ALBANY COUNTY AIRPORT


The curbfront of the new Albany terminal in the early 1960s, with the new control tower in the background.

Two years after ownership of the airport transferred to Albany County, the region's main airport unveiled its new 'jet-age' terminal building. Jet service for Albany was still a few years away, but traffic had outgrown the original 1920s accommodations that opened with the airport.

Architects chose a shallow two-level design for the terminal, which was paneled in glass and steel. A new control tower was situated off to one side of the building (rather than atop the building, which was customary at the time). The central main lobby was flanked on each side by ticket counters, with a large main courtyard on the landside and an enclosed boarding pier extending onto the airside. All aircraft boarding was via airstairs.


Looking across the ALB terminal area in 1962. The new terminal is nearing completion in the background, while the existing terminal (foreground) is nearing the end of its useful life.
Courtesy of Keith Campbell


An architect's rendering of ALB in its original phase.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel


The boaring pier of the Albany terminal in the early 1960s.

Air service was provided by American, Mohawk, Eastern and TWA. Jet flights (with American and Mohawk BAC-111s) began in 1966. That same year, both Eastern and TWA asked the Civil Aeronautics Board for permission to cut Albany service. The CAB granted their request and allocated the two trunk airlines' route authorities to Allegheny Airlines, which began service in 1968.

The terminal underwent its first expansion in 1968 - the boarding pier was widened to add restrooms, a gift shop, snack bar, newsstand and barber shop, as well as individual departure lounges at each gate. Mohawk merged with Allegheny in 1972, reducing the number of airlines at ALB to two.


Diagrams of the ground level (left) and mezzanine (right) of the Albany terminal in 1975. Allegheny has taken over the former Eastern ticket counter, as well as the Mohawk ticket counter (note the two separate Allegheny baggage rooms). The former TWA counter (adjacent to American's) is still abandoned.
Courtesy of Jim Kruggel

By the mid-1970s Allegheny had boosted its schedules to become the airport's largest carrier. Officials began planning for a major expansion of the terminal to accommodate the increase in flights.


An early proposal for expansion, showing new wings on each side of the terminal and second-level boarding on the airside.
Courtsey of Jim Kruggel


The final layout selected for the terminal's expansion - a diamond-shaped wing off the main terminal. The rendering is from the project's environmental impact statement.


A drawing by Jim Kruggel showing the Albany terminal as it appeared in 1979, with the new Allegheny/USAir addition at left. This exptension was also used by Braniff during its brief stint at ALB.

The new terminal wing was completed in 1979 and included a large departure lounge with the airport's first two jetbridges. A spacious new baggage claim area with two carousels was located on the ground level of the expansion; the original baggage claim area was remodeled into a curbside check-in area for departing passengers. Allegheny (which was renamed USAir that year) moved into the addition, freeing up space in the 1962 terminal for new-entrant carriers.

After Deregulation in 1978, a slew of new airlines - United, People Express, New York Air and Piedmont - began Albany service. Dallas-based Braniff International inaugurated a short-lived ALB route as part of its ill-fated 1979 expansion. Northwest and Delta joined the airport's lineup in the late 1980s.


A diagram of the Albany terminal in 1987, showing gate assignments and locations.

As the terminal entered its third decade of service, officials began discussing its replacement. The ticket lobby could become very crowded at peak times, and the six gates in the original building still featured outdoor boarding via airstairs. After a number of feasibility studies, it was decided that a new terminal would be built incrementally on the same site - and that the 1979 addition would be retained as a concourse. Ground was broken for the new terminal on May 16, 1996.


An aerial view of construction at ALB in early 1998. The original concourse is at lower right, while the new terminal is rising at center.

The new terminal was formally opened in June of 1998. The old terminal was closed and quickly razed, with the exception of the 1979 addition (which was linked to the new terminal by an elevated walkway). Today there is no trace of the 1962 terminal.


Looking west across the ALB terminal site in 2002. The 1979 wing is visible in the background. The darker square of concrete between the two concourses marks the location of the boarding pier at the 1962 terminal.


Aerial photos of the old (left) and new (right) Albany terminals in 1995 and 2001.


Three photos of the 1979 addition to the old Albany terminal... the only part of the old facility to escape demolition. The former baggage claim area on the ground level was remodeled into a commuter gate area in 2000; the old arrivals curbfront has been paved over and is now an aircraft apron. In the center photo, the lighter-colored part of the wall of the building is the bricked-over former connection to the 1962 terminal.
Photos by Jim Kruggel

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