Salina Regional Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Salina Regional Airport
USGS 1991 orthophoto
IATA: SLN ICAO: KSLN FAA LID: SLN
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Salina Airport Authority
Serves	Salina, Kansas
Elevation AMSL	1,288 ft / 393 m
Coordinates	38°47′26″N 097°39′08″W / 38.79056°N 97.65222°W / 38.79056; -97.65222
Map
SLN Location in Kansas
Runway
Runway Length Surface ft m 17/35 12,300 3,749 Asphalt 12/30 6,510 1,984 Asphalt 18/36 4,301 1,311 Asphalt 4/22 3,648 1,112 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 70,761 Based aircraft 106
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Salina Regional Airport (IATA: SLN, ICAO: KSLN, FAA LID: SLN), formerly Salina Municipal Airport, is three miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, United States. The airport is owned by the Salina Airport Authority. It is used for general aviation, with service by one passenger airline, SkyWest Airlines (operating as United Express), subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Salina Regional Airport is the home of the Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus Aviation Program with degrees available in Airport Management, Aviation Certificates, Aviation Electronics, Aviation Maintenance Management, Aviation Safety, Professional Pilot, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Design and Integration, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight and Operations.

History

The airport is on the site of Schilling Air Force Base (previously Smoky Hill Army Air Field and Smoky Hill Air Force Base).

The construction of military airfields after the Pearl Harbor Attack that caused the entry of the United States into World War II resulted in the construction of the Smoky Hill Army Air Field (AAF) on 2,600 acres (1,052 ha), southwest of Salina, Kansas. The first unit associated with the airfield was the 376th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron, whose engineers first laid out the base in April 1942. Construction began in May 1942 with the aid of nearly 7,000 workers. The airfield was activated on 1 September 1942 and was assigned to the II Bomber Command, Second Air Force.

Enough construction was completed that the 376th moved into facilities on 10 September. The first aircraft to arrive, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, arrived later that month and were assigned to the 346th Bombardment Group. The mission of Smoky Hill AAF was that of a Second Phase Heavy Bomber Operational Training Unit (OTU). Combat groups formed in First Phase training were reassigned to the airfield, training focused to teamwork of the combat crew was stressed: bombing, gunnery, and instrument flight missions were performed by full crews. Upon completion, the groups moved on to third phase the final level of training before overseas deployment to the combat theaters.

The 366th was joined by the 400th Bombardment Group in the training mission at Smoky Hill AAF on 31 July 1943. The 366th concentrated on B-17 Flying Fortress training; the 400th on B-24 Liberator training.

The airport was the takeoff and landing point for the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, flown by Steve Fossett in the first nonstop, non-refueled solo circumnavigation of the earth from February 28 to March 3, 2005. Fossett's later nonstop non-refueled solo circumnavigation in the GlobalFlyer was also Salina to Salina, from March 14 to March 17, 2006, setting a new record for greatest distance traveled on a closed course.

Salina Regional Airport has memorialized the records set by Steve Fossett with Fossett Plaza. The plaza has a memorial, seating area, plaques with the story of the Global Flyer and Steve Fossett, and a viewing area to observe operations.

Historical airline service

Salina received its first scheduled airline service in the early 1930s by United States Airways, which flew a Metal Aircraft Flamingo on an airmail route between Denver and Kansas City, stopping at Goodland, Salina, and Topeka, Kansas. This route was discontinued about 1933 and airline service did not return to Salina until 1949.

Continental Airlines then began stopping at Salina with Douglas DC-3s in 1949, also on a route between Denver and Kansas City, making as many as ten stops at smaller cities throughout Colorado and Kansas. Continental's service continued until 1961.

Central Airlines replaced Continental in 1961, also using DC-3s, but later upgrading with Convair 240 and Convair 600 aircraft. In 1967 Central merged into Frontier Airlines which used Convair 580s, and in early 1978 introduced Boeing 737 jets to Salina on flights to Denver and Chicago, the latter making three stops en route. The Chicago flights were later replaced with service to Kansas City, and Frontier was soon flying all 737 jets through Salina up to four times per day. All Frontier service ended on January 6, 1983.

Air Midwest first began service to Salina as an air taxi in the late 1960s, with flights to Wichita using Cessna 402s. The carrier suspended service for a few years, then returned from 1972 through 1976 with flights to both Kansas City and Wichita using Beechcraft 99s. Air Midwest returned again in 1983 to replace Frontier's service with flights to Denver, Kansas City, and Wichita, using Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners; however, the Denver flights were soon discontinued. In 1986 Air Midwest began a series of code share relationships with major carriers operating feeder flights on behalf of a major carrier:

1986-1988 as Eastern Express to Kansas City using the Metroliners as well as Saab 340 aircraft.

1988-1989 as Braniff Express to Kansas City using Metroliners.

1990-1991 as Trans World Express (on behalf of TWA) to St. Louis with a stop in Manhattan, Kansas, using Embraer 120 Brasilia's.

1991-2008 as USAir Express to Kansas City using Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. All Air Midwest service ended in mid-2008.

Capitol Air Service provided a single daily flight to Kansas City with stops in Manhattan and Topeka, Kansas from 1982 through 1988. The carrier used a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and operated as Braniff Express during its final two years.

Great Lakes Airlines first served Salina briefly in 2000-2001, operating as United Express with flights to Hays and Denver, using Beechcraft 1900Ds. The carrier returned in 2008, replacing Air Midwest's service to Kansas City until 2010.

SeaPort Airlines came to Salina in 2010, replacing Great Lakes with flights to Kansas City. SeaPort first flew Pilatus PC-12 aircraft then later flew Cessna 208 Caravans. Service ended in 2016.

Great Lakes returned once again in 2016, replacing SeaPort, but operating flights to Denver using Embraer 120 Brasilias. Great Lakes went out of business in 2018.

SkyWest Airlines, the current provider operating as United Express, began service in 2018 using Bombardier CRJ100/200 regional jets. Initially, one daily nonstop to Chicago and two daily flights to Denver with a stop in Hays, KS were provided; however, service was trimmed back in 2020 to one daily nonstop to each city.

The airport is served under the Essential Air Service program where an individual carrier is selected and receives government funding to provide service to smaller communities.

Facilities

The airport covers 2,862 acres (1,158 ha) at an elevation of 1,288 feet (393 m). It has four asphalt runways: 17/35 is 12,300 by 150 feet (3,749 x 46 m); 12/30 is 6,510 by 100 feet (1,984 x 30 m); 18/36 is 4,301 by 75 feet (1,311 x 23 m); 4/22 is 3,648 by 75 feet (1,112 x 23 m).

In the year ending January 30, 2014 the airport had 91,101 aircraft operations.

Having a long runway and being 85 miles southeast from the continental center of the United States, the airport sees many corporate and private jets that stop to refuel and allow passengers to have a break, earning Salina the moniker "America's Fuel Stop." Avflight Salina is responsible for all fueling and ground handling of transient and military aircraft.

The airport hosts a variety of Forward Operating Location (FOL) activity and has been the operating site for many missions by NASA, NOAA, Wings of Freedom, the Commemorative Air Force and Virgin Atlantic Global.

Airline and destinations

Passenger

Environmental contamination

A report from the 40th Bombardment Wing in 1953 described the problem. "One of the foremost and the first problems encountered was an excessive amount of solvent being required to properly wash and clean aircraft," the report said. "Some method of reducing the amount of solvent used was needed. This problem was met by installing a system of settling tanks ... Approximately 12,000 to 14,000 gallons of solvent are used per month."

In 1989 the Salina School District unearthed three of 107 underground fuel storage tanks on its vo-tech property. It first became known that Trichlorethylene (TCE), a degreaser used to clean aircraft and a carcinogen, as well as other compounds disposed of on the former base, have migrated into the soil and groundwater, forming a toxic plume. In 1999, the US Army Corps of Engineers published its first remedial investigation. In 2005 the Corps shared the draft of a second remedial investigation of the contamination in the Salina Airport Industrial Area. Residents in the area of the plume were advised not to drink the water, per the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Soilwater intrusion assays in 1999 by EPA and again in 2005 showed vapor levels inside Kansas State University's Tullis building did not exceed state standards for air quality, but they may exceed federal EPA guidelines. As of 2005, the federal government had spent more than $17 million studying the problem in its jurisdiction. In December 2007 the Corps groundwater contamination cleanup was put on hold. In August 2008, the city of Salina offered to clean-up former Schilling AFB, as suggested by the Corps.

In 2010, after the plume had reached residential areas near the former base, Salina officials, the Salina Airport Authority, the Salina school district and Kansas State University – Salina (now Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus), who own 96% of the property filed a federal lawsuit in Kansas City, Kansas, for the clean up costs. In spring of 2013 the Department of Justice signed a settlement that the government would pay $8.4 million merely toward developing the plan to clean up the former base. A remedial investigation, feasibility study and cleanup remedy were estimated to cost about $9.3 million, of which the Salina public entities agreed to pay $936,300. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment oversees the cleanup process. As of September 2015 studies have continued to find groundwater contamination in soil and bedrock, and no concentrations of vapor requiring immediate action were found in an area around Salina Regional Airport.

Other sources

• Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-2002-11376) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
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