Purdue University Airport

Purdue University Airport

Purdue University Airport sits at the south end of campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, and it holds a title no other airport in the country can claim — the first university-owned airport in the United States.

The First of Its Kind

Purdue established the airport in 1930, though it wasn’t until September 1934 that it fully opened for operations. That milestone made Purdue the first American university to offer college credit for flight training, running the operation through what was formally called the Purdue Aeronautics Corporation, a nonprofit airline service tied directly to the university.

The airport quickly became known as the “largest classroom on campus,” a title it still carries today through Purdue’s School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.

Amelia Earhart’s Flying Laboratory

The airport’s most famous chapter belongs to Amelia Earhart. She joined Purdue’s faculty in 1935 as a visiting counselor for women students, focusing on vocational goals and careers for women. While on staff, Earhart developed what she called her “flying laboratory” — a Lockheed Electra twin-engine airliner funded by the Purdue Research Foundation, with the seats stripped out and extra fuel tanks installed to extend its range to 4,500 miles.

It was in the hangars of Purdue Airport that Earhart prepared that very aircraft for her attempted flight around the world in 1937, the flight from which she never returned.

Training the Names Behind American Flight

Earhart wasn’t the only legend connected to this runway. Purdue Airport went on to train test pilots Jimmy Johnson and Ivan Kincheloe, balloonist Malcolm Ross, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. During World War II, hundreds of U.S. Army and Navy service members trained at the field as well, cementing its role in American aviation history well beyond the university’s own programs.

A New Terminal Honors Her Legacy

Purdue’s aviation history came full circle on August 8, 2025, with the opening of the new Amelia Earhart Terminal at the airport. The 10,000-square-foot facility was built to meet TSA and FAA requirements and support larger 50-passenger commercial flights, launching new United Express service operated by SkyWest between Purdue and Chicago O’Hare.

Today the airport still functions as Purdue’s largest classroom, supporting flight training for more than 1,000 students in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, nearly a century after it first opened its doors.

More information on Purdue University Airport; Click here https://www.purdue.edu/airport/

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