Tri-State Airport (Milton J. Ferguson Field) is a public airport in

Wayne County, West Virginia Wayne County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,982. Its county seat is Wayne. The county was founded in 1842 and named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Wayne County ...

, United States, three miles south of

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A ...

, near Ceredo and Kenova. Owned by the Tri-State Airport Authority, it serves Huntington;

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

; and

Ironton, Ohio Ironton is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Ohio, United States. Located in southernmost Ohio along the Ohio River northwest of Huntington, West Virginia, the city includes the Downtown Ironton Historic District. The populati ...

. It has heavy use for

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 after the withdrawal of

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 world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...

in June 2012, is down to two airlines, one of which provides nationwide connecting service. On August 2, 2021, a federal subsidy was announced to subsidize flights to Washington-Dulles and Chicago-O'Hare airports. It is not yet known which airline will operate the flights.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

records say the airport had 115,263 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2010, 10.9% more than 2009. The

(FAA)

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 2017–2021 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. The first airline flights were Piedmont DC-3s around the end of 1952; Eastern and Allegheny arrived in 1953. Eastern left about the end of 1972; Piedmont and Allegheny remained through the 1989 merger. The first jets were Piedmont 737s in 1969 (the runway was then 5280 feet). Eastern Airlines provided jet service beginning July 1, 1968 using a DC-9 jet. According to the Eastern Airlines timetable, effective June 21, 1968, the routing was LEX-HTS-EWR. HTS had 5 other EA in the same schedule with 1 on a Lockheed Electra & the other 4 on Convair 440s. The airport is the second busiest airport in West Virginia after Yeager Airport in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charlesto ...

. Huntington Tri-State airport has the second longest runway in West Virginia. The airport is replacing lights in the terminal and hangars with LED lights as of November 2021.

Facilities

The airport covers 1,300

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

s (526 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 § ...

of 828 feet (252 m). It has one runway, 12/30, 7,017 by 150 feet (2,139 x 46 m) asphalt. In the year ending February 28, 2017 the airport had 12,870 aircraft operations, average 35 per day: 46% general aviation, 32%

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) ...

, 15% airline, and 7% military. In December 2017, 48 aircraft were based at the airport: 35 single-engine, 8 multi-engine, 3 jet, 1 helicopter, and 1 ultralight. The airport has the only

FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

B-757 hub in West Virginia.

Economic Impact

A study by Marshall University's Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) in 2006 published a finding that the economic output was $50.4 million, with an income of $21.1 million and 803 jobs and $3.5 million state and local tax revenue. A series of Airport Improvement Projects (AIPS) were completed from 2006 to 2014 with a total cost of $39,226,015.00 based on $36,716,290.00 federal funds, $1,141,993.53 state funds, and $322,966.90 local funds.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Top destinations

FedEx Feeder is operated at the field by

Mountain Air Cargo Mountain Air Cargo (MAC) is an American cargo airline based in Denver, North Carolina. It is a major contract carrier for FedEx Express, operating in the eastern United States and the Caribbean region. Previous turboprop operations in South Americ ...

Incidents

*On October 30 1970 a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

U-8 crashed west of the airport while making an emergency landing in rain and fog, killing three of the four passengers, including

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Edwin H. Burba. * On November 14, 1970, in what has been recognized as "the worst sports related air tragedy in U.S. history,"Rivals.com College Football. "Marshall crash still looms after 36 years. December 19, 2006 . Southern Airways Flight 932, a chartered

Southern Airways Southern Airways was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local-service air carrier" as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the United States, from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979, when it merged with ...

DC-9 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. Afte ...

, crashed into a hill just short of runway 12 (then runway 11, due to differences in

magnetic declination Magnetic declination, or magnetic variation, is the angle on the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction the north end of a magnetized compass needle points, corresponding to the direction of the Earth's magnetic field lines) an ...

between 1970 and today). The flight carried 37 members of the

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges ...

"Thundering Herd" football team, eight members of the coaching staff, and 25 boosters. There were no survivors. The tragedy was the basis of the 2006 film '' We Are Marshall''. * On January 30, 2009 a Piper PA-34-200T Seneca crashed near KHTS in a snowstorm. The pilot was trying to divert to KHTS due to a fuel emergency; all six aboard were killed.

References

External links

Tri-State Airport
official website

from 2008

West Virginia DOT The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) is the state agency responsible for transportation in West Virginia. The Department of Transportation serves an umbrella organization for seven subsidiary agencies which are directly responsi ...

Airport Directory * * * * http://www.wvculture.org/history/transportation/tristateairport01.html * https://www.airnav.com/airport/KHTS * https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2205/00532AD.PDF * https://skyvector.com/airport/HTS/Tri-State-Milton-J-Ferguson-Field-Airport
{{Huntington, West Virginia Airports in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Wayne County, West Virginia Transportation in Wayne County, West Virginia