Friedman Memorial Airport is a city-owned public-use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Hailey, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Blaine County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. The airport is operated by the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority under a joint powers agreement between the city of Hailey and Blaine County. It serves the resort communities of Sun Valley and

Ketchum Ketchum may refer to: Towns, cities, and, geographic features * Ketchum, Idaho, United States * Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States * Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States * Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica * Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...

, and the surrounding areas in the

Wood River Valley The Wood River Valley is a region in the western United States in south-central Idaho. Located in Blaine County, it is named after the Big Wood and Little Wood Rivers, which flow through the area. The valley has four incorporated cities: B ...

. Friedman Memorial Airport, the gateway to Sun Valley, is built on land donated to the city of Hailey by Leon and Lucile Friedman in 1931 and named in memory of their father, Simon M. Friedman. Simon was a local merchant and rancher who arrived in Hailey in the 1880s and served as mayor from 1909 to 1913.

Facilities and aircraft

Friedman Memorial Airport covers an area of 211 acres (0.85 km²) 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 above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. It has one

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 ...

paved

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 ...

designated 13/31 which measures . For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2007, the airport had 68,540 aircraft operations, an average of 187 per day: 58%

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 ...

, 38%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

, 3% scheduled commercial and <1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. At that time there were 150 aircraft based at this airport: 67% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, 25% multi-engine, 5% jet, 1%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

and 1%

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

Early history

In 1931, the Friedman family donated a large part of land for the new airport, just before it was officially recognized in 1932. According to historic photographs, the site had been used for aviation as early as 1916. Scheduled commercial passenger service began at the airport in the late summer of 1960 with the arrival of

West Coast Airlines West Coast Airlines was an airline (then called a "local service" airline as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California ...

, a forerunner of both

Air West Air West is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport, with a hub at Sharjah International Airport. This airline has no connecti ...

and

Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the w ...

. According to various West Coast Airlines system timetables during the 1960s, the airline was serving Sun Valley with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

and

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. West Coast successor Air West briefly served Friedman with

twin prop commuter aircraft, which served nonstop flights to Boise, Salt Lake City, and Portland, OR following West Coast's merger with

Bonanza Air Lines Bonanza Air Lines was an airline (known at the time as a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1945 until it merged with two other local service ai ...

and

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid 1940s under the name ...

to form Air West in 1968. While successor

never served Hailey and Sun Valley, they flew the

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

and

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

jets into the Magic Valley Regional Airport (TWF) in Twin Falls, which was advertised in its various system timetables during the 1970s as being the "jet gateway" for Sun Valley.

Service during the 1970s & 1980s

Historically, in addition to the aforementioned West Coast Airlines and Air West propeller aircraft service, the airport had scheduled passenger jet flights provided in the past on a seasonal basis during the winter ski season operated by

Horizon Air Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is an American regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon-opera ...

and

America West Airlines America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

. Horizon Air flew

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokker ...

jets nonstop to San Francisco and Seattle while America West flew

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

jetliners nonstop to Los Angeles, Phoenix and Boise with direct, no change of plane jet service to Las Vegas and San Jose, CA. The Boeing 737 was the largest aircraft ever to serve Sun Valley on a scheduled basis. Following the cessation of these F28 and 737 flights, the airport did not have scheduled passenger jet service for many years until Delta Connection and United Express introduced Canadair CRJ-700 jet flights into Sun Valley in 2013 and 2014 respectively. In the 1970s, the airport was served by Sun Valley Airlines (later "Sun Valley Key Airlines" which then changed its name to

Key Airlines Key Airlines was founded as Thunderbird Airlines in 1964 and then changed its name in 1969. The airline took over Sun Valley Airlines in 1972 and became known as Sun Valley Key Airlines for several years until reverting to the Key Airlines name. Th ...

) using

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

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 ...

and other propeller-driven aircraft. The airfield was also briefly served over the years by Gem State Airlines,

Mountain West Airlines Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona. It is an Transport category, FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 19 ...

Golden Gate Airlines Golden Gate Airlines was a United States regional airline founded in 1980 in Monterey, California after the merger of Gem State Airlines and Air Pacific (USA) in 1979. It merged again in 1981, this time with Swift Aire Lines, but discontinued ...

and

Scenic Airlines Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation *Airwave Scenic, an Austrian p ...

Transwestern Airlines Transwestern Airlines was a regional airline based in Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city o ...

provided service for two years, until sidelined by a non-fatality accident near Hailey in 1983 which involved an emergency landing attempt on Highway 75. It was acquired later that year by Horizon Air, which began service in the early 1980s. Air Idaho served the airport as well during the mid 1970s with

de Havilland Heron The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, ...

four engine commuter prop aircraft.

Present-day operations and service

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

has always been the dominant carrier at the airport with its service via

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

. For many years,

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 ...

with operated Embraer EMB-120 "Brasilia" turboprop aircraft under this name. In January 2014 this Delta Connection service was enhanced and expanded with SkyWest-operated

Canadair CRJ-700 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 flights, following the retirement of the aging EMB-120 turboprops. Delta now operates with

Embraer 175 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...

jet service year-round service to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In 2013, United Airlines started seasonal service during the winter ski season, with nonstop service to/from

San Francisco International Airport 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 E ...

, which has continuously been operated by

with the CRJ 700 aircraft. In late 2013, United Express announced that it would expand its service to add nonstop summer flights from San Francisco. Soon after, United Express announced new nonstop service to

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , it is the largest airport in ...

, which started in July 2014. As of July 2020, they are operating E175 aircraft on all routes.

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...

, via its wholly owned regional partner

, operates nonstop flights to Seattle with

Bombardier Q400 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

turboprop aircraft, the largest and fastest member of the

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

turboprop family. More flights operate during the winter ski season than any other time of year from the airport.

usually has 100 days of service to Los Angeles from mid-December to late March. Horizon Air began serving Sun Valley late in 1983 with nonstop flights to Seattle and Boise, operated with

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

turboprop aircraft.http://www.departedflights.com, Sept. 7, 1983 Horizon Air system timetable, Sun Valley schedules effective Dec. 15, 1983

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Top destinations

References

External links

* * {{US-airport, SUN
Alaska Airlines/ Horizon route map for 2009 showing new routes to Boise and Idaho Falls
Airports in Idaho Buildings and structures in Blaine County, Idaho