Somerton Airport | 54az

Somerton airport

We pride ourselves on being a family-run, local business hosting a community of pilots. Together we offer services ranging from maintenance to flight instruction, aircraft storage and beyond. Whether you’re a veteran pilot or someone just getting started on their aviation journey, we’re here to help. Let us know what you need and we’ll find the solution– always at the most competitive prices in the area.

our history

In 1945, Japan surrendered and the War in the Pacific ended, lifting the ban on civilian flying within 150 miles of the West Coast. With the end of WWII, a Mr. E.N. Sturdivant saw the potential for general aviation and announced to the world in the Saturday, August 18, 1945 issue of the Yuma Daily Sun that he would open and manage a new airport to be located east of Somerton on County 16th Street. Mr.  Sturdivant of Somerton was a flight instructor and began operations with a runway, ordering 5 new Piper cubs. This established the airport as a flight school and Piper/Fairchild aircraft dealer. Having become a successful training facility, Somerton Airport was then placed on the sectional charts. Two other flight training schools started operating in the Yuma area. Marsh Aviation just east of the railroad tracks near downtown Yuma and the Yuma Air Park off South 4^th Ave were started by Larry Spain and Archie Mellon.   

Since the beginning, Somerton Airport has grown with a variety of tenants and missions. Most recently Stan Lawless continued with pilot training and agricultural spraying. August 2, 2002, Mr. Charles Saltzer (Eric’s Dad), purchased the airport. That was the day that would forever give me yet another trench to dig as we began to establish the airport as a permanent feature of the Yuma/Somerton community for general aviation. The first hangar went up in 2003, and the work has never stopped. Mr. Saltzer’s engineering background laid the groundwork for 2 more hangar builds and prepped for future paving.

In 2015, Mr. Saltzer took his last flight and placed his vision and love of aviation in his son’s hands. With four new hangar buildings, a self-serve fuel station, and the main 3,500’ lighted runway now paved, Somerton Airport is taking shape to better serve the community but still retains the rustic charm of being the “Mad Max” of airports in the south west.