Fort Wayne International Airport

Fort Wayne International Airport

Fort Wayne International Airport traces its roots to a World War II military base named for a local hero, and its history is tangled up with two of Fort Wayne’s own aviation pioneers.

Named for Fort Wayne’s First American Ace

This airport is the hometown of Lt. Paul Baer, who flew with French forces during World War I and became the first American pilot to achieve ace status. The city is also home to Art “Arthur” Smith, one of the earliest acrobatic fliers of the pre-WWI era, whose trips to Japan are credited with helping inspire that nation’s own early aircraft development.

This original municipal airport, established June 25, 1925, was named Baer Municipal Airport in Paul Baer’s honor. That field grew through the late 1920s and 1930s, becoming one of the first airports in the country with a nighttime lighting system, complete with an 82-foot beacon tower.

Two Airports, One Name Swap

Just before World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps purchased over 600 acres southwest of Fort Wayne to build a new military airfield. In a compromise between the city and the military, that new base adopted the Baer Field name, while the original municipal airport was renamed Smith Field, in honor of Art Smith instead.

Baer Field cost $10 million to build in 1941 and became a major World War II training and processing base for C-47 Skytrain and C-46 Commando transport aircraft, equipping entire Troop Carrier squadrons. At its peak, the base processed more than 100,000 military personnel and grew to include over 100 buildings.

From Military Base to Civilian Airport

After the war, the federal government sold Baer Field to the city of Fort Wayne for a single dollar. The city renamed it Fort Wayne Municipal Airport in 1946, and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, established in 1985, later renamed it again in 1991 to its current identity, Fort Wayne International Airport.

The Air Force never fully left the property. Since 1952, it has remained home to the Indiana Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing, keeping a military presence on the same ground where Baer Field trained its wartime crews.

A Growing Regional Hub

Today the airport spans roughly 3,500 acres and features Indiana’s second-longest runway, at nearly 12,000 feet. In 2024, This Airport set a record with 856,803 passengers, a 7.6% increase over the previous year, continuing to grow as the primary commercial airport for northeastern Indiana.

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