Boise Airport


Boise Airport is a joint civil-military airport in the western United States, south of downtown Boise in Ada County, Idaho. The airport is operated by the city of Boise Department of Aviation and is overseen by an Airport Commission. It is by far the busiest airport in the state of Idaho, serving more passengers than all other Idaho airports combined and roughly ten times as many passengers as Idaho's second busiest airport, Idaho Falls Regional Airport.
Boise is a landing rights airfield requiring international general aviation flights to receive permission from a Customs and Border Protection officer before landing.
In addition to being a commercial and general aviation airport, Boise also functions concurrently as a USAF military facility as used by the 124th Fighter Wing of the Idaho Air National Guard on the Gowen Field Air National Guard Base portion of the airport. The 124 FW operates the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
The National Interagency Fire Center is based in the city of Boise and the Boise Airport is used for logistical support. The United States Forest Service also uses Boise Airport as a base for aerial firefighting air tankers during the wildfire season.
Boise Airport enplaned 2,059,935 passengers in 2019, an increase of 6% vs. 2018 when 1,938,416 passengers were enplaned.

Terminals and developement

The Boise airport currently has one terminal servicing two concourses and seven airlines. The terminal is a three story building containing 4 baggage carousels, rental car counters, all of the ticketing counters, a consolidated security checkpoint including TSA pre check, and some offices. The two concourses have a combined 23 gates, 12 jetbridges and 11 ground level. Concourse B has 11 gates, B10, B11, B14, B15, B16, B17, B18, B19, B20, B21, and B22.
Concourse C has 12 gates, all but C8 and C12 do not have jetbridges. These gates are all used and shared with Alaska Airlines.
Construction
In 2016, the Boise Airport created a Master Plan for the airport and began having hearings. Each year from then through 2019 they had open houses to deliver their ideas to the public. As a result in mid 2019, the final master plan was revealed in three different categories, short term, mid term, and long term. Each of these terms would mark different stages of the airports growth renewal, the largest projects being, a new runway, new parking garages, and a new concourse, Concourse A. Prior to Covid-19, the project was scheduled to be completed by 2035, no new date has been released.
Concourse A
The new planned concourse A, which is expected to be completed by 2035 with the first phase done by 2024, will be directly across from concourse B with 11 new gates all equipped with jetbridges, and one gate with the capability of handling a wide body aircraft. Another four of the gates will be for smaller aircraft only being as large as an A220.
Boise's first municipal airport, Booth Field, was built in 1926 on a gravel bed near the south bank of the Boise River, now the campus of Boise State University. The first commercial airmail flight in the United States passed through this airfield on April 26, 1926, carried by Varney Airlines. Varney began operating out of Boise in 1933, later merging with National Air Transport to become United Airlines. Since United traces its roots to Varney, United is recognized as the airline that has operated the longest out of Boise, years as of. Less than four months after his historic transatlantic flight, the airfield hosted Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis
The current airport has its origins in 1936 when Boise began buying and leasing land for the airport. By 1938, Boise had the longest runway in the United States at, built as a Works Progress Administration project under sponsorship of the city. The steel hangar for Varney Airlines was moved to the present field in 1939. As aircraft grew the hangar was no longer big enough and was converted into a passenger terminal. It was part of the modern terminal facility until the completion of a new terminal in 2004.
During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Forces leased the field for use as a training base for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bomber crews. More than six thousand men were stationed there during the war.
The field was named Gowen Field in 1941 on July 23, after 1st Lt Paul R. Gowen. Born and raised in Caldwell, he attended the University of Idaho for two years, then obtained an appointment to West Point in 1929, and graduated ninth in his class in 1933. While piloting a twin-engine B-10 bomber in the Army Air Corps, Gowen was killed instantly in a crash in Panama in July 1938. The right engine failed shortly after take-off from Albrook Field, near Panama City. The other two crew members, navigator and radio operator, survived and crawled from the wreckage with burns.
After the war the part of the field used by the Army Air Forces was returned to the city. The Idaho Air National Guard began leasing the airfield after the war and continues to do so at the present time.

Jet service

The jet age arrived in Boise during the mid 1960s. In 1966, United Airlines was operating Boeing 727-100 jetliners into the airport with round trip routings of Boise -Salt Lake City -Chicago -Boston and Seattle -Portland -Boise -Salt Lake City -Denver -Chicago -New York. United was also serving the airport with Douglas DC-6 and DC-6B propliners at this time. West Coast Airlines introduced Douglas DC-9-10 jet service during the late 1960s and in 1968 was operating round trip routings of Seattle -Portland -Boise -Salt Lake City and Portland -Seattle -Boise -Salt Lake City West Coast was also serving Boise with Fairchild F-27 turboprops and Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft in 1968. The same year West Coast merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West which was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest which in turn continued to serve Boise with Douglas DC-9 jets. In 1972, Hughes Airwest was operating nonstop DC-9 service from Boise to Portland and Salt Lake City and was also flying direct DC-9 service to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, Burbank, Santa Ana, Spokane and other regional destinations.
By 1976, Hughes Airwest and United were still the only two airlines operating jet service into Boise according to the Official Airline Guide. United had also expanded its Boise service by this time and was operating nonstop flights with Boeing 727 and larger Douglas DC-8 jetliners to Chicago, Denver, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Reno, and Spokane as well as direct, no change of plane jet service to New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C, San Diego, and Hartford, according to the Official Airline Guide. United and Hughes Airwest were operating all of their flights into Boise with jet aircraft at this time.
Following the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, a number of air carriers operated jet service into the airport at different times over the years from the late 1970s through the 1990s. The following list of airlines is taken from OAG editions from 1979 to 1999:
Between 2001 and 2005, Boise Airport was remodeled with a new terminal and an elevated roadway for departures, constructed in two phases. Phase 1 considered amenities such as baggage claim, lobby, and food and beverage concession, which were completed in 2003. Phase 2 dealt with security checkpoints and a new concourse and the remodeling of Concourse B, which were completed in 2005.
The Boise Airport Passenger Terminal designed by CSHQA is a three-story, steel-framed state-of-the-art aviation facility. Curvilinear, steel trusses create the undulating ceiling plane of the ticket lobby and define the signature profile of the building. The terminal has garnered national attention for the beauty of its design and is considered a prototypical post-9/11 facility.
The Boise Airport was fourth in passenger satisfaction in the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Global Airport Satisfaction Index Study. Power no longer publishes a global listing, and the airport was not listed in the 2017 North American ranking.
The Boise Airport was a hub for Horizon Air from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Horizon Air was acquired by the Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, in 1986 and began code sharing flights for Alaska Airlines at that time. During the summer of 1990, Horizon Air was operating up to 36 departures a day from the airport to destinations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, as well as direct one stop service to Salt Lake City. By 1999, Horizon Air was operating up to 22 departures a day from Boise with Fokker F28 Fellowship jets with additional flights being operated with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops. The regional airline also previously operated Dornier 328, Fairchild F-27, and Swearingen Metroliner propjets. Boise is currently a focus city for Alaska Airlines service operated by both Horizon Air and code sharing partner SkyWest Airlines.
Boise was also one of the primary destinations served by Cascade Airways which competed with Horizon Air. In 1985, Cascade was serving the airport with British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven jets and Swearingen Metroliner propjets with regional service in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana, as well as nonstop jet service to Reno, Nevada, and connecting flights to Canada at Calgary, Alberta.

Facilities

Boise Airport covers at an elevation of at its east end. It has three runways:
In the year ending January 1, 2019 the airport had 137,459 aircraft operations, average 376 per day: 49% general aviation, 36% airline, 7% air taxi, and 8% military. 269 aircraft were then based at this airport: 147 single-engine, 22 multi-engine, 37 jet, 17 helicopter and 46 military. Of the top 100 United States airports, BOI is among four airports that does not charge a PFC.
The airport can handle minor maintenance and repairs through fixed-base operators Jackson Jet Center, Turbo Air and Western Aircraft.
Law enforcement is handled by the Boise Police Department. In 2006, the Airport Division had an authorized strength of 1 lieutenant, 2 sergeants, and 28 officers, and there were five TSA certified K-9 units trained in explosive detection.
The original layout was the primary runway with two others at, both are retired but still visible as taxiways. The north–south runway was aligned with present-day S. Zeppelin Street, and the east–west runway was offset slightly southwest. The intersection point of the two former runways was on today's main taxiway, near the terminal. The second parallel runway was extended to the east in 1998.

ATC tower

In 2008, city officials broke ground for Boise Air Terminal's a new airport traffic control tower, the latest facilities improvement. The tower's height at made it the tallest building in the state of Idaho until it was surpassed by the Zions Bank Idaho Headquarters Building in 2013 and the Northwest's tallest control tower. It was relocated to the south side of the airport in order to control an existing Guard assault strip, runway 09/27, south of Gowen Field. The tower was planned and constructed when it was believed that the radar functions would be moved to Salt Lake City in Utah. After it was decided to leave the radar positions in Boise, the facility at the base of the tower was redesigned and partially remodeled to house the Terminal Radar Approach Control.
The tower and TRACON opened on September 16, 2013, with updated electronics and equipment, including the STARS radar system; improving services and safety for pilots and the flying public. With the expanded facilities and new equipment, the TRACON operates the approach control for Boise Airport, and also remotely operates the approach control for the Bozeman Airport in Montana. The TRACON was then renamed Big Sky Approach to reflect the broader geographical coverage. The consolidation of Boise and Bozeman approach control facilities into Big Sky Approach is part of the FAA's continuing plan to consolidate approach control services across the nation. Boise's TRACON was designed with the option of adding additional radar scopes, and may offer approach control services to other airports in the future.

Gowen Field Air National Guard Base

primarily refers to the military facilities on the south side of the runways, which includes Air National Guard, Army National Guard, and reserve units of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. The field is home to the 124th Fighter Wing, Idaho Air National Guard, which consists of one flying squadron operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command and 12 additional support units. The aircraft based at Gowen Field ANGB is the A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support attack aircraft of the 190th Fighter Squadron.
The 124 FW was previously designated as the 124th Wing, a composite Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command unit that also operated C-130H Hercules transport aircraft in the 189th Airlift Squadron, the 189 AS being operationally-gained by AMC.
BRAC 2005 directed that the Idaho Air National Guard divest itself of the C-130 mission by 2009, transferring its C-130s to the Wyoming Air National Guard, while retaining its A-10 fighter mission. This action was completed in 2009 and the 124 WG was redesignated the 124 FW at that time. The 124 FW is composed of over 1000 military personnel, consisting of just over 300 full-time Active Guard and Reserve and Air Reserve Technician personnel and over 700 traditional part-time Air National Guardsmen.

First responder training area

In February 2011, FedEx donated a surplus Boeing 727-200 cargo jet to the City of Boise for use as a training tool for emergency first responders. The aircraft—stripped of engines—is parked near the southeastern end of Boise's third runway—a location more than a mile southeast of, and not visible from, the main passenger terminal. Several agencies use the plane for training purposes.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Destinations map

Cargo

Statistics

Top destinations

Airline market share

Annual traffic

YearPassengers
20063,289,314
20073,365,303
20083,185,006
20092,795,297
20102,805,692
20112,781,708
20122,609,816
20132,612,457
20142,753,153
20152,978,281
20163,230,878
20173,513,377
20183,871,891
20194,111,151

Accidents and incidents