From Sea to Land: Phoenix Goodyear Airport Thrives at 83

Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR) is turning 83 this month and GYR is getting better with age.

GYR has its origin as a U.S. Navy facility—the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Litchfield Park, to be specific, was the airports name when it opened in 1940. This desert airfield bloomed out of the need to support American war efforts in 1941 when the U.S. Navy required further construction of a landing field, hangar and runway to test fly and deliver aircraft.

With the end of World War II in 1945, the U.S. Naval Air Facility at Litchfield Park transitioned from being a testing spot for functional aircraft to preserving and storing them while still servicing naval planes traveling across the country. By 1947, a thousand aircraft were stored on the 800-acre site.

The dry Arizona desert is proven to be the ideal climate for “pickling” airplanes that are washed, weatherized with a spray-on protective coating, and preserved. Metal parts fared well in the dry climate.

When the Korean War began in 1950, approximately 2,500 planes were in storage at the air facility. “Uncorking” the planes was a relatively quick and easy task, and in 10 months, about 1,400 planes were put back into service.

By the end of the decade, U.S. Naval Air Facility at Litchfield Park was decommissioned, but a revival was not far away: the City of Phoenix was searching for a satellite airport site to serve as a reliever for small aircraft using Sky Harbor Airport, and it bought the airfield in 1968 for $550,000.

Today, Phoenix Goodyear Airport is a general aviation (GA) airport supporting significant maintenance, repair, large aircraft overhaul, airline flight training, corporate aircraft, and general aviation flying. With a main 5,500-square-foot terminal constructed in 2000, GYR handles tens of thousands of aircraft operations each year—164,484 in 2022—and is expected to top more than 200,000 this year.

With a history as rich as Phoenix Goodyear Airport, the future looks bright for another 83 years. Learn more about GYR at goodyearairport.com.