The Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport began as the
Youngstown Municipal Airport (MAP), and was one of the last
Works Progress Administration projects. A groundbreaking for the project was held on 29 May 1939. The airport and its and runways were dedicated on 1 July 1941. The airport is located north of Youngstown in
Vienna Center due to limited space available within the city for the planned size. The airport that had been serving the city,
Lansdowne Airport, lacked room to expand. Construction of
Youngstown Air Force Base began in June 1951, shortly before the
166th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron announced it would move from
Lockbourne Air Force Base to the airport. Following a year of work, which involved lengthening the northwest-southeast runway to , the facility was opened on 16 June 1952 and dedicated just under eight weeks later. The city authorized the purchase of additional land for a new terminal building, parking and taxiways in August 1970. By early March 1976, the passenger terminal was considered antiquated and undersized. However, due to limited funding, a replacement was not seen as forthcoming. At the same time, a previous project to rebuild the main runway had to be redone due to heaving caused by material used in its base. The airport expressed frustration that other cities in the area benefitted from it, but did not have to provide financial support. A expansion of the terminal, along with a fifth hangar, was due to be dedicated in late September 1978. An effort to combat unemployment from the closure of a local steel plant with federal loans in 1977, along with
airline deregulation two years later, enticed a group proposing construction of a new regional airliner to the airport. In 1981, a production facility for the Commuter Aircraft Corporation was built on the west side of the airport, but the company closed down before any aircraft were built. By late September 1993, the facility had been renamed
Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport. Plans in 1998 called for the construction of a cargo building and associated ramp on the west side of the airport, a industrial park west of Ridge Road and a extension to the main runway. By early November 2000, a cargo building and four new passenger gates had been built.
Northwest Airlines discontinued service to
Detroit via
Akron-Canton in September 2002, leaving the airport without scheduled airline service. In May 2006,
Allegiant Air launched a route to
Orlando/Sanford. It subsequently added flights to
St. Petersburg/Clearwater and
Myrtle Beach. The company ceased all of its Youngstown routes in January 2018, and the airport has lacked passenger air service. In July 2016,
Aerodynamics Inc. began service to
Chicago–O'Hare but that service only lasted until mid-August, less than two months after it started. In June 2023, local city leaders filed an application with the
Department of Transportation requesting a grant valued at $1.4 million (including existing aid from other sources), in order assist in returning commercial service to the airport within the next two years. Plans for a aviation education center were announced in February 2025. ==Youngstown Air Reserve Station==