| Hillsdale Municipal Airport | |
| Icao: | KJYM |
| Faa: | JYM |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | City of Hillsdale |
| City-Served: | Hillsdale, Michigan |
| Elevation-F: | 1,184 |
| Elevation-M: | 360 |
| Coordinates: | 41.9214°N -84.5858°W |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Michigan#USA |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Michigan |
| Pushpin Label: | JYM |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| R1-Number: | 10/28 |
| R1-Length-F: | 5,000 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,219 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2021 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations |
| Stat1-Data: | 9,855 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 13 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] |
Hillsdale Municipal Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Hillsdale, in Hillsdale County, Michigan, United States. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local general aviation facility.[2]
The airport is accessible by road from Entrance Road and is located near M-99.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned KJYM by the ICAO.
The first airport in Hillsdale was known as Robards' Field. A new airport was built in 1934 in an attempt to attract transcontinental flights who could land there instead of in Detroit or Chicago. This new airport hosted the Kiwanis Club’s first Fly-In on Aug. 10, 1948, which attracted 60 aircraft from around the midwest.[3]
The second airport fell toward disrepair in the 1950s. Amid a dwindling economy, only the Hillsdale Aviation Club kept the airport running. Requests to the government to keep the airport running went unanswered.
The land on which the second airport sat was sold in 1960, and it became the Hillsdale Industrial Park. New land was purchased for a larger airport, and the modern airport opened in 1963. The first airport manager was a former flight engineer at Eastern Airlines.
The airport has been cited as a major source of traffic for the surrounding area, which is not connected by any major highways. It supports traffic into Hillsdale College as well as business traffic and recreational pilots.[4]
Hillsdale Municipal Airport covers an area of 585acres at an elevation of 1,184feet (360 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 10/28 with an asphalt surface measuring 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m).[5] [6]
Since 2015, the airport has plans for a variety of upgrades to make the airport more easily navigable. This includes adding and expanding taxiways to connect runways with the airport's terminal, fuel farm, and hangars.[7]
As of May 2022, studies are being conducted to determine the need and best locations for a new terminal at the airport. When the old terminal can be demolished, it will be replaced with new taxiways to provide space for parallel taxiways to support full-length runway departures.
The airport is staffed 12 months a year 8am-4:30pm Monday through Friday, 8am - 12:00pm Saturday and closed on Sundays. The terminal and fuel can be accessed 24 hours a day.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 9,855 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 27 per day. At that time there were 13 aircraft based at this airport: 12 single-engine airplanes and 1 jet.