Oneida County Airport (IATA: UCA, ICAO: KUCA, FAA LID: UCA) was a public airport in Whitestown in Oneida County, New York, six miles (9.7 km) northwest of downtown Utica. The airport covered 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) and had two runways.[1]

Oneida County Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerOneida County
ServesUtica, New York
LocationWhitestown, New York
Elevation AMSL742 ft / 226 m
Coordinates43°08′36″N 075°22′48″W / 43.14333°N 75.38000°W / 43.14333; -75.38000
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9/27 5,399 1,646 Asphalt
15/33 6,002 1,829 Asphalt

Oneida County closed the airport in January 2007 and transferred operations to Griffiss International Airport, (formerly Griffiss Air Force Base) about five miles (8.0 km) to the north in Rome, New York.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport boarded 2,122 passengers in calendar year 2004 and 1,951 in 2005.[2] The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 classified it as a general aviation airport.[3]

History

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In the 1940s, Utica Municipal Airport was a sod field (no paved runways) at 43°10′16″N 75°18′50″W / 43.171°N 75.314°W / 43.171; -75.314; Oneida County Airport may not have opened until after 1950.

In the 1960s, Mohawk Airlines stopped at Utica as did its successor Allegheny Airlines in the 1970s and Empire Airlines in the 1980s; the first jets were Mohawk BAC One-Elevens in 1965. Allegheny used Douglas DC-9s and BAC One-Elevens until early 1979 when it abandoned the market to Empire.[4] Empire merged into Piedmont Airlines, which merged into USAir, the renamed Allegheny. USAir had a presence at UCA until 1995 when it ended jet flights and closed its maintenance base and reservations center.

UCA had no airline service after Continental Connection carrier CommutAir left on June 30, 2002. In its final years, UCA flights had been under the EAS program; declining ridership led the required subsidy to breach the $200 per passenger statutory cap.

Service shifted to nearby Griffiss International Airport when Oneida closed.

The former airport site was purchased from Oneida County by New York State and is now the home of the New York State Preparedness Training Center (SPTC).

References

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  1. ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for UCA PDF
  2. ^ FAA Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data: 2005
  3. ^ "National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS)". Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  4. ^ "Mar 12, 1979, page 88 - Daily News at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
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