Chennault International Airport

Chennault is a fully operational airport and industrial center with a fixed-base operator. Chennault has 1.5 million square feet of building/hangar space is in use by business tenants. It also has 900-plus acres of land available for  development, including several state-certified development-ready sites, and 60 acres of useable concrete. Its newest element is a $4 million air cargo pass-through facility.

Chennault’s strategic location in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at the center of the U.S. Gulf Coast provides access to a wide swath of the southern United States. Chennault markets its infrastructure, incentives, lower costs and available land for expansion.

Chennault is the home base for companies in aircraft MRO, manufacturing, transportation and service industries. Nearly 1,000 people work at tenant businesses at Chennault. Tenant partners include Northrop Grumman, LandLocked Aviation Services, Citadel Completions, Louisiana Millwork (Masonite). Million Air is its fixed base operator.

Chennault in 2022 completed a $4 million air cargo facility.

The airport complex has an FAA-contract air traffic control tower, FBO terminal service and fuel (including government contract fuel), and 24-hour security and fire protection.

Chennault is also the host site of the Chennault International Airshow, which takes place in odd-numbered years and is independently governed.

Chennault’s origins date back to its use as a Cold War-era Air Force base.

The facility known today as Chennault International Airport was once a centerpiece of our nation’s defense. The U.S. federal government bought and leased Calcasieu Parish property for military use in 1941 for World War II. It became an Air Force base in 1947. It was home to the former 44th Bombardment Wing in the 1950s and 1960s. The U.S. Air Force initially operated B-29 Superfortress bombers as well as Boeing KC-97 air-to-air refueling tankers and later flew B-47E Stratojet bombers from the airfield.

During this time, Lake Charles Air Force Base was renamed Chennault Air Force Base in honor of famed Major General Claire Chennault, USAAF, the aviator famous for commanding the Flying Tigers fighter group during World War II.[3]

The base brought new people to Lake Charles, many of whom stayed after the facility closed in 1963.

In the early 1970s, Chennault was divided and parceled out. In 1973, several local governmental bodies were given restricted deeds to various parts of the site, creating multiple owners.

Chennault helped lead Lake Charles out of the 1980s oil bust when unemployment reached 16 percent.

By the mid-1980s, local leaders proposed to re-develop Chennault for economic purposes. The most marketable features were the unusually large runway and extensive property for potential tenants. At 10,700 feet long, 200 feet wide and 17 inches thick, the tarmac is equipped for the largest aircraft in the world.

The reconstituting of Chennault took place in 1986 and 1987. It was an economic partnership of unprecedented proportion as local governments agreed to pool their shares of the site for the sake of desperately needed jobs.

The effort extended beyond Calcasieu Parish as well. In Baton Rouge, Gov. Edwin Edwards secured more than $40 million from the state legislature for infrastructure work. In Washington, D.C., Lake Charles Mayor Ed Watson and Sen. John Breaux were among those who promoted lifted restrictions, which allowed for economic enterprise at the dormant Chennault site.

By the end of 1986, the facility had re-emerged as Chennault Industrial Airpark and featured a governing board, a schedule of site improvements, and job training programs at Sowela.

As the facility grew, it was renamed Chennault International Airport.

Chennault now boasts over 35 years of service to military, aircraft and non-aviation customers alike.

Chennault and its tenants employ nearly 1,000 people, with annual payroll of $80 million. It contributes nearly $300 million to the local community every year.

Chennault’s skies see more than 3,000 operations each month, including takeoffs, landings and “touch-and-go” operations.

Chennault has invested over $32 million in capital improvement projects over the last five years, including a complete rehabilitation of its main runway and taxiway.

It most recently was named 2021 Airport of the Year by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

Sowela Technical Community College, located on the former air base, offers a variety of academic and technical programs with terminating certificates, diplomas, and/or associate degrees. The college's Workforce Development unit tailors training programs to meet local business, industry and community training needs.

NASA continues to use the airfield for cross country training missions conducted with T-38 Talon supersonic trainers with these jet aircraft being based at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in the Houston area. Five of the six (no Space Force) U.S. armed forces use this as a rest stop on cross-country flights as well as other federal and state agencies.

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury's Mosquito Control Department operates from a facility adjacent to the airport. A connecting taxiway allows access for aerial pesticiding operations conducted with a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander and a Beechcraft BE-90A King Air.

The Chennault International Airport Authority (CIAA) maintains and markets the Chennault facility. The Board of Commissioners governs the functions of the CIAA. Members of the board are appointed by various local bodies and serve four-year terms. Board officers are Bill Hankins, president; Charles Dalgleish, vice president; and Tuwanna Guillory-August; secretary/treasurer. Commissioners are Denise Rau (immediate past president), Nora Popillion, Andy Hankins, and Tad Martin.

Col. W. Kevin Melton (Ret.) is the executive director of Chennault. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.

Chennault International Airport covers an area of 1,310 acres (530 ha) at an elevation of 17 feet (5 m) above mean sea level.

It has one concrete paved runway designated 15/33 which measures 10,702 by 200 feet (3,262 by 61 m).^[1]

• Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1961 (republished 1983, Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-02-1).
• Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.

• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective January 26, 2023
• FAA Terminal Procedures for CWF, effective January 26, 2023