Great Falls International Airport was initiated in November 1928. The airport was leased by the U.S. War Department during World War II and became a home for the 7th Ferrying Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war. During the war years, more than 7,500 bombers and fighter aircraft passed through Great Falls on their way to Europe and the Pacific. The U.S. Army acquired an additional and built many buildings and other facilities. The airport was under government control until June 1948 when the Department of Defense deeded it back to the City of Great Falls with the stipulation that the facility could revert to military control in a national emergency. The airport was released from this clause in 1961. In 1975 the terminal was replaced and all runways, aprons, and taxiways updated. With Federal Aviation Administration matching funds, the Great Falls International Airport Authority performs annual operations, maintenance, and capital improvements. The award-winning terminal was designed by Davidson-Kuhr Architects of Great Falls, Montana, with the lead architect being David S. Davidson. Great Falls has had airline flights since the 1930s. For at least part of each year 1977–1981 it saw scheduled Northwest DC-10s EWR-DTW-ORD-BIL-GTF-GEG-SEA and back. In 2011 the airport recorded the most boardings in its history. GTF was the fifth-busiest of the state's 15 major airports in 2011, behind Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, and Kalispell. In early 2012 Frontier Airlines announced new flights to Great Falls from the Denver hub. The Airport Authority hoped to address rising ticket prices and a seasonal shortage of seats with low-cost Frontier flights, however Frontier announced it was pulling out of Great Falls during its Denver hub restructuring in December 2014. AvMax, a Calgary-based large jet maintenance and repair business, opened a large operation at GTF in 2006; they employ 150.
The terminal contains what is believed to be the world's largest collection of model airplanes. 883 such airplanes are on display, about 2/3 of the entire collection. The models were built and painted by local Great Falls resident Bary Poletto from 1977 through 2003. Mr. Poletto died in January 2013.
Facilities
The airport covers 2,113 acres at an elevation of 3,680 feet. It has three asphalt runways: 3/21 is 10,502 by 150 feet ; 16/34 is 5,722 by 150 feet ; 7/25 is 4,294 by 75 feet. In the year ending March 31, 2011 the airport had 41,591 aircraft operations, average 113 per day: 52% general aviation, 25% air taxi, 12% airline, and 11% military. 108 aircraft were then based at this airport: 61% single-engine, 17% military, 11.1% multi-engine, 8% helicopter, and 3% jet.
