Fresno Yosemite International Airport (IATA: FAT, ICAO: KFAT, FAA LID: FAT), formerly Fresno Air Terminal, is a joint civil-military airport in Fresno, California. It is the primary commercial airport serving the San Joaquin Valley and three national parks, Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. The airport is owned and operated by the city of Fresno and covers 1,728 acres (699 ha) and maintains two runways and one helipad.
The airport has scheduled passenger flights to several airline hubs in the western United States and international service to Mexico.
Due to its central location, Fresno is also home to several military, law enforcement, firefighting, and medical air units. The Fresno Air National Guard Base on the southeast corner of the airport is home of the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard. The Fresno Air Attack Base on the eastern side of the airport supports aerial firefighting aircraft. Other government and military operators include the California Army National Guard, the California Highway Patrol, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, and the Fresno Police Department.
History
The airfield opened in June 1942. During World War II the airfield was known as Hammer Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Fourth Air Force. Hammer Field was a training base and had three sub-bases and two gunnery ranges.
The airfield was renamed Fresno Air Terminal, and retained a military cantonment area for an Army Air Forces unit of the National Guard that became a unit of the Air National Guard when the U.S. Air Force was established as a separate service in 1947.
Today the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW) occupies two separate parcels of land at the airportâ€"the main base area and the Munitions Storage Area. These areas of the airport are known as the Fresno Air National Guard Base. This military unit currently operates F-15 "Eagle" jet fighters.
Passenger service to the Fresno Air Terminal started in 1947 when Trans World Airlines (TWA) and United Airlines flights to San Francisco/Oakland and Los Angeles moved from Chandler Field (now Fresno Chandler Executive Airport).
In 1988 the FAA designated the airport an "International Point of Entry," allowing international flights.
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. Airport managers petitioned the FAA for a new identifier code to replace FAT, but were denied, with the FAA reaffirming its long standing policy to only issue a new airport identifier code when an airport physically moves to another location (such as in 1995 when Denver Airport moved from Stapleton).
The airport was the first in the country to implement an anti-terrorist facial recognition system, shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Since its opening, the passenger terminal has gone through multiple renovations and expansions. In 2002, a new two-level concourse building designed by DMJM Aviation was completed and in 2006 construction of a new Federal Inspection Facility (FIS) for international arrivals was completed.
Fresno Yosemite International features a 2.4 megawatt solar power system, completed in March 2008. The solar system was financed through a solar power purchase agreement, which required no capital outlay from the airport. The solar array is owned, operated, and maintained by Solar Power Partners and the airport purchases solar-generated electricity from the system. At the time of commissioning, the system was the largest airport solar system in the nation.
Airline service
Fresno has been the headquarters for at least three airlines. In the mid 1990s Air 21 flew Fokker F28 Fellowship jets to several destinations including nonstop to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and San Francisco, and direct to Colorado Springs. Allegiant Air also called Fresno home but then moved its headquarters to Las Vegas. In 2000, Allegiant was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jet service nonstop to Las Vegas and Long Beach. Far West Airlines was also based in Fresno and in 1984 was operating a small intrastate hub at the airport with nonstop flights to the California destinations of Burbank, Los Angeles, Modesto, Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento and San Jose as well as one stop direct flights to Ontario via Burbank, all flown with 60-passenger seat NAMC YS-11 turboprop aircraft.
United Airlines was a major player at the airport for many years, operating Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-200, Boeing 737-300 and Douglas DC-8 jets. United even flew stretched Douglas Super DC-8 series 61 (DC-8-61) flights to Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. With over 200 seats these DC-8-61s were the largest airliners ever scheduled into Fresno. In 1979, the airline was operating up to eleven mainline jet flights a day from Fresno with nonstop Boeing 727-200 service to Chicago and Denver as well as nonstop Boeing 727-200 and 737-200 service to Los Angeles and San Francisco. United Airlines remains the longest continuously-operating carrier out of Fresno Yosemite International Airport with daily nonstop flights to Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco although most United service is currently flown by regional airline partner SkyWest with Canadair CRJ-200, CRJ-700 and Embraer 175 regional jets operating as United Express via a code sharing agreement. United has resumed mainline jet service to Fresno with nonstop Boeing 737-800 flights between the airport and San Francisco (SFO) effective August 15, 2017.
Other airlines that operated jet service into Fresno from the mid 1960s through the 1990s included:
- Pacific Air Lines with Boeing 727-100s
- Hughes Airwest (formerly Air West) with Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s
- Republic Airlines (1979-1986) with Boeing 727-200s, Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s
- Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) with Boeing 727-100s, 727-200s, 737-200s, British Aerospace BAe 146-200s and McDonnell Douglas MD80s
- Western Airlines with Boeing 727-200s, 737-200s and 737-300s
- Delta Air Lines with Boeing 727-200s and 737-300s
- The original Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) with Boeing 737-200s
- Continental Airlines with Boeing 737-200s and 737-300s
- AirCal (formerly Air California) with Boeing 737-200s
- Morris Air with Boeing 737-300s
- Pacific Express with Boeing 737-200s and British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Elevens
- Jet America Airlines with McDonnell Douglas MD80s
- Horizon Air with Fokker F28 Fellowships operating code sharing service on behalf of Alaska Airlines
- America West Express with Canadair CRJ-200s and Fokker 70s
Pacific Air Lines was the first airline to schedule jets into Fresno when it initiated Boeing 727-100 service nonstop to both Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1966.
In the spring of 1975, three airlines were serving the airport with mainline jet service including Hughes Airwest with nonstop flights to Las Vegas and Sacramento, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) with nonstops to Los Angeles and Stockton as well as one stop service to San Francisco via Stockton and United Airlines with nonstops to Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bakersfield with the Denver service being operated with a stretched Douglas DC-8-61 (Super DC-8) jetliner.
By early 1985, five airlines were operating mainline jet service into Fresno including Jet America Airlines with nonstop flights to Chicago O'Hare Airport, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) with nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco, Republic Airlines (1979-1986) with nonstops to Phoenix and Sacramento, United Airlines with nonstops to San Francisco and Western Airlines with nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to the February 15, 1985 edition of the Official Airline Guide (OAG), two commuter air carriers were also serving the airport at this same time including Pacific Coast Airlines operating Handley Page Jetstream propjets nonstop to Bakersfield, Sacramento and Santa Barbara, and WestAir Commuter Airlines flying Cessna 402 prop aircraft as well as Short 330 turboprops nonstop to Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose. WestAir would later serve Fresno with British Aerospace BAe 146-200 jets operating as United Express.
In the 1990s there was a shift to smaller regional jet and turboprop aircraft; however, mainline jets still serve Fresno. Mainline jet aircraft currently serving Fresno include Boeing 737-800 service nonstop to Dallas/Fort Worth operated by American Airlines. Allegiant Air flies McDonnell Douglas MD80s and Airbus A320s nonstop to Las Vegas and Phoenix/Mesa and was also operating Boeing 757-200 nonstops to Honolulu before ceasing service to Hawaii from the airport. Aeroméxico flies Boeing 737s while Volaris operates Airbus A320s with both airlines flying nonstop to Guadalajara, Mexico. In 2007, Delta Air Lines announced new flights to Fresno from Atlanta; however, this service was then cancelled before it began. Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has served Fresno at different periods with Airbus A319 service to Denver, this service will resume in May 2018.
Direct international service from Fresno briefly ended when Mexicana ceased operations in August 2010 to Guadalajara International Airport, Mexico. International flights resumed less than a year later when Volaris and Aeroméxico added service to Fresno from Guadalajara in April 2011.
Fresno is the largest city in the continental United States not served by Southwest Airlines. Morris Air operated Boeing 737-300s into the airport but ceased all service after the airline was acquired by Southwest Airlines.
Facilities and aircraft
Fresno Yosemite International Airport covers 1,728 acres (699Â ha) at an elevation of 336Â ft (102Â m) above mean sea level, with two paved asphalt runways: 11L/29R (primary) and 11R/29L (secondary). Runway 11L/29R is 9,539 by 150Â ft (2,907 by 46Â m), and runway 11R/29L is 8,008 by 150Â ft (2,441 by 46Â m).
Completed in 2010, CSHQA designed the $10 million Terminal Building Expansion and Remodel â€" The portion included a multi-phased rehabilitation of the ticketing lobby, central lobby (including the unique sequoia forest exhibit), the rental car counter areas, and the expansion of baggage claim. The enhanced ticket lobby incorporates an open floor plan with high ceiling interiors; houses all airline ticket counters in the same space; provides large open common use baggage screening and processing rooms, and introduces a more high tech image through the use of LCD screen displays and other material and lighting elements. The central lobby area includes the "sense of place" Sequoia Treescape project. The expanded baggage claim area accommodates higher capacity equipment, and provides more circulation space for travelers.
A US$30 million construction project was completed in October 2012 to widen, lengthen and strengthen secondary runway 11R/29L.
For the year ending September 30, 2009 the airport had 143,945 aircraft operations, an average of 394 per day: 65% general aviation, 18% air taxi, 10% scheduled commercial, and 8% military. At that time there were 195 aircraft based at the airport: 47% single-engine, 23% multi-engine, 6% jet, 11% helicopter and 13% military.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Statistics
Top destinations
Annual passenger traffic
In 2016, Fresno Yosemite International Airport had 1,540,623 departing and arriving passengers, representing a 10% increase from 2015.
In 2015, Fresno Yosemite International Airport totaled 1,408,922 passengers, marking a notable 21% increase in passengers since 2009.
In 2014, 1,442,026 passengers flew through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, breaking the previous record from 2013.
In 2013, 1,401,582 passengers arrived and departed through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, exceeding the previous record of 1,318,493 passengers in 2007 by 6.3%. This increase is contributed to the introduction of larger jet aircraft and new destinations. Flights to and from Fresno Yosemite International Airport averaged a load factor of 82% in 2013.
In 2011 over 1.2 million passengers traveled through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, a 6.4% increase from 2010.
Fresno completed 2006 with 1.281 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 7.54% over 2005.
Fresno completed 2007 with 1.382 million passengers traveling through Fresno Yosemite International Airport, an increase of 3.13% over 2006.
Military and government operations
The 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard is based out of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. The California Army National Guard also maintains an Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot (AVCRAD) at the airport. The mission of this unit is to perform high level maintenance and repair on Army aircraft. Its jurisdiction covers a 15-state region in the Western United States.
Both the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry operate an Air Attack Base at the airport for fighting forest fires with aerial tankers.
Ground transportation and access
Highways
The airport is located about a mile away from California State Route 180 (SR 180), with vehicles using Peach Avenue to connect between the airport and the highway. 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. 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.
Parking
The city of Fresno offers paid on-site parking in a large lot located just west of the airport. The lot is divided into a short term area with 283 stalls and a long term area with 1879 stalls. There is also a separate cell phone waiting lot located off the airport's main driveway with 47 stalls, designated for drivers waiting for arriving passengers.
Public transportation
Fresno Area Express (FAX) operates two public transit buses to the airport, each with half-hourly service. 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).
Rental car facility
The airport offers a consolidated rental car facility at the north 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 north of the terminal building. The 11-acre rental car facility opened in 2009 and was built at a cost of US $22 million which will be paid for by fees on car rentals.
Accidents and incidents
On September 13, 2015, an MD-87 of Aero Air LLC had an engine failure after taking off from Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Pieces of the engine struck a car, damaging it. The aircraft was able to return to the airport safely.
On December 14, 1994, a private jet on a military training mission, attempting to land at Fresno, crashed on a Fresno street and careened into a crowded apartment complex. The plane, piloted by two civilians and belonging to a Georgia-based company, Phoenix Air, had finished chasing an F-16 fighter during a war game shortly before noon. The plane was returning to the Fresno airport when the crew radioed the tower about engine trouble. The aircraft attempted to land on a city street, however struck several power poles and then crashed into an apartment complex on Olive Ave. Both crew members, and at least one person on the ground were killed; however, the exact number of ground fatalities is still currently unknown.
References
External links
Media related to Fresno Yosemite International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Fresno Yosemite International Airport, official web site
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective November 9, 2017
- FAA Terminal Procedures for FAT, effective November 9, 2017
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KFAT
- ASN accident history for FAT
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KFAT
- FAA current FAT delay information