Klamath Falls Airport

Crater Lake- Klamath Regional Airport (Formally Klamath Falls Airport)  is a public and military airport five miles southeast of Klamath Falls, in Klamath County, Oregon. Owned by the City of Klamath Falls, it is used by general aviation, military aviation and a few airline flights. In 2013 the Airport changed its name to Crater Lake- Klamath Regional Airport.

It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 15,856 enplanements in 2011, a decrease of 25.74% from 21,353 in 2010.

As Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base, the airport is the home of the Oregon Air National Guard's 173d Fighter Wing (173 FW) flying the F-15 Eagle. An Air Education and Training Command (AETC)-gained unit, the 173 FW specializes as an advanced air-to-air combat training center for Regular Air Force and Air National Guard F-15 pilots, as well as hosting joint and combined air combat exercises for all US military services and those of Canada. Kingsley Field is also home to a USAF flight surgeon training school. The 173d Fighter Wing is currently under the command of Colonel James C. Miller.

History
In 1928 the citizens of Klamath Falls approved the sale of $50,000 worth of bonds to build Klamath Falls Municipal Airport. It had gravel runways and one Fixed Base Operator; in 1942 it was selected for a Naval Air Station later named NAS Klamath Falls. In 1945 the airport transferred back to civil use; the January 1952 C&GS diagram shows runway 7 (5258 ft long), 14 (7134 ft) and 18 (5164 ft).

In 1954 the airport was selected as a site for U.S. Air Force installation under a joint civil-military arrangement supporting Air Defense Command, later Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) aircraft and squadrons. In 1957 the airport was dedicated as Kingsley Field in honor of 2nd Lieutenant David R. Kingsley, USAAF, an Oregonian killed in action on June 23, 1944 after a B-17 bombing mission over the oil fields of Ploesti, Rumania. In 1976 ADC was inactivated and control of the military installation passed to Tactical Air Command (TAC). In 1978 the Department of Defense closed Kingsley Field as a regular Air Force installation, transferring all military facilities to the Air National Guard.

Facilities and aircraft
Klamath Falls Airport covers 1,166 acres (472 ha) at an elevation of 4,095 feet (1,248 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 14/32 is 10,301 by 150 feet (3,140 x 46 m), asphalt and concrete; 7/25 is 5,258 by 100 feet (1,603 x 30 m) asphalt.

In 2011 the airport had 39,004 aircraft operations, average 106 per day: 43% general aviation, 41% military, 14% air taxi, and 2% scheduled commercial. 170 aircraft were then based at this airport: 62% single-engine, 19% jet, 15% military, 3% multi-engine, and 1% helicopter.

Airline and destinations
The following airline offers scheduled passenger service:

Airline history
Until 1959 United Airlines served Klamath Falls with Douglas DC-3s and Convair 340s, then West Coast Airlines had F-27s to Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle. (In 1968 West Coast merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West which continued to serve the airport.) In 1970 Air West changed its name to Hughes Airwest which had Douglas DC-9 jets to San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles and other cities. Later Pacific Express flew BAC One-Elevens to San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and other cities. Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, flew de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash-8s to Portland and Seattle. WestAir (United Express) had Jetstream 31s to San Francisco and Reno Air Express had Jetstream 31s to San Jose, California. United Express, then SkyWest Airlines, pulled out of Klamath Falls in the late 1990s but resumed service when Horizon Air left.

SkyWest ("United Express") now is the only airline, flying Embraer EMB-120 turboprops.

In late 2010 Skywest dropped one flight to Portland. Passenger count has dropped in 2011, but passengers per flight has increased, stabilizing the routes to Portland and San Francisco.

Funding
The Airport City Fund operates the airport's both civilian and military interest. Revenue mainly is provided from city property taxes, transient room taxes and the rental activities in the airport itself. Because of the commercial flights at the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration contributes significant funds to keep the runways and taxiways in good conditions.