Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Facts on PHX
Phoenix's airport got its evocative 'Sky Harbor' name from J. Parker Van Zandt, owner of Scenic Airways, who bought 278 acres of farmland in November 1928 and built what became the fourth airport constructed in Phoenix.
Source: Wikipedia
PHX's Terminal 2 once displayed 'The Phoenix,' a 16-foot-high, 75-foot-wide mural by artist Paul Coze made from 52 different materials including mosaic glass, gemstones, shells, and vintage toys; it was relocated to the airport's Rental Car Center in 2021.
Source: Wikipedia
PHX surpassed 50 million passengers in a single calendar year for the first time in 2024, an all-time record for the airport.
Source: Wikipedia
Sky Harbor's founder, Scenic Airways owner J. Parker Van Zandt, lost the airport after the 1929 stock market crash left his company short of cash; it passed to Acme Investment Company before the city of Phoenix bought it outright in 1935 for $100,000.
Source: Wikipedia
After U.S. Senator and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater died in 1998, Phoenix's mayor proposed renaming the entire airport in his honor, but public attachment to the "Sky Harbor" name won out -- so only Terminal 4 carries Goldwater's name instead.
Source: Wikipedia
Sky Harbor's 326-foot air traffic control tower, which began operating on January 14, 2007, is the airport's third control tower and ranks among the tallest air traffic control towers in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
In January 2021 the Phoenix City Council renamed Terminal 3 in honor of Senator John McCain, the Arizona lawmaker and former prisoner of war who represented the state for decades.
Source: Wikipedia
The Wall Street Journal ranked Sky Harbor the best overall airport among the 20 largest in the United States in both 2019 and 2023, citing short screening waits, fast Wi-Fi and cheap average Uber fares downtown.
Source: Wikipedia