Meadows Field Airport
Meadows Field is a public airport in Kern County, California, United States, three miles northwest of downtown Bakersfield. It is the main airport for the Bakersfield area, and one of two international airports in the San Joaquin Valley, the other Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Also known as Kern County Airport #1, it is located in an area of unincorporated Kern County adjacent to Oildale, California. Federal Aviation Administration records show 141,847 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 103,067 in 2009 and 111,699 in 2010. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. History Aviation has been linked to Kern County for almost as long as the existence of the industry. In 1891, Charles Howard ascended in a hot air balloon to . He jumped and landed safely with a parachute he designed and constructed. By 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brothers' first airplane flight, aircraft began arriving in the county. They were brought in by Glenn Curtiss (in conjunction with the Kern County Board of Trade). The first flight in the area was flown by Charles