Felts Field facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Felts Field
Felts Field looking west
IATA: SFF ICAO: KSFF FAA LID: SFF
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Spokane City-County
Serves	Spokane, Washington
Elevation AMSL	1,957 ft / 596 m
Coordinates	47°40′59″N 117°19′21″W / 47.68306°N 117.32250°W / 47.68306; -117.32250
Map
SFF Location in Washington (state) Show map of Washington (state) SFF Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Runway
Runway Length Surface ft m 4L/22R 4,499 1,371 Concrete 4R/22L 2,650 808 Asphalt
Statistics
Aircraft operations (2015) 75,124 Based aircraft (2017) 176
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Felts Field (IATA: SFF, ICAO: KSFF, FAA LID: SFF) is a public airport five miles northeast of downtown Spokane, in Spokane County, Washington. It is owned by Spokane City-County.

The airport has two runways. Felts Field is now used for general aviation, but it was Spokane's airline airport before the opening of Spokane International Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a regional reliever facility.

History

Boeing Air Transport B-40 at Felts Field on September 23, 1927

Felts Field, Spokane's historic airfield, is on the south bank of the Spokane River east of Spokane. Aviation activities began in 1913. In 1920 the field, then called the Parkwater airstrip, was designated a municipal flying field at the instigation of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. In 1926 the United States Department of Commerce recognized Parkwater as an airport, one of the first in the West. In September 1927, in conjunction with Spokane's National Air Races that Felts Field hosted , the airport was renamed Felts Field for James Buell Felts (1898–1927), a Washington Air National Guard aviator killed in a crash that May. Parkwater Aviation Field, later Felts Field, was the location for flight instruction, charter service, airplane repair, aerial photography, headquarters of the 116th Observation Squadron of the Washington Air National Guard, and eventually the first airmail and commercial flights in and out of Spokane.

In summer 1946 the airlines (Northwest and United) moved to Geiger Field (later Spokane International Airport). Felts Field remains a busy regional hub for private and small-plane aviation and related businesses and services. In 1991 it was designated Felts Field Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

United Airlines Plane and DeSoto at Spokane Airport (Now Felts Field) on July 19, 1934

Today the airport is used for general aviation. No scheduled passenger service remains at Felts, though scheduled Part 135 cargo operations remain via UPS and DHL contracting (Ameriflight LLC and previously Merlin Express Airways).

Facilities

Felts Field covers 416 acres (168 ha) at an elevation of 1,957 feet (596 m). It has two runways: 4L/22R is 4,499 by 150 feet (1,371 x 46 m) concrete and 4R/22L is 2,650 by 75 feet (808 x 23 m) asphalt. It has a seaplane landing area designated 3W/21W, 6,000 by 100 feet (1,829 x 30 m).

In the year ending February 28, 2015 the airport had 54,881 aircraft operations, average 150 per day: 93% general aviation, 7% air taxi, and <1% military. In July 2017, 176 aircraft were based at this airport: 146 single-engine, 15 multi-engine, and 15 helicopters.

Cargo carriers