Eastern Sierra Regional Airport is two miles east of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, in

Inyo County Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is o ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. It is owned by the City of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Department of Public Works and operated by Inyo County.

Facilities

The airport covers at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of . It has three

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: 8/26 is ; 12/30 is ; 17/35 is . It has two

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

s: H1 is and H2 is . In the year ending October 23, 2006 the airport had 26,000 aircraft operations, average 71 per day: 88%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and 12% military. 64 aircraft were then based at the airport: 81% single-engine, 13% multi-engine, 2% jet and 5% glider.

Airlines and destinations

Effective December 19, 2021,

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, United States. SkyWest is paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. The ...

operating as

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

via a code sharing agreement with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

began nonstop service to the airport, utilizing

Bombardier CRJ700 The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from t ...

regional jet aircraft. Winter 22/23 will include daily flights to San Francisco (

SFO San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle ...

) and Denver (DEN). These new flights replaced United Express service to nearby

Mammoth Yosemite Airport Mammoth Yosemite Airport is a town-owned public airport seven miles east of Mammoth Lakes, in Mono County, California, United States. Also known as Mammoth Lakes Airport or Mammoth–June Lake Airport, it is mainly used for general aviation, but ...

and also marked the return of scheduled passenger service to Eastern Sierra Regional Airport and Bishop.

Historical military use

The airfield opened in April 1940 on subleased from Inyo County. During World War II it was known as Bishop Army Airfield and was a sub-base to Muroc Army Airfield in 1942 and 1943 for

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Res ...

. The site was used for aircraft flight and ordnance delivery training. In 1943 it was reassigned to Tonopah Army Airfield, Nevada. Aircraft maintenance and ordnance storage were also done. After the end of World War II, Bishop AAF was turned over to Air Technical Service Command as a storage airfield. On 2 May 1949, the Army cancelled its initial lease of with Inyo County for Bishop Airport under the War Assets Administration's Peacetime Reduction Mission, and the base was declared excess to requirements and returned to civil control. The

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

subleased runway use rights and a heliport area of known as the Bishop Test Site from Inyo County from 15 November 1965 to 19 June 1971 and from 25 November 1980 to 30 September 1985. The Air Force used the heliport area and runway for performance testing of helicopters and other aircraft. The U.S. DoD facilities included runway expansion, fuel facilities, utilities, buildings, aircraft maintenance, hospital and barracks. Today, the airport is owned by the City of

, California and is leased to

Historical airline service

Trans Sierra Airlines, a commuter air carrier, was serving the airport in 1971 with two daily flights to Los Angeles (

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

) and two daily flights to San Jose (SJC) operated with

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

twin prop aircraft. Trans Sierra then changed its name to

Sierra Pacific Airlines Sierra Pacific Airlines is an American charter airline based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. It operates passenger charters and sub-charters for other airlines, as well as for the United States Forest Service, United States Military and the United Sta ...

, which during the mid-1970s was operating direct service to Burbank (BUR) in the Los Angeles area and also to Las Vegas (LAS) via an intermediate stop at the nearby

as well as nonstop service to Fresno (FAT) with

Handley Page Jetstream The Handley Page HP.137 Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage. The aircraft was designed to meet the requirements of the United States commuter and regional airline market. The design was later improved and bu ...

commuter propjets. In 1980 and 1981, Air Sierra was operating nonstop flights to Fresno with

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...

twin prop aircraft. Also in 1981,

Wings West Airlines Wings West Airlines was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California. The airline initially began scheduled passenger service as an independent commuter air carrier and t ...

was operating direct flights to Santa Monica (SMO) and Sacramento (SMF) via an intermediate stop at Mammoth Lakes Yosemite Airport as well as nonstop service to Oakland (OAK) with

twin prop aircraft. In 1983, Mojave Airlines was operating flights to Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), Ontario (ONT), Inyokern (IYK) and

Fox Field General William J. Fox Airfield is a county-owned, public airport in Los Angeles County, California, five miles northwest of Lancaster, California, United States. Locally known as Fox Field, the airport serves the Antelope Valley. The airport i ...

(WJF) in Lancaster with

Beechcraft C99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

commuter turboprops. By 1988, Alpha Air was providing commuter airline service with

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With ...

propjets direct to Los Angeles (LAX) and Oakland (OAK) as well as nonstop service to San Jose (SJC).

Accidents and incidents

*On March 13, 1974 a David L. Wolper Productions crew filming a

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

history of ''

Australopithecus ''Australopithecus'' (, ; ) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genus ''Homo'' (which includes modern humans) emerged within ''Australopithecus'', as sister to e.g. ''Australopi ...

'' at

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort in the western United States, located in eastern California along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest. Mammoth has more than of ski-able terrain, service ...

was killed when

Flight 802, a

Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

, crashed shortly after takeoff from the airport, killing all 36 on board including 31 Wolper crew members (but not Wolper himself). The filmed segment was recovered in the wreckage and was broadcast on the television show ''Primal Man''. The U.S.

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

never determined the cause of the accident, and the resort sold the airline. *On August 11, 2002,

Galen Rowell Galen Avery Rowell (August 23, 1940 – August 11, 2002) was a wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and mountaineer. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972. Early life and education Rowell was intr ...

, his wife Barbara Cushman Rowell, pilot Tom Reid, and Reid's friend Carol McAffee were killed when an

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City, ...

690 crashed on a night approach into Eastern Sierra Regional Airport.

References

External links

* {{USAAF 4th Air Force World War II Airports in Inyo County, California Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Bishop, California Gliding in the United States Owens Valley