Boise is a landing rights airfield requiring international general aviation flights to receive permission from a Customs and Border Protection officer before landing.
Boise Airport currently has one terminal with two concourses and servicing ten airlines. The terminal is a three-story building containing four baggage carousels, rental car counters on the ground floor, all of the ticketing counters, a consolidated security checkpoint including TSA PreCheck and CLEAR Security, offices and fast food outlets.
The two concourses have a combined 24 gates with 13 total jet bridges. Concourse B has 13 gates and 11 jet bridges (with one jet bridge serving each of B21 a/b and B22 a/b). Airline gate assignments are broken down as follows: B10, B11, B21 a/b (United), B15, B17 (Southwest), B14, B16, B19 (Common Use), B18 (American), B20, B22 a/b (Delta). The Common use gates are used as follows: B14 (Delta), B16 (Allegiant, Frontier, Southwest), B19 (American, Spirit, Sun Country).<ref name="MasterPlan">Template:Cite web</ref> Concourse C serves Alaska Airlines and has 11 gates; however, only gates C8a and C12 are equipped with jet bridges, with the rest having covered walkways.
In 2016, Boise Airport released a new master plan outlining their short, medium, and long-term plans. Each of these terms would mark different stages of the airport's growth and renewal, with the largest projects being three new parking garages, upgrades to Concourse B, and a new Concourse A.<ref name="IBR-2019">Template:Cite web</ref>
Concourse A
The new Concourse A would sit on the other side of the main terminal from concourses B and C in an existing rental car parking lot. It would have ten new gates, all equipped with jet bridges and able to handle narrow-body aircraft.<ref name="DJC">Template:Cite news</ref> Long-term plans call for one of the new gates would be equipped to handle wide bodied aircraft, five equipped for narrowbody aircraft, and four equipped for regional jets up to an A220. Phase 1 of the new concourse is scheduled to begin construction in the start of the second quarter of 2026 and will include six gates, three for mainline aircraft and three for regional aircraft.<ref name="MasterPlan" /> The makeup of Phases 2 and 3 would depend on the needs of the airport and have not been determined yet.
Parking garages
Increasing passenger traffic at BOI requires the addition of parking. To this end, the airport is building three new parking garages.<ref name="IBR-2019" /> One will be a public garage for passengers with 940 spaces. This will be built on an existing surface lot. The other two garages, an employee garage and a rental car center garage, are being relocated to make room for Concourse A. The new employee garage will have 680 spaces and the rental car garage will have 880 spaces.<ref name="MasterPlan" />
The airport has begun construction on its first two of the three parking garages. In late January 2022, it broke ground on the construction for the new employee parking garage after several delays, and its new public parking garage expansion. Both these projects plan to be finished by the end of 2023. The airport also plans to break ground on a new 2 part rental car garage in 2024, this will make room for the new Concourse A.
The current airport has its origins in 1936 when Boise began buying and leasing land for the airport. By 1938, Boise had the longest runway in the United States at Template:Convert, built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project under sponsorship of the city.<ref name=naffar>Template:Cite news</ref> The steel hangar for Varney Airlines was moved to the present field in 1939. As aircraft grew the hangar was no longer big enough and was converted into a passenger terminal. It was part of the modern terminal facility until the completion of a new terminal in 2004.
The field was named Gowen Field in 1941 on July 23, after 1st Lt Paul R. Gowen.<ref name=imhspirprgn>Template:Cite web</ref> Born and raised in Caldwell, he attended the University of Idaho for two years, then obtained an appointment to West Point in 1929, and graduated ninth in his class in 1933.<ref name=imhspirprgn/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While piloting a twin-engine B-10 bomber in the Army Air Corps, Gowen was killed instantly in a crash in Panama in July 1938.<ref name=imhspirprgn/> The right engine failed shortly after take-off from Albrook Field, near Panama City. The other two crew members, navigator and radio operator, survived and crawled from the wreckage with burns.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=rootobitgwn>Template:Cite web</ref>
After the war the part of the field used by the Army Air Forces was returned to the city.<ref name=admin/> The Idaho Air National Guard began leasing the airfield after the war and continues to do so.<ref name=admin/>
Jet service
The jet age arrived in Boise during the mid-1960s. In 1966, United Airlines was operating Boeing 727-100 jetliners into the airport with round trip routings of Boise (BOI)-Salt Lake City (SLC)-Chicago (O'Hare, ORD)-Boston (BOS) and Seattle (SEA)-Portland (PDX)-Boise (BOI)-Salt Lake City (SLC)-Denver (Stapleton, DEN)-Chicago (ORD)-New York (Newark, EWR).<ref>http://www.timetableimages.comTemplate:Webarchive, April 24, 1966, United Airlines system timetable</ref> United was also serving the airport with Douglas DC-6 and DC-6B propliners at this time. West Coast Airlines introduced Douglas DC-9-10 jet service during the late 1960s and in 1968 was operating round trip routings of Seattle (Boeing Field, BFI)-Portland (PDX)-Boise (BOI)-Salt Lake City (SLC) and Portland (PDX)-Seattle (BFI)-Boise (BOI)-Salt Lake City (SLC) Template:Nowrap West Coast was also serving Boise with Fairchild F-27 turboprops and Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft in 1968. The same year West Coast merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West which was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest which, in turn, continued to serve Boise with Douglas DC-9 (-10, -30) jets. In 1972, Hughes Airwest was operating non-stop DC-9 service from Boise to Portland and Salt Lake City and was also flying direct DC-9 service to Los Angeles (LAX), Las Vegas (LAS), Phoenix (PHX), San Diego (SAN), Burbank (BUR), Santa Ana (SNA), Spokane (GEG) and other regional destinations.<ref>http://www.departedflights.comTemplate:Webarchive, July 1, 1972, Hughes Airwest system timetable</ref>
By 1976, Hughes Airwest and United were still the only two airlines operating jet service into Boise according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG). United had also expanded its Boise service by this time and was operating nonstop flights with Boeing 727 (-100, -200) and larger Douglas DC-8 jetliners to Chicago (O'Hare), Denver (Stapleton), Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Reno, and Spokane as well as direct, no change of plane jet service to New York (LaGuardia), Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C. (National), San Diego, and Hartford, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG).<ref>February 1, 1976, North American Edition Official Airline Guide, Boise flight schedules</ref> United and Hughes Airwest were operating all of their flights into Boise with jet aircraft at this time in 1976. Also according to the OAG, in early 1985 Cascade Airways was operating international service of a sorts into Boise with a direct flight once a week from Calgary via intermediate stops in Spokane and Lewiston, ID.<ref>Feb 15 Official Airline Guide (OAG), North American edition, Boise flight schedules & OAG Flight Itineraries section, Cascade Airways flight 693 routing</ref>
Following the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, a number of air carriers operated jet service into the airport at different times over the years from the late 1970s through the 1990s. The following list of airlines is taken from OAG editions from 1979 to 1999:<ref>http://www.departedflights.comTemplate:Webarchive, Official Airline Guide (OAG) editions, November 15, 1979, through June 1, 1999, Boise flight schedules</ref>
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Between 2001 and 2005, Boise Airport was remodeled with a new terminal and an elevated roadway for departures, constructed in two phases. Phase 1 considered amenities such as baggage claim, lobby, and food and beverage concession, which were completed in 2003. Phase 2 dealt with security checkpoints and a new concourse (Concourse C) and the remodeling of Concourse B, which were completed in 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Boise Airport Passenger Terminal designed by CSHQA is a three-story, steel-framed Template:Convert state-of-the-art aviation facility. Curvilinear, steel trusses create the undulating ceiling plane of the ticket lobby and define the signature profile of the building. The terminal has garnered national attention for the beauty of its design and is considered a prototypical post-9/11 facility.<ref>CSHQA Architecture, Engineering, Planning, Boise IdahoTemplate:Webarchive. Cshqa.com.</ref>
The Boise Airport was fourth in passenger satisfaction in the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Global Airport Satisfaction Index Study.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Power no longer publishes a global listing, and the airport was not listed in the 2017 North American ranking.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the year ending May 31, 2023, the airport had 139,983 aircraft operations, average 383 per day: 46% general aviation, 39% airline, 9% air taxi, and 5% military. 273 aircraft were then based at this airport: 147 single-engine, 22 multi-engine, 37 jet, 17 helicopter and 50 military.<ref name=FAA /> Of the top 100 United States airports, BOI is among four airports that does not charge a PFC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The airport can handle minor maintenance and repairs through fixed-base operators Jackson Jet Center, Turbo Air and Western Aircraft.
Law enforcement is handled by the Boise Police Department (BPD). In 2006, the Airport Division had an authorized strength of 1 lieutenant, 2 sergeants, and 28 officers, and there were five TSA certified K-9 units trained in explosive detection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The original layout was the primary runway (10R/28L) with two others at Template:Convert,<ref name=naffar/> both are retired but still visible as taxiways. The north–south runway (offset slightly northeast) was aligned with present-day S. Zeppelin Street (approximately with Owyhee Street to the north), and the east–west runway was offset slightly southwest. The intersection point of the two former runways was on today's main taxiway, near the terminal. The second parallel runway (10L/28R) was extended Template:Convert to the east in 1998.<ref name=aceusdot95>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2008, city officials broke ground for Boise Air Terminal's new airport traffic control tower, the latest facilities improvement. The tower's height at Template:Convert made it the tallest building in the state of Idaho until it was surpassed by the Zions Bank Idaho Headquarters Building in 2013 Template:Nowrap and the Northwest's tallest control tower.Template:Citation needed It was relocated to the south side of the airport in order to control an existing Guard assault strip, runway 09/27, south of Gowen Field. The tower was planned and constructed when it was believed that the radar functions would be moved to Salt Lake City in Utah. After it was decided to leave the radar positions in Boise, the facility at the base of the tower was redesigned and partially remodeled to house the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON).
The tower and TRACON opened on September 16, 2013, with updated electronics and equipment, including the STARS radar system; improving services and safety for pilots and the flying public. With the expanded facilities and new equipment, the TRACON operates the approach control for Boise Airport, and also remotely operates the approach control for the Bozeman Airport in Montana. The TRACON was then renamed Big Sky Approach to reflect the broader geographical coverage. The consolidation of Boise and Bozeman approach control facilities into Big Sky Approach is part of the FAA's continuing plan to consolidate approach control services across the nation.Template:Citation needed Boise's TRACON was designed with the option of adding additional radar scopes, and may offer approach control services to other airports in the future.
BRAC 2005 directed that the Idaho Air National Guard divest itself of the C-130 mission by 2009, transferring its C-130s to the Wyoming Air National Guard, while retaining its A-10 fighter mission. This action was completed in 2009 and the 124 WG was redesignated the 124 FW at that time. The 124 FW is composed of over 1000 military personnel, consisting of just over 300 full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) and Air Reserve Technician (ART) personnel and over 700 traditional part-time Air National Guardsmen.<ref name=global/><ref>124th Wing. Globalsecurity.org (December 31, 1952). Template:Webarchive</ref>
First responder training area
In February 2011, FedEx donated a surplus Boeing 727-200 cargo jet (tail number N275FE) to the City of Boise for use as a training tool for emergency first responders. The aircraft—stripped of engines—is parked near the southeastern end of Boise's third runway—a location more than a mile southeast of, and not visible from, the main passenger terminal. Several agencies use the plane for training purposes.Template:Citation needed
Ten days later on June 23, 1961, another air guard F-86L was lost, this time while preparing to land, about Template:Convert south of the runway. The pilot ejected safely and escaped injury, but the wreckage damaged the mainline tracks of the Union Pacific railroad.<ref name=pltsfe/><ref name=igplcr>Template:Cite news</ref>
On June 19, 1970, a Grumman TBM (N7026C) was on fire (engine, cockpit) and attempting to return to the airport when it crashed about Template:Convert southeast. A naval aviator and Vietnam War veteran, the pilot bailed out at low altitude, but his parachute failed to deploy, and he was killed.<ref name=frmresrb>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=grmtbm>Template:Cite web</ref>
On November 16, 1991, a Cessna 402B (N29517) lost power in its starboard engine shortly after take-off from runway 10L, attempted to return, and crashed a mile (1.6 km) south of the airport, killing the pilot and his daughter, the only passenger. Bound for Pocatello, the air taxi cargo flight occurred over four hours prior to sunrise on Saturday.<ref name=fddilpc>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ntsbcessno>Template:Cite web</ref>
On February 3, 2012, a Lancair IV-PT turboprop (N321LC) flown by Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology, crashed shortly after take-off from runway 10R, killing the pilot. Attempting an emergency landing, Appleton had aborted an earlier take-off attempt for unknown Template:Nowrap the accident was attributed to pilot error.<ref name=bwapcr>Template:Cite news</ref>
On January 31, 2024, a steel-framed hangar under construction collapsed, killing three people and injuring nine others. Owned by Jackson Jet Center, the site is on Wright Street, just west of Rickenbacker Street, overlooking Interstate 84 and near the end of the takeoff taxiway for runway 10L. As of April 21, 2024 the OSHA investigation is on-going.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On April 9, 2024, Air Canada Flight #997 from Mexico City to Vancouver declared an in-flight emergency and made an unscheduled landing in Boise. Airport staff deboarded the plane and assisted passengers through U.S. Customs, according to the city; border patrol officials were onsite to help assist with proper entry into the United States. The city and the airport have not released what caused the unscheduled landing; no injuries were reported.
