Midland International Air and Space Port

Midland International Air and Space Port
2006 USGS airphoto
IATA: MAF ICAO: KMAF FAA LID: MAF
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	City of Midland
Serves	Midland and Odessa, Texas
Location	Midland County, between Midland and Odessa, Texas, USA
Elevation AMSL	2,871 ft / 875 m
Coordinates	31°56′33″N 102°12′07″W / 31.94250°N 102.20194°W / 31.94250; -102.20194Coordinates: 31°56′33″N 102°12′07″W / 31.94250°N 102.20194°W / 31.94250; -102.20194
Website	www.FlyMAF.com
Map
KMAF Location
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 4,605 1,404 Asphalt 10/28 8,302 2,530 Asphalt 16L/34R 4,339 1,323 Asphalt 16R/34L 9,501 2,896 Asphalt
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft operations 86,384 Based aircraft 78
Sources: airport website and FAA

Midland International Air and Space Port (IATA: MAF, ICAO: KMAF, FAA LID: MAF) (formerly Midland International Airport) is a city-owned airport about midway between Midland and Odessa, in the US state of Texas. It is operated by the City of Midland. In September 2014 it became the first US facility licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to serve both scheduled airline flights and commercial human spaceflight.

The airport has three airlines, two serving hubs with regional jets and one flying mainline jets. Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier at the airport. In 2012, 497,193 passengers were enplaned.

Midland International Air and Space Port started as Sloan Field, a small airport started in 1927 by Samuel Addison Sloan. Sloan leased 220 acres of flat grassland from Clarence Scharbauer, a rancher. Sam Sloan was killed in 1929 and his brother, William Harvey Sloan continued the operation. In 1939, Harvey Sloan sold the Field to the City of Midland for $14,500.

As war clouds gathered over Europe in the late 1930s, Midland businessmen could foresee the possibility of a military base in West Texas and in 1940 they started promoting the airport for use as a training base to the military establishment in Washington. Work was done by the Works Progress Administration with runway and taxiway improvements and lighting. Brigadier General G.C. Brant, Commander of the Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center at Randolph Field visited and reported that the situation at Midland was favorable. On June 13, 1941 it was announced that Midland would become a training base, Midland Army Air Field

Midland Army Air Field was home to the Army Air Forces Bombardier School, one of a dozen bombardier-training schools. It was one of the "West Texas Bombardier Quadrangle" schools of the Army Air Forces Training Command. The other bases in the quad were Childress Army Airfield, San Angelo Army Airfield and Big Spring Army Airfield. The sole purpose of the Bombardier College was to train young men to use the bombsight invented by Carl Norden.