The accident was due to improper handling of the aircraft by the pilot at the controls after the main landing gear touched down and the pilot-in-command's inadequate supervision during landing. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, but was repaired and returned to service.[48]
November 4, 2025:UPS Airlines Flight 2976, aMcDonnell Douglas MD-11 crashed during takeoff from runway 17R. The preliminary cause of the crash was an engine fire and subsequent detachment from the aircraft, causing it to roll from imbalance and crash into buildings near the end of runway 17R.[49] This subsequently caused a large fire and 14 deaths, including all three crew members.[50][51][52][53]
^ab"SDF Airport 2024 Data"(PDF).Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 19, 2024. RetrievedJanuary 31, 2025.
^Ohnesorge, Lauren (September 25, 2024)."Low-cost airline ramps up at RDU".Triangle Business Journal.Archived from the original on September 25, 2024. RetrievedSeptember 25, 2024.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
