Federal Aviation Administration records show , passenger boardings enplanements in calendar year , [ 4 ] , in , and , in The airport opened in as Grand Junction Municipal Airport. In it was renamed Walker Field for Walter Walker , a former publisher of The Daily Sentinel newspaper who helped obtain funds and business support for the airport.
The airport and the airport authority were renamed on May 15, Tailwind Concessions provides food and beverages inside the terminal. A new runway will be built north of the existing one, with a target completion year of The present 10,foot 3, m runway will become a taxiway.
Inside the terminal, the passenger waiting area has a gift shop and TV monitors. The terminal has three gates with jet bridges for regional jets; one other gate uses outdoor airstairs. Allegiant and American Eagle flights use gate 3 while United uses gate 6. The airport covers 2, acres ha at an elevation of 4, feet 1, m. On December 29, , aircraft were based at this airport: single-engine, 35 multi-engine, 4 jet, and 2 helicopter.
Western soon sold this route to United Airlines in which continued the service using DC-4s but soon upgraded with Douglas DC-6s and, by the late s, to Boeing jets. GJT's runway was extended from ft to ft around and the airport then became the primary jet airport to serve the Aspen ski area. United started Saturday-only nonstops in the winter ski season to Los Angeles in the winter of and to Chicago and San Francisco in the ski season. GJT was the only airport in Colorado west of Denver that saw major airline jet service until Durango upgraded their runway in Boeing and Douglas DC-8 jet aircraft were used with some flights operating with the stretch version of the DC-8 called the DC In mid United began a daily, year-round, nonstop flight to Los Angeles using Boeing s but dropped the flights to Denver and Las Vegas.
Service ended once again in A new service to Denver entitled United Express began in and is noted below. Monarch Airlines began flights in by serving Grand Junction as one of many stops on a route between Salt Lake City and Albuquerque.
