Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it Little Rock National Airport or Adams Field?
A. Both. The entire 2,200-acre complex is Adams Field, named for Captain George Geyer Adams, a pilot, member of the Little Rock City Council (1927-1937) and chairman of the council's Airport Committee. Adams was very active in promoting and improving the airport. The airport complex was named for him after his death in September 1937. Little Rock National Airport occupies a site on Adams Field. The official three-letter designator for the airport is LIT.
Q: How is an airport set up?
A: The best comparison is to a mall. A mall rents spaces to private businesses while maintaining certain public areas. The airport operates in a similar fashion. The airport has direct control over many activities - including parking and the operation of the field. While the public tends to place all activities at the airport under one umbrella, those activities are, in reality, very diverse and controlled by a number of entities, including private businesses. The airlines, rental car companies and other concessionaires are private businesses that rent space from the airport.
Q: Can I get information about ticket prices and flights from the airport?
A: No. The airport does not have that information. Information concerning fares and flights should come directly from the airlines operating at the airport. Travelers can go to an airline's website on the Internet or contact a travel agent for ticket prices and flight information.
Q: How does the air service level at Little Rock National compare with other airports its size?
A: Very favorably. In fact, Darryl Jenkins, director of the Aviation Institute at George Washington University, said that, for its size, Little Rock might well have the best air service in the nation! All major airlines except United are represented at the airport. Non-stop jet service is offered to 12 national/international gateway cities, putting Little Rock truly only one-stop away from the world.
Q: How many passengers use Little Rock National on an annual basis?
A: During the last several years, the figure has been about 2.6 million. During the decade of the 1990s, the airlines serving Little Rock handled a total of 23.3 million passengers.
Q: How much luggage do the airlines handle?
A: Using an average of 2 pieces of luggage per passenger and 2.3 million passengers that comes to about 4.6 million bags per year.
Q: Who is in charge of security at the airport?
A: It's a mix of responsibilities. The airport is responsible for providing security for the terminal and airfield and the airlines for their own aircraft.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now responsible for passenger and baggage screening.
Q: How many takeoffs and landings are handled at Little Rock National each year?
A: More than 150,000 per year for the last several years.
Q: Who is responsible for controlling air traffic?
A: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is charged with that responsibility. The FAA operates from an Airport Traffic Control Tower to the south of the terminal just off Grundfest Drive. The tower is as tall as a 13-story building. The Little Rock ATC controls incoming aircraft after they reach a point about 50 miles from the airport. Prior to that, all incoming and outgoing aircraft are handled by Memphis Center, one of several such centers in the nation operated by the FAA.
Q: How many runways does the airport have and how long are they?
A: The airport has three runways, two are primarily for commercial airline traffic and one is for general aviation (privately owned aircraft). The commercial service runway on the west side of the terminal (4-Left/22-Right) is 8373 feet long, the one on the east side (4-Right/22-Left) is 7,200 feet long and the general aviation runway (18-36) is 5,124 feet in length.
Q: What are the operating hours at the airport?
A: The airport is open 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Flights at the airport operate from about 5:45 a.m. through midnight.
Q: How much freight and mail moves through the airport?
A: In recent years, the airlines and pure freight carriers operating at the airport have handled about 14 million pounds of mail and 19 million pounds of freight on an annual basis.
Q: How much jet fuel and gasoline is sold at the airport each year?
A: In recent years, the airlines serving the airport purchased almost 12 million gallons of jet fuel. Other aircraft using the airport purchased a combined total of 6 million gallons of gasoline and jet fuel.
Q: Can large aircraft land at Little Rock National?
A: Yes. The airport has handled a variety of large aircraft - including the Boeing 747, the Concorde and the C5-A Galaxy operated by the U.S. Air Force. United Parcel Service operates a Boeing 757 into and out of Little Rock on a daily basis.
Q: Do the airlines utilize the Regional Jet on flights into and out of Little Rock?
A: Yes. The Regional Jet is the newest type of aircraft to enter the commercial airline fleet. In 1997, Delta Connection brought the first RJs to Little Rock. They operated the 50-seat jet on three daily flights to the Delta Air Lines hub at Cincinnati. Since that time, Delta Connection has been joined by American Eagle, Continental Express, Northwest Airlink and USAirways Express in operating the RJs. There are now about 37 Regional Jet flights into and out of Little Rock on a daily basis, with non-stop service to Charlotte, Chicago (O'Hare), Cincinnati, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston and Minneapolis-St.Paul.
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