The airfield first officially operated in 1926 (Goodman’s pasture had been in use unofficially before 1928) in an 80 acre field cleared from sagebrush with a runway added in 1932. During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces.

Historical airline service

Northwest Airlines was serving the airport in 1939 with a daily roundtrip Portland, OR - Yakima - Spokane flight operated with a Douglas DC-3. By the early and mid 1960s, Northwest was operating daily, no change of plane Lockheed L-188 Electra propjet service from Yakima to the U.S. east coast via a number of intermediate stops as well as nonstop Electra service to Seattle/Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Portland (PDX) and Spokane (GEG). In early 1962, Northwest was operating a daily eastbound Seattle - Yakima - Spokane - Great Falls, MT - Billings, MT - Bismarck, ND - Minneapolis/St. Paul - Milwaukee - Detroit - New York City (via Newark Airport) flight with an Electra. By late 1965, Northwest was operating a daily eastbound Seattle - Yakima - Spokane - Missoula, MT - Helena, MT - Butte, MT - Bozeman, MT - Billings - Fargo, ND - Minneapolis/St. Paul - Washington D.C. National Airport flight also with an Electra. Northwest was continuing to serve the airport in early 1966 with daily nonstop Electra propjet service to Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, OR and Spokane as well as direct, no change of plane Electra service to Billings, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Washington, D.C. and other destinations; however, the airline was no longer serving Yakima by late 1966.

West Coast Airlines was serving Yakima in 1954 with nine daily Douglas DC-3 departures from the airport with flights to Seattle Boeing Field (BFI), Portland, OR, Spokane, Baker, OR, Coeur d'Alene, ID, Ellensburg, WA, Ephrata, WA, La Grande, OR, Lewiston, ID, Ontario, OR, Pasco, WA, Pendleton, OR, Pullman, WA and Walla Walla, WA. By the spring of 1968, West Coast was operating Douglas DC-9-10 jet service nonstop from the airport to Seattle Boeing Field, Portland and Pasco as well as direct, no change of plane DC-9 jet flights to San Francisco (SFO), Spokane, Eugene and Medford in addition to flying Fairchild F-27 turboprop service to a number of regional destinations.

West Coast Airlines then merged with Bonanza Air Lines and Pacific Air Lines to form Air West which was subsequently renamed Hughes Airwest.

In the summer of 1968, Air West was operating Douglas DC-9-10 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service from the airport nonstop to Portland, OR and Pasco as well as direct DC-9 service to San Francisco (SFO), Spokane, Eugene, Medford, San Jose, CA, Fresno and Las Vegas in addition to nonstop Fairchild F-27 turboprop flights to Seattle Boeing Field (BFI) with nonstop and direct F-27 service to other regional destinations. In 1975, Hughes Airwest was operating all of its flights from the airport with Douglas DC-9-10 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jets with nonstop service to Seattle/Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Pasco in addition to direct, no change of plane DC-9 jet flights to Los Angeles (LAX), Orange County Airport near Santa Ana, CA, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland, OR, Santa Maria, CA and Eugene and was also operating direct, no change of plane DC-9 service to two international destinations: Guadalajara, Mexico and Mazatlan, Mexico. Also in 1975, Cascade Airways, a commuter air carrier, was operating nonstop Beechcraft 99 turboprop flights to Yakima from Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, OR, Spokane, Pullman, WA and Wenatchee, WA.

Hughes Airwest was then acquired by and merged into Republic Airlines in 1980. In late 1980, Republic was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service from the airport nonstop to Seattle/Tacoma and Pasco as well as direct, no change of plane DC-9-30 jet flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Boise and Eugene. However, by the summer of 1982 Republic was no longer serving Yakima.

Horizon Air began serving the airport on September 1, 1981, as a new independent regional air carrier with nonstop Fairchild F-27 turboprop service to Seattle/Tacoma (SEA) with Yakima being the first destination served by Horizon. By early 1985 Horizon Air was operating F-27 turboprops as well as smaller Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner propjets into the airport with nonstop flights from Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, OR, Pasco and Pullman while Cascade Airways was operating its flights with Beechcraft 1900C and larger Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops with nonstop service from Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, OR, Spokane, Lewiston, ID, Moses Lake, WA, Pasco, Pullman, WA and Walla Walla, WA. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), Cascade and Horizon were operating a combined total of thirteen nonstop flights a day on weekdays from Seattle/Tacoma to Yakima in February 1985.