American aviator George Crockett, a descendant of frontiersman Davy Crockett, established Alamo Airport in 1942 on the site currently occupied by McCarran International. In 1948, Clark County purchased the airfield from Crockett to establish the Clark County Public Airport, and all commercial operations moved to the site of this airport. On December 20, 1948 the airport was renamed McCarran Field for U.S. Senator Pat McCarran, a long-time Nevada politician who authored the Civil Aeronautics Act and played a major role in developing aviation nationwide.
The control tower at McCarran International presides over an airport that has a number of unique features apart from being the gateway into gamblers’ paradise. One of these is that more than 85 % of traffic at the airport is origin and destination (O&D), more than at practically any other airport in the USA. Another quirk is that only 12 % of the passengers passing through McCarran live in the Las Vegas area, the lowest figure for any airport in the United States.
Controllers in the tower need to get used to foreign accents too, as more and more direct flights from Europe and Asia operated by non-US airlines are becoming part of the regular schedule.
Las Vegas is full of glitzy replicas of world famous landmarks, both real and imaginary. In the course of an evening stroll you can pass under the Eiffel tower, dine in Venice and watch the pirates of the Caribbean before doing some midnight shopping in Cesar’s Palace… It is only normal that the airport would have a ramp control tower that would not be out of place as the ATC tower anywhere in the world and one that you notice immediately while the real ATC tower blends discretely into the vista of background high-rises of a distinctly Manhattan flavor.
A few years ago Las Vegas concluded that they would not survive on gamblers alone and they started to institute a program aimed at making the city and its institutions also family friendly. Perhaps a contradiction in terms, gambling and family, but it seems to be working. The number of visitors grew as did the ratio of families in the total numbers. Even with the dip caused by the world economic crisis, the future looks bright for the city.
The new Terminal 3 under construction right now will ensure that sufficient passenger handling capacity will be available for the coming years.
Las Vegas airport is under the airspace of the Los Angeles ARTCC and is served by the Reno Flight Service Station. The tower building houses aerodrome control of course but also the LAS TRACON. You would think that an airport in the middle of the desert has few air traffic restrictions but LAS has ATC constraints which, together with some space issues on the ground, limit its yearly passenger handling capacity to 53 million. Terminal 3 will make it possible to reach this maximum in due time.
It must feel special to work at a facility that overlooks a place like Las Vegas! This is evident also from the FAA’s Las Vegas Tower Facility Orientation Guide which contains a section on “Employee Roles and Responsibilities”. It lists what the Las Vegas Tower leadership team expects from all employees. The first item says: “Come to work, be on time”.
Come to think of it, with all those fun places around, may be it is not such a bad idea to remind new employees where they will find the best fun in town!
