DuPage Airport is a general aviation airport located 29 mi west of downtown Chicago in West Chicago, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the DuPage Airport Authority, which is an independent government body established by law by the state of Illinois. It also serves as a relief airport for O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport, both in nearby Chicago.

History

DuPage Airport is located on what used to be sheep-grazing land. In 1927, two Chicago entrepreneurs purchased the land and began barnstorming, using the field as a grass strip. In 1941, the U.S. Navy requisitioned DuPage Airport, built brick hangars, paved two runways in an “X” pattern and began training pilots for the war effort. The airport was officially activated in March 1943. Both the hangars and the original runway configuration still exist, though one runway is closed and is now taxiway C. A year after the Navy began operations, Howard Aircraft Corporation opened a factory east of the airport across the road. The company built more than 500 trainer, transport and air ambulance aircraft for the military, and Howard employees were regularly seen pushing aircraft across the road to the little airport to test fly them. In 1946, with the war over, the Navy sold the airport to DuPage County for $1. The post-war boom saw a lot of regional growth and the airport reflected it by adding an east-west runway and a five-story control tower and making plans for further expansion. In the late 1970s, DuPage Airport was designated a reliever airport for general aviation aircraft, and in the early 1980s, the airport authority began an expansion project to accommodate the increased traffic. However, planners learned a lesson from the plight of the beleaguered, land-locked Midway Airport. Surrounded by houses, restaurants and other small businesses, Midway found itself unable to expand and neighbors filed an endless succession of noise complaints. DuPage County would not make the same mistake. The airport grew from 900 acres in 1985 to 2800 acres by 1992, with the goal of maintaining control of all the property surrounding the runway complex. Much of the land was acquired to provide a large buffer zone around the airport.

Facilities and aircraft

DuPage Airport has four runways. The longest, and the reason for its status as a reliever airport, is runway 2L/20R, which is a Group IV-compliant concrete runway at 7571 x. Its slightly smaller partner, 2R/20L, is another concrete runway with dimensions of 6451 x. Two asphalt general aviation runways complete the arrangement: runway 10/28 at 4750 x and 15/33 at 3399 x. The DuPage Airport Authority owns 2800 acres and operates four separate business units. This multifaceted business portfolio includes the DuPage Airport, one of the busiest airports in Illinois, its associated fixed-base operator (FBO), a Robert Trent Jones, Jr., designed golf course, and the largest corporate research and development park in DuPage County. The airport has a Fixed-Base Operator offering fuel and aircraft parking, de-icing, catering, and lavatory services. Courtesy cars, a passenger terminal, lounges, snooze rooms, showers, and an exercise room are available for transient crews and passengers. There is also a flight school offering flight training, aircraft rental, aerial tours, pilot supplies, and aircraft maintenance and management. A cafe named for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the location of the Wright brothers' first flight, is also located at the airport. DuPage Airport sits on 1200 acres, and is the only general aviation airport in Illinois with four active runways, two ILS approaches, a 24-hour FAA air traffic control tower, and over 40 aviation and non-aviation support businesses. DPA also has an on-site U.S. Customs Office. A total of 110 employees are associated with the airport. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2019, the airport had roughly 133,000 aircraft operations, an average of 364 per day: 95% general aviation, 4% air taxi, and <1% military. For the same time period, there were 255 aircraft based at this airport: 160 single-engine and 31 multi-engine airplanes, 60 jets, and 4 helicopters. In September 2022, DuPage Airport opened a $1.3 million U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility. The 2,200-sq-ft, user-fee CBP facility is conveniently located on the first floor of the DuPage Flight Center FBO. DuPage Airport also serves as the headquarters for the Illinois Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

Reception

The airport faced severe political criticism in the 1980s and 1990s. A 1995 Chicago magazine exposé called it "A Monument to Lavish Spending of Taxpayers' Money, a Haven of GOP Patronage, and the Target of a Federal Probe." According to an article by John K. Wilson: According to a May 2006 article in Aviation International News: In the late 1990s, 800 acre of land were set aside for a nonprofit technology park that had secured a $34 million grant from the state. After the DuPage National Technology Park's failure to attract significant business and a media investigation into its highly paid administrator, the board of the park voted for its dissolution in June 2010. The park's management was transferred to the DuPage Airport Authority Board, whose chairman criticized the political decision-making that had led to its failure. The park was then reorganized as the DuPage Business Center.

Accidents and incidents