Mammoth Yosemite Airport is a town-owned public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

seven miles east of

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191 ...

, in Mono County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, United States. Also known as Mammoth Lakes Airport or Mammoth–June Lake Airport, it is mainly used 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 service ...

, but has scheduled passenger flights operated by one airline which primarily serves the airport on a seasonal basis during the winter ski season. Additional scheduled passenger service for the Mammoth area is seasonally available at the nearby Eastern Sierra Regional Airport located in

Bishop, CA Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was na ...

. The airport had 665 passenger boardings (enplanements) in

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any ...

2008, 6,157 enplanements in 2009, and 19,814 in 2010. 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 Categorization is the ability and activity of recognizing shared features or similarities between the elements of the experience of the world (such as objects, events, or ideas), organizing and classifying experience by associating them to a ...

it as a ''

'' airport. However, the report for 2015-2019 upgraded this status to that of a primary/non-hub commercial airport.

Facilities

The airport covers 230

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 (93 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 7,135 feet (2,175 m). Its one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

, 9/27, is 7,000 by 100 feet (2,134 x 30 m) asphalt. In 2010 the airport had 8,285 aircraft operations, average 22 per day: 68%

, 20%

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) ...

, 12% airline, and <1% military. Three aircraft were then based at this airport, all single-engine. Mammoth Yosemite Airport has a terminal development master plan that will expand operations, and will be able to accommodate bigger aircraft. The new terminal facilities will include a new terminal building itself, airline parking apron, a deicing apron, access roads, automobile parking facilities, maintenance facilities, and airport offices.

Historical airline service

Trans Sierra Airlines, a commuter air carrier, was serving the airport in 1971 with four daily flights to Los Angeles ( LAX) and two daily flights to San Jose (SJC) operated 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 ...

twin prop aircraft. Trans Sierra then changed its name to Sierra Pacific Airlines which in 1972 was operating 44-passenger seat

Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...

propliner service to Los Angeles (LAX) and Burbank (BUR). By the mid-1970s, Sierra Pacific Airlines was operating nonstop flights to Los Angeles (LAX), Las Vegas (LAS), Reno (RNO) and Fresno (FAT) as well as one stop direct service to Burbank (BUR) with Convair 580 turboprops and Handley Page Jetstream commuter propjets. Some Sierra Pacific flights made an intermediate stop at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport located in nearby

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

while en route to other destinations. Sierra Pacific had ceased all service into the airport by the end of 1979. In 1980 and 1981, Air Sierra was flying nonstop to Fresno (FAT) with continuing direct service to Lake Tahoe (TVL) with Piper Navajo twin prop aircraft. Also in 1981, Wings West Airlines operating as an independent commuter air carrier was operating nonstop flights to Santa Monica (SMO), Oakland (OAK) and Sacramento (SMF) with

twin prop aircraft. Wings West then ceased serving Mammoth Lakes and subsequently became an American Eagle Airlines affiliate in California. By 1983, Mojave Airlines was operating flights to Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), Ontario (ONT), Inyokern (IYK) and Fox Field (WJF) in Lancaster with Beechcraft C99 turboprops. In 1985, Alpha Air flying as an independent commuter airline was operating nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX) with

twin prop aircraft. By the late 1980s, Alpha Air had introduced

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

turboprops and was flying nonstop service to Los Angeles (LAX), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC). In 1993, Alpha Air added direct service to Orange County Airport (SNA, now

John Wayne Airport John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area. The airport is located in an unincorporated area of Orange County, and it is owned and operated by the cou ...

) as well. Alpha Air then became a Trans World Express air carrier via a code sharing agreement with

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

( TWA) and was operating

turboprop service on behalf of TWA nonstop to Los Angeles (LAX) and Burbank (BUR) during the early and mid-1990s. Another commuter airline, Sierra Mountain Airways, was operating flights from the airport in the late 1980s with service to Burbank (BUR), Fresno (FAT), Long Beach (LGB), Oakland (OAK), Ontario (ONT) and Reno (RNO) flown with small

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general avi ...

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturi ...

and Rockwell Aero Commander prop aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Advanced Air operates Dornier 328JET regional jet aircraft provided by Taos Air on its new seasonal service. Previous passenger flights operated by

Horizon Air Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is an American regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon-ope ...

on behalf of its corporate parent

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 nu ...

as well as seasonal

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 ...

service operated 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 ...

on behalf of

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

in addition to service operated by JSX have all been either discontinued or realigned to the new air carrier. In December 2021, all of the United Express service moved to nearby Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was ...

, as the airline made a decision that MMH could no longer support scheduled commercial flights because of poor operational reliability primarily due to weather issues.

Statistics

Airline market share

References

External links

Aerial image as of August 1999
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

'' * {{US-airport-ga, MMH Airports in Mono County, California Sierra Nevada (United States)