Business View Magazine - Sept 2023

279 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 9 RICK HUSBAND AMARI LLO INTERNAT IONAL AI RPORT Strategic Air Command base, at 13,502 feet, is the 7th longest civilian runway in the United States and is still used for military training. In 1954, new terminal buildings were opened and by 1976, the airport also became a U.S. Port of Entry, requiring yet another name change to Amarillo International Airport. In 2003, the airport changed its name, once again, to the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport after NASA astronaut and Amarillo native, Rick Husband, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February of that year. Post-pandemic recovery Over the years, AMA has been served by many local, national, and international airlines; today, three remain: American, Southwest, and United. According to Airport Director, Mike Conner, “All of them are doing fairly well. The pandemic was not kind to the airline industry and airports, in general,” he recounts, “but