Business View Magazine | January 2020

149 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 Falls on their way to Europe and the Pacific during the war years. “It was just an immense number of airplanes that flew through here during that time,” shares Faulkner. “The four- runway configuration, back then, kind of came out of that. There were WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) who delivered planes to the Airport as well. In fact, the last WASP killed during the war was killed here in crash towards the end of the program. There’s rich history here.” At the opposite end of town, about 10 miles east of the Airport, is Malmstrom AFB, which closed its 12,000-foot runway to fixed-wing traffic in the 1990s. Since doing so, the Great Falls Airport has been supporting all fixed-wing military aircraft visiting Malmstrom AFB. “They’re a Minuteman base,” says Faulkner. “We have Russians that come to visit us routinely on START inspections and other military inspections of the missile field. There’s this constant involvement of the Russians around the history of this Airport, which is bizarre.” The Airport remained under government control GREAT FALLS INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT Airport Director, John Faulkner