The airfield provided contract
glider training to the
United States Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1943. Training was provided by William A. Ong under AAFTC 22d Glider Training Detachment. The airfield used primarily
C-47 Skytrains and
Waco CG-4 unpowered gliders. Training began on 8 June 1942. The mission was to train glider pilot students in proficiency in operation of gliders in various types of towed and soaring flight, both day and night, and in servicing of gliders in the field. During wartime the airport had four compacted soil runways: aligned N/S, NE/SW, E/W, and NW/SE, all about 2,800' long, with NE/SW 3,600' long. The former NW/SE runway is now paved and used as the main runway; the others are still visible in aerial photography. Training ended on 29 August 1943 due to shortage of equipment. The glider training mission was taken over by
I Troop Carrier Command, and the airport was used as an auxiliary airfield until the end of the war. It was returned to civil control in September 1945.
Historical airline service Goodland first received scheduled airline service in the early 1930s by United States Airways, which flew a
Metal Aircraft Flamingo on an airmail route between Denver and Kansas City, stopping at Goodland, Salina, and Topeka, Kansas. This route was discontinued about 1933, and airline service did not return to Goodland until 1961 when
Central Airlines began service to Denver, Kansas City, and Wichita on
Douglas DC-3s. The flights to Kansas City and Wichita made stops in other Kansas cities. In 1967 Central merged with the original
Frontier Airlines (1950–1986) which continued service to Goodland with
Convair 580s. Frontier ended service in 1976–77;
Air Midwest began flying
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners on the same routes. In early 1988 Air Midwest to Goodland began code-sharing with
Eastern Airlines, operating as
Eastern Express. By late 1988 the agreement with Eastern had ended and Air Midwest began a new code-share agreement with
Braniff (1983–1990) operating as Braniff Express. This agreement ended the following year when Braniff shut down. Air Midwest then reverted to operating under their own brand until early 1991 when another code-share agreement was set up with
US Airways to operate as
US Airways Express, with flights to Kansas City and Denver. Air Midwest ended service on April 15, 1992, and
Mesa Airlines began service operating as
United Express for
United Airlines. This service was to Denver on
Beechcraft 1900Ds. Mesa's service ended in mid-1996 and the United Express service to Denver was reinstated in mid-1997 by
Great Lakes Airlines, also with Beechcraft 1900Ds. Great Lakes flights ended in early 2000 and Goodland has not had airline service since. ==See also==