When you want to skip the chaos of JFK or LaGuardia, Long Islanders know there’s a better option right in our backyard. Long Island MacArthur Airport may not send you everywhere on the planet, but it’s a favorite for easy Florida flights, quick security lines, and stress levels that don’t require a stiff drink before boarding. Recently named one of the top ten best small airports in the country by USA Today readers, MacArthur keeps quietly proving that smaller can be better.
But before it was your go-to airport for visiting family or heading to Disney, MacArthur had a very different mission. Think military runways, wartime urgency, and a name tied to one of the most famous generals in American history. If you think you know everything about Long Island’s hometown airport, these crazy facts might surprise you.
Postcard of MacArthur Airport. Photo: Long Island MacArthur Airport Facebook page.
Crazy Facts About MacArthur Airport
• MacArthur Airport was never meant to be a commercial airport when it opened in the 1940s
• In 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the airport was built on Town of Islip–owned land for military use during World War II
• The airport took just one year to build and cost $1.5 million
• Its original name was Islip Airport
• When it first opened, the airfield had three runways, each measuring 5,000 feet
• Islip Airport was later renamed MacArthur Airport after General Douglas MacArthur
• After World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps transferred ownership of the airport back to the Town of Islip
• Today, Long Island MacArthur Airport is still owned and operated by the Town of Islip
• Lockheed Aircraft Corporation built the airport’s very first hangar in 1944
• In 1955, a United Airlines test flight crashed at the airport, killing three crew members, marking the only fatal accident during a flight at MacArthur Airport
• Allegheny Airlines became the first airline to offer scheduled passenger service at the airport in 1960
• By 1986, MacArthur Airport handled one million passengers in a single year for the first time in its 36-year history of scheduled service
• That one-million-passenger milestone has since been equaled or exceeded
• A scene from the movie “The Out-of-Towners,” starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis, was filmed at the airport
• More than 2 million passengers now fly through MacArthur Airport every year
• The airport covers a total area of 1,311 acres
• MacArthur Airport has four runways and two helipads
• Its longest runway measures 7,006 feet
• In 2006, the 3rd Battalion (Assault), 142nd Aviation Regiment moved its headquarters to MacArthur Airport
• That move brought Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters to the airport
• In November 2009, MacArthur became the only airport in the Tri-State area to offer free wireless internet throughout the entire terminal and in the courtesy cell phone parking lot
• In 2011, the FAA officially designated MacArthur an Official Metro Airport
• That designation grouped MacArthur with LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark in travel and airport searches for New York
• About 6,000 people are directly and indirectly employed by the airport, according to a 2012 NYSDOT study
• The airport generates an estimated $600 million in economic impact each year, based on a 2012 NYSDOT study
From wartime runways to free Wi-Fi bragging rights, MacArthur Airport has always punched above its weight. For Long Islanders, it’s not just the easy airport choice. It’s a piece of local history that’s been quietly taking off for decades.
Cover photo: Long Island MacArthur Airport Facebook page.
