page_title: William P. Hobby Airport
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: William P. Hobby Airport / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The 1940 Air Terminal Museum
context_page_description: William P. Hobby Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, 7 miles from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport and was its primary airport until Houston Intercontinental Airport, now George Bush Intercontinental Airport, opened in 1969. Hobby closed after the opening of Houston Intercontinental; after several years it re-opened and became a secondary airport for domestic airline service and a center for corporate and private aviation.
  Houston Hobby is an operating base for Southwest Airlines, which has international and domestic flights from HOU. Houston Hobby is the fifth largest airport in Southwest's network as of December 2017. Southwest opened its first international terminal at Houston Hobby, and began service from Houston Hobby to Mexico and Central and South America on October 15, 2015.
  The airport covers 1,304 acres and has four runways; however, as of February 1, 2020, one of the four runways, runway 17-35, is permanently closed. Its original art deco terminal building, the first passenger airline terminal in Houston, now houses the 1940 Air Terminal Museum.
context_section_description: Hobby Airport opened in 1927 as a private landing field in a 600-acre (240 ha) pasture known as W.T. Carter Field. In the 1930s it was served by Braniff International Airways and Eastern Air Lines. The site was acquired by the city of Houston and was named Houston Municipal Airport in 1937. The airport was renamed Howard R. Hughes Airport in 1938. Howard Hughes was responsible for several improvements to the airport, including its first control tower, built in 1938.
  The airport's name changed back to Houston Municipal because Hughes was still alive at the time and regulations did not allow federal improvement funds for an airport named after a living person.
  The city of Houston opened a new air terminal and hangar in 1940.
caption: The 1940 Air Terminal Museum, originally an air terminal opened in 1940
exif: {}