Business View Magazine | August 2019

135 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 they trained over 11,000 pilots for the U.S., as well as our allies. In July 1941, it was named after Bruce Craig, a Selma native who died in a crash of a B24 Liberator heavy bomber. He was flying B24s out of Oakland and crashed in San Diego. Then, during the Korean War, over 4,000 instructors and 700 pilots were trained.” “In 1972, it was named the 29th Flying Training Wing, which trained pilots until it was closed down in 1977, and the Airport was converted to a maintenance depot,” Corrigan continues. “That is when they created the Craig Field Airport & Industrial Authority, and over the next 30 years, there have been a lot of businesses in and out.” In fact, at one point, Craig Field was the busiest airport in the world. At its height, it had over 95,500 flight hours per year and over 455,000 aircraft movements. Today, most of the infrastructure from that time still exists, but the Airport, itself, is severely underutilized. Corrigan, though, still sees the possibilities. “Right now we have an 8,000-foot runway, with 1,000-ft. overruns on each end,” he explains, “and we are blessed with 70 acres of concrete out here. We have fire equipment and the latest instrument approaches. You can land the largest airplanes here, and our three hangars, combined, are well over 100,000 square feet. Not only that, but since we are an old Air Force base, we have 300 homes on the property. There is a 720-acre business park served by rail. Everything you could possibly need is here, and on top of that, we have uncongested air space. But, there are only 10 general aviation aircraft home-based here, and we also have a military fuel contract and some military traffic. So, there is the possibility of so much more.” Operated by the Craig Field Airport & Industrial Authority, the business park is complete with paved roads, utilities, fire protection, perimeter fencing, and rail access. Central to the complex is the airfield with a lighted runway, capable of handling C-130 and 747/777 sized aircraft, new hangars, and 70 acres of tie-downs. “As far as the industrial side, we pretty much have what we need,” Vardaman notes. “We have a lot of land, we have rail that runs right through the park, and CRA IG F I ELD A I RPORT & INDUSTR I AL COMPLEX