Hawthorne Municipal Airport

The moniker "Jack Northrop Field" is derived from the Northrop Aircraft Corporation, founded by Jack Northrop, which for years designed, built and flew many classic aircraft. Northrop moved into its new Hawthorne home in February 1940. During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command used the airfield as an aircraft modification center and Air Transport Command. The government returned Northrop Field to the city in November 1946. The airport was officially renamed Hawthorne Municipal Airport on April 24, 1948. During the 1950s, Northrop and the airport prospered, despite the airport’s tower only being permitted to operate during daylight hours. For night flights, air controllers at Los Angeles International Airport had to guide planes in and notify Hawthorne so it could turn its runway lights on. In 1983, the famous Hawthorne Air Faire began on-site and continued for the next 22 years. Over the years, plans were proposed to level the airport and replace it with everything from an entertainment center to a professional football stadium to a shopping center, but all plans were turned down and the airport remains operational. In October of 2007, KHHR shut down for a month in order for its runway to be refurbished. In December 2015, the first new commercial hangars to be built at the airport in 50 years opened. Currently, SpaceX and its spinoff The Boring Company have their headquarters at the airport. Tesla Design Studio is is also located at KHHR.

Situated three miles from LAX, 10 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, and just a mile east of Hawthorne, in Los Angeles County, within close proximity to the intersection of the 105 and 405 freeways. 

● The airport also was home to the Western Museum of Flight until 2006, when the facility lost its lease. 

● The airport is on 80 acres of land. Its one runway, 7/25, is 4,884' × 100'. The airport is surrounded by residential areas on every side. 

● The airport has a 4,956-foot-long, 100-foot-wide lighted runway that can accommodate aircraft weighing up to 90,000 pounds (with dual tandem wheel loading).