Del Norte County Regional Airport (Jack McNamara Field) is a public airport three miles northwest of Crescent City, in

Del Norte County ), in California , seat_type = County seat , seat = Crescent City , parts_type = Largest city , parts = Crescent City , unit_pref = US , area_total_sq_mi = 1230 , area_land_sq_mi = 1006 , area_water_sq_mi = 223 , elevation_max_footnote ...

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 has one airline flight per day to and from Oakland under the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...

program. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (i.e. more than 10,000 enplanements per year).

History

The airfield was used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as Crescent City Outlying Field supporting

Naval Air Station Alameda Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...

. and a naval radio station at Point Saint George.

High-frequency direction finding High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate over ...

(HFDF) was used for radio intercept. These sites along

the coast The Coast may refer to: * ''The Coast'' (newspaper), a weekly newspaper in Halifax, Canada * The Coast, Newark, New Jersey, a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, USA * "The Coast", a song by Paul Simon from his 1990 album ''The Rhythm of the Saints ...

could track Japanese warships and merchant marine vessels as far away as the Western Pacific. The other stations in California were at

Point Arguello Point Arguello (Spanish: ''Punta Argüello'') is a headland on the Gaviota Coast, in Santa Barbara County, California, near the city of Lompoc. The area was first used by the United States Navy in 1959 for the launch of military and sounding r ...

Farallon Islands The Farallon Islands, or Farallones (from the Spanish ''farallón'' meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff"), are a group of islands and sea stacks in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The island ...

and San Diego.

Bainbridge Island, Washington Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

also hosted a station.

Facilities and aircraft

The airport covers 544

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (220 ha) 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 61 feet (19 m). It has two

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 ...

runways: 11/29 is 5,000 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m) and 17/35 is 5,001 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m). In the year ending July 31, 2019; the airport had 12,565 aircraft operations, average 34 per day: 72%

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 ...

, 27%

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 ...

, and 1% military. 26 aircraft were then based at the airport: 65% single-engine and 35% multi-engine.

Historical airline service

By 1950

Southwest Airways 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 ...

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 ...

s were flying to San Francisco, e.g. Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Fort Bragg/Mendocino - Ukiah - Santa Rosa - Vallejo/Napa - Oakland - San Francisco. Southwest Airways changed its name to

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 ...

which in 1959 was flying DC-3s or

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (l ...

s Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - San Francisco; Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Ukiah - Santa Rosa - San Francisco; or Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Redding - Red Bluff - Chico - Marysville/Yuba City - Sacramento - San Francisco. Also, nonstop between Crescent City and Medford, Oregon. By 1964 Pacific Air Lines was flying

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 ...

s and Martin 4-0-4s to Crescent City on similar multi-stop routings to San Francisco and nonstop to Portland. In 1968 Pacific Air Lines merged 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

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 ...

to form Air West which changed its name to

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 ...

in 1970. All Air West flights to the airport in 1968 were Fairchild F-27s. In 1972 Hughes Airwest F-27s flew San Francisco - Eureka/Arcata - Crescent City - North Bend, Oregon - Corvallis, Oregon - Portland, Oregon - Astoria, Oregon - Tacoma, Washington - Seattle. By 1980 Hughes Airwest was no longer serving the airport as it had retired its F-27s. Several commuter airlines served the airport. In 1976 Eureka Aero Industries was flying nonstop to Eureka/Arcata continuing to Eureka's

Murray Field Murray Field is a county-owned public airport, located adjacent to Humboldt Bay within Eureka, California in Humboldt County. Most of its use is general aviation, but UPS flights stop for package delivery. History Murray Field was establishe ...

airport 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 ...

WestAir WestAir Commuter Airlines (IATA:OE, VB/ICAO WCA, SDU), was a U.S.-based regional airline formed when Stol Air Commuter changed its name in 1978 to WestAir Airlines; it was renamed WestAir Commuter Airlines in 1986. One of the founders was Maur ...

was serving the airport by the early 1980s and in 1985 was flying Cessna 402s nonstop to Eureka/Arcata and on to Sacramento. WestAir also offered connecting service via either Eureka/Arcata or Sacramento to San Francisco. WestAir became a

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 ...

airline via a

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

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.

and in 1994 was flying

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin- turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...

s Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Sacramento - San Francisco several times a day. In the late 1990s, WestAir was replaced by

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 ...

which in 1999 was operating as United Express from the airport with nonstop and direct

Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...

s to

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 ...

. In 2007 SkyWest operating as United Express was continuing to fly Embraer EMB-120s nonstop to both San Francisco and Eureka/Arcata with direct one-stop flights to Sacramento. SkyWest ended all United Express service into Crescent City in 2015. From August 2017, the only remaining passenger airline service, flown by

PenAir Peninsula Airways, operated as PenAir, was a U.S.-based regional airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was Alaska's second-largest commuter airline operating scheduled passenger service, as well as charter and medevac services through ...

with

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

s via a

agreement with

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 ...

, operated nonstop to the

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

in Oregon. This service ended after PenAir filed for bankruptcy.

New airline jet service

On February 28, 2018

Contour Airlines Contour Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee, United States. All Contour Airlines flights are public charters sold and operated by parent company Contour Aviation as a direct carrier. History Conto ...

announced it would begin flying an

Embraer ERJ-135 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jet between Crescent City and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

with service which began on April 11, 2018. This new service marked the first time Crescent City had scheduled passenger airline flights operated with a jet aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

According to

FlightAware FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products. , it is the world's largest flight tracking platform, with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B gro ...

, scheduled passenger flights are currently being operated by

with

and

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jets nonstop to Oakland (OAK).

Cargo

Statistics

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket DOT-OST-1997-2649
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

: *
Order 2004-7-29
re-selecting SkyWest, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service at Crescent City, California, at the annual subsidy rate of $816,025 per year for the period ending July 31, 2006. *
Order 2006-6-15
re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide subsidized essential air service at Crescent City, California, for the two-year period from August 1, 2006, through July 31, 2008, at an annual rate of $957,025. *
Order 2008-4-23
re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service at Crescent City, California, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,136,896, through July 31, 2010. *
Order 2010-5-19
re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service (EAS) at Crescent City, California, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,781,888. The selection extends from August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2012. *
Order 2012-5-21
re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Crescent City, California, for $1,996,959 annual subsidy.

External links

* {{authority control Airports in California Transportation in Del Norte County, California Crescent City, California Essential Air Service Buildings and structures in Del Norte County, California Companies based in Del Norte County, California