Fresno Yosemite International Airport

The Fresno Yosemite International Airport opened as a military airfield in June 1942, just six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, leading the United States to enter World War II. The new airfield was named Hammer Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training facility for the new pilots of the Fourth Air Force. It had a single northwest/southeast oriented runway with a length of 7,200 feet (now runway 11L/29R).[3]

Night fighter training, using Northrop P-61s, was moved to Hammer Field in January 1944, initially with the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, replaced by the 319th Wing in May 1944. Training for the Bell P-59 Airacomet was added to the 319th mission in 1944, as well, confirmed Col. Ralph H. Snavely, commanding officer of the 319th Wing.[4]

At the time, civil and commercial aviation used Chandler Field that had opened in November 1929.[5] Chandler is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of downtown Fresno, on a small site. Less than a decade after it opened, it was clear that the small runway at Chandler would not be able to accommodate coming larger airliners.[5]

After World War II, Hammer Field was inactivated by the Army Air Forces and the city of Fresno saw an opportunity to use the site to create a commercial airport much larger than Chandler Field. In 1946 the War Assets Administration reallocated the property to the city, which immediately began construction on a passenger terminal on the northeast side of the airfield. In 1948, the newly renamed Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) opened. Trans World Airlines (TWA) and United Airlines flights to San Francisco/Oakland and Los Angeles moved from Chandler Field to the newly opened airport. Chandler Field was retained by the city of Fresno as a reliever airport and continues to operate as the Fresno Chandler Executive Airport.[6][5]

Strategic Air Command facilities for Convair B-36 operations were initially proposed for “Hammer Air Force Base”, but objections from the City of Fresno led them to be changed to Travis Air Force Base instead. The Fresno upgrade was projected to cost $22.303 million.[7]

The California Air National Guard moved to the airport in the 1950s and established the Fresno Air National Guard Base on the southeast corner of the property. The guard also built munition storage bunkers along the northern edge of the airport grounds.[8] The 194th Fighter Squadron moved to the facility in late 1954, followed by the 144th Fighter Wing in 1957.[9] As the guard moved in, a second parallel runway (11R/29L) was constructed and opened to traffic in 1956.[6]

Construction started on a new, larger passenger terminal in 1959 on the south side of the field.[6] The main building consists of baggage claim, a central lobby, and a ticketing area. Although renovated, that building stands today and has the same functions. From the central lobby, passengers used a tunnel to reach the open-air, remote concourse where they boarded planes from ground level.[6]

The current air traffic control tower was built around the same time as the terminal and opened shortly after in 1961.[6]

Pacific Air Lines was first to schedule jets to Fresno, with the Boeing 727-100s) in 1966.[10] United was the dominant carrier at the airport throughout the mid-1970s. At the airlines peak they operated daily DC-8s jet service to Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Hughes Airwest and PSA jets also served the airport at this time, but to much less destinations.[11]

The first significant expansion to the passenger terminal came in 1978 when a concourse was built straight out from the central lobby. This building, unlike the original remote concourse, was enclosed and climate controlled.[6]

The airport saw significant down-gauging of flights following airline deregulation. By 1983 United had ended intrastate flights from Fresno, and the airport mainly saw turboprops of smaller carriers.[12] Delta operated mainline jets to Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Reno in the mid 1990s,[13] but in 1999, the only mainline jets at Fresno were American flights to Dallas/Fort Worth.[14]

Fresno has been the headquarters for a few airlines throughout its history. In the mid-1980s, Far West Airlines was founded in Fresno and used the airport as a small intrastate hub serving Burbank, Los Angeles, Modesto, Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento and San Jose.[15] Air 21 was founded in Fresno in January 1994 and operated service between several western cities before ceasing operations in January 1997.[16] Allegiant Air was founded in Fresno in January 1997, and its headquarters were located in the city until it declared bankruptcy in 2000, and the new CEO moved its headquarters to a suburb of Las Vegas.

In 1996, the airport's name was changed from Fresno Air Terminal to Fresno Yosemite International Airport to attract out-of-state and international visitors to Yosemite National Park to the airport. Despite the new name, scheduled international commercial flights would not begin operating in Fresno for nearly a decade.[17] At the time, airport managers petitioned the FAA for a new identifier code to replace FAT, which carries a negative connotation and no longer matched the initials of the airport. The request was denied, with the FAA reaffirming its long-standing policy to only issue a new identifier code when an airport is physically relocated (such as in 1995 when Denver Airport was moved out of Stapleton).[18]

At the turn of the 21st century, the city began a series of projects that would expand and remodel the passenger terminal. The first and most notable project was the expansion of the concourse building. The project, designed by DMJM Aviation extended the terminal further northeast and created a new two-level section with six jetbridges. Before this project passengers boarded all planes using stairs or ramps. When completed in 2002, the new concourse building received praise for its design and was named one of the top 10 projects in Fresno Architecture for the decade with critics commending the use of steel and the curved glass facade.[19]

A new Federal Inspection Services facility for international arrivals was completed in early 2006, giving federal officials space to check passports and complete customs work. Completion of that facility allowed Fresno to begin receiving scheduled international commercial flights. The first international service started in April 2006 with Mexicana operating flights between Fresno and Mexico City with an intermediate stop in Guadalajara.[17]

“Sequoiascape,” a public art display inside the terminal that depicts a sequoia forest

With the new concourse extension and new international arrivals facility completed, older portions of the terminal building were given a major renovation. The project was designed CSHQA and completed in several phases between 2006 and 2010. While keeping the facility operational, nearly every part of the building was updated including the baggage claim area, security checkpoint, central lobby, ticketing area, and low-level concourse. The centerpiece of the project was “Sequoiascape,” a public art display in the central terminal lobby that depicts life-size, replica sequoia forest, reflecting the airport's role as a gateway to the nearby national parks. The giant trees appear to be supporting the roof of the terminal and are surrounded by fallen logs, and other foliage, surrounded by the split rail fencing and granite curbs that visitors see at national parks.[20][21][22][23]

A consolidated rental car facility opened at the airport in 2009. The $22 million project allows customers of most rental car companies to pick up and drop-off vehicles just outside the terminal. The project also included the construction of maintenance buildings and storage lots on a nearby, 11-acre site.[24]

Direct international service from Fresno briefly ended in August 2010 when Mexicana ceased operations. International service resumed, with more flights, less than a year later when both Aeroméxico and Volaris added service between Fresno and Guadalajara in April 2011.[25][26]

The secondary runway (11R/29L) was widened, lengthened and strengthened in a $30 million project completed in October 2012.[27]

Fresno Yosemite International Airport covers 1,728 acres (699 ha) at an elevation of 336 ft (102 m) above mean sea level, with two paved asphalt runways. The primary runway, 11L/29R, is 9,539 by 150 ft (2,907 by 46 m) and the secondary runway, 11R/29L, 8,008 by 150 ft (2,441 by 46 m).[1]

In 2019, 1.96 million passengers flew in and out of Fresno Yosemite International Airport, representing an 11% increase from the previous record set in 2018, when 1.77 million passengers flew in and out of the airport.[37]

For the year ending March 31, 2017, the airport had 99,559 aircraft operations, an average of 273 per day: 61% general aviation, 18% scheduled commercial, 15% air taxi and 6% military. At that time there were 179 aircraft based at the airport: 56% single-engine, 14% multi-engine, 13% military, 9% jet and 7% helicopter.[1]

The airport is located about a mile away from California State Route 180, with vehicles using Peach Avenue to connect between the airport and the highway.[53] California State Route 180 connects to all of the other freeways in the Fresno area: California State Route 41, California State Route 99, and California State Route 168.[54] Yosemite National Park can be accessed by California State Route 41 and Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park can be accessed by California State Route 180.[55][56]

The city of Fresno offers paid on-site parking in a large lot located just south of the airport terminal. The lot is divided into a short-term area with 283 stalls and a long-term area with 1,879 stalls. A separate cell phone waiting lot located off the airport's main driveway has 47 stalls, designated for drivers waiting for arriving passengers.[57]

Fresno Area Express (FAX) operates two public transit buses to the airport, each with half-hourly service.[58] Route 26 Palm / Butler runs between the airport and North Fresno via Southeast and Downtown Fresno (where passengers may transfer to other FAX routes). Route 39 FYI/Clinton runs between the airport and West Fresno.

The City of Visalia operates the V-Line bus between the airport and the Visalia Transit Center (where passengers can connect to Visalia Transit routes) and the Visalia Airport (which offers V-Line passengers free long-term parking for up to ten days).[59][60]

The airport offers a consolidated rental car facility at the west end of the terminal. Nine rental car companies have passenger service counters inside the terminal near the baggage claim area and up to 400 cars can be parked in a lot just west of the terminal building.[24] The 11-acre rental car facility opened in 2009 and was built at a cost of US$22 million.[24]