Casper–Natrona County International Airport

History

Casper had airline flights in the 1930s at Wardwell Field, north of town at 42.913°N 106.35°W / 42.913; -106.35. The airport started as the Casper Army Airfield in September 1942, consisting of four asphalt hard surfaced runways - N/S, NE/SW, E/W, NW/SE - varying in length between 8900' and 8600'. ) Casper AAF was assigned to Second Air Force as a heavy bomber (B-17; B-24) replacement training unit, with the 331st Bombardment Group being the training unit with four squadrons (461st, 462d, 463d and 464th Bombardment) training of personnel in heavy bomber operations. The 331st Combat Crew Training School provided ground instruction. Once personnel completed the training course, they were sent to various combat units overseas as replacement personnel.

The 331st was converted to a Very Heavy (B-29) group in July 1944 and began training for deployment to Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific. The 211th Army Air Force Base Unit took control of the airfield. Casper AAF became part of Air Transport Command as a transit station for WASP pilots ferrying combat aircraft across the United States. The airfield was inactivated in March 1945, and on 30 September 1945 was turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers as surplus.

The War Assets Administration turned the airfield over to civil control in the late 1940s, and in 1949 it became Natrona County Municipal Airport, replacing the former Casper Airport, Wardwell Field, whose runways are now streets in the town of Bar Nunn.

Past airline service

Challenger Airlines and successor Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) served at Casper from the 1940s until 1986. In 1950, Frontier was serving the airport with Douglas DC-3 aircraft and by the early 1960s the airline had introduced larger Convair 340 and Convair 440 propliners. During the mid 1970s, Frontier began replacing their Convair 580 turboprop flights with Boeing 737-200 jet service primarily to its Denver (DEN) hub. Western Airlines served the airport for many years as well from the 1940s until 1987 when this major air carrier was merged into Delta Air Lines which in turn continued service into Casper until the mid 1990s with nonstop flights to its Salt Lake City (SLC) hub operated with Boeing 727-200 and 737-200 jetliners. Aircraft types operated by Western over the years included Douglas DC-3, Convair 240 and Douglas DC-6B propliners, Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops and Boeing 727-200 and 737-200 jetliners with direct flights to Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and other destinations in the intermountain western and north central U.S. as well as direct service to Calgary, Alberta in Canada Continental Airlines began flights in 1980 when this air carrier was operating a hub at Denver and was serving Casper with Boeing 727-200 and Douglas DC-9-10 jetliners during the early 1980s. In 1985, United Airlines was serving Casper with nonstop Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 jet flights to its Denver hub. Both Continental and United then ceased mainline flights and turned their respective services over to regional airline partners which operated code sharing flights as Continental Express or United Express with various turboprop aircraft types from the mid 1980s through the 1990s. Continental Express service was operated by Pioneer Airlines with Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner aircraft and later by Rocky Mountain Airways with Beechcraft 1900C and ATR-42 aircraft while United Express service was flown by Aspen Airways with Convair 580 aircraft, Mesa Airlines with Beechcraft 1900C, de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 and Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft, and Air Wisconsin with Dornier 328 propjets. Prior to becoming a Continental Express air carrier, Rocky Mountain Airways was serving Casper in 1983 as an independent airline with de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprops while commuter air carrier Air US was also serving the airport at this same time with the regional airliner version of Grumman Gulfstream I business propjet. Delta eventually turned its mainline service over to its code sharing regional airline partner, SkyWest Airlines, which in 1995 was operating as the Delta Connection with nonstop Canadair CRJ regional jet flights to Delta's Salt Lake City hub. SkyWest continues to operate Delta Connection service with CRJ aircraft nonstop to Salt Lake City at the present time.

Environmental investigation

As a formerly used defense site (FUDS) the Army has had to review sites according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act since 1980. It was not until 2014, that funding became available. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's main concern is chemical contamination in the area of a former landfill and sewage treatment plant. Together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the US Environmental Protection Agency it is investigating 12 sites.

Facilities

The airport covers 5,131 acres (2,076 ha) and has two asphalt runways: 3/21 is 10,165 x 150 ft (3,098 x 46 m) and 8/26 is 8,679 x 150 ft (2,645 x 46 m).

In the year ending May 31, 2006 the airport had 47,210 aircraft operations, average 129 per day: 60% general aviation, 24% scheduled airline, 14% air taxi and 1% military. 90 aircraft are based at the airport: 51% single-engine, 34% multi-engine, 9% jet and 6% helicopter. The airport is governed by a Board of Trustees with 5 members each serving a 5-year term.

Passenger

Allegiant Air operates McDonnell Douglas MD-80 mainline jetliners. SkyWest Airlines operates Canadair CRJ 200 regional jets as Delta Connection. Trans States Airlines operates Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets as United Express and GoJet Airlines also operates Canadair CRJ 700 regional gets as United Express. Charter flights also take off and land at Casper - Natrona County Int'l .

Ground transportation

Taxi service and car rental agencies are available. Several local hotels offer free shuttle service.

In popular culture

In the 2011 comedy film Bridesmaids, an airplane makes an emergency landing at the airport to deplane a rowdy flier and her group of friends.