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The History of Contra Costa County Airports
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| 1942 |
| Contra Costa County purchases over 400 acres of land to build an airport in Central County for $88,000. |
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| 1943 |
| An airport is being developed by the County when World War II necessitates that the United States Army expropriates the site. The Army adds an additional 100+ acres of land and spends $2 million on the construction of airport facilities. They build a training base where they train pilots to fly the P-39 Airacobra. The airport is named The Concord Army Air Base. |
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| 1946 |
| After World War II was over, the War Assets Administration (WAA) returns the airport to the County for public use. |
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| 1947 |
| The reversion of the airport was formalized on October 9th when an Instrument of Transfer between the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and the WAA was executed. The airport was renamed after County Supervisor William J. Buchanan, who served 40+ years as a board member. |
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| 1949 |
| Lights are installed on the north-south facing runway (1L/19R). |
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| 1951-1953 |
| U.S. Army uses Buchanan Field Airport to transport troops to and from Stoneman Base during the Korean War. |
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| 1961 |
| A five-story Air Traffic Control tower was built. |
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| 1968 |
| SFO Helicopter Airlines begins service. |
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| 1970 |
| Golden Pacific Airlines is the first airline to fly fixed-wing aircraft (Beech 99) at Buchanan Field. |
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| 1977 |
| Buchanan Field Airport reaches its peak level of activity with 357,000 operations. Buchanan Field is ranked the 16th busiest airport in the nation, ahead of San Francisco, JFK, LaGuardia, and Washington Airports. |
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| 1986 |
| Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) begins commercial jet service to Buchanan Field. The airline was later purchased by US Air, and subsequently replaced by US Air Express. American Eagle begins service during the same period (until 1992). |
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| 1988 |
| The Board of Supervisors institutes a County Noise Ordinance restricting certain aircraft from operating at Buchanan Field. |
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| 1989 |
| Over 100 general aviation pilots flew over 50,000 lbs. of emergency supplies from Buchanan Field as part of an emergency airlift of food and supplies to earthquake stricken residents of Santa Cruz County. |
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| 1990 |
| The Board of Supervisors adopts the update to the Buchanan Field Airport Master Plan. |
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| 1992 |
| The Airport allows development of the 13 acre property where Sam’s Club, Taco Bell, Sports Authority and Jiffy Lube sit by Reynolds & Brown. |
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| 1993 |
| The County breaks ground on its second airport in Byron. |
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| 1994 |
| On October 8th Byron Airport is officially dedicated. The new airport has 1307 acres of land. 814 acres are reserved for Habitat Management Land for the San Joaquin Kit Fox, a federally listed endangered species, as well as many other endangered and special status species. |
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| 2003 |
| Completion of the Byron Airport Habitat Management Land Operating Manuel. This document prescribes the steps necessary to ensure the endangered and special status species that live at the airport survive and prosper. |
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| 2005 |
| The Board of Supervisors adopts the update to the Byron Airport Master Plan. |
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