41 AirportImprovement.com November | December 2026 TERMINALS LBF Bright History, Promising Future What is now known as North Platte Regional Airport Lee Bird Field (LBF) opened more than 100 years ago, in 1921. It was built using private money to serve the needs of the U.S. Air Mail Service, just a few months after the nascent enterprise began the country’s first transcontinental air service carrying mail between New York City and San Francisco. In February 1921, LBF welcomed the first nighttime airmail flight after crews set fire to fuel barrels to help mark the airfield’s perimeter. “America’s First Lighted Airfield” was born. Despite horrific weather, the De Havilland 4 landed and then pressed eastward as part of 33-hour trek to demonstrate the viability of around-the-clock flying. While that achievement may seem simple now, the feat proved pivotal for overturing the entrenched practice of moving U.S. mail by trains. Eight years later, North Platte Field was purchased by its namesake city, which in turn leased it to the Boeing Transport Company, a forebearer of United Airlines. More runways were built in 1941, and the airfield was used to train B-17 flight crews during World War II. The North Platte Airport Authority was created in 1963, and a locally elected, five-member board governs LBF to this day. Lee Bird Field was added to the airport’s name in 1992 to honor a hometown military instructor who died in a plane crash during World War I. In 1960, local couple Terry and Gary Trego opened a small flight school and maintenance business at the airport. Their daughter Traci and her husband, Vincent Dugan, joined the company three decades later. Collectively they grew what’s now Trego Dugan Aviation, a national leader in air cargo, ground handling, fueling, maintenance, avionics and chartered jets. The business plans to renovate LBF’s old terminal building for use in its fixed-base operator portfolio. With the airport’s new terminal fully online, LBF leaders are now working on plans for a 200-acre business park overlooking the North Platte River, just west of crosswind Runway 17-35. TRANSPORTATION WE GET IT... YOU’RE BUSY! Contract # 110122-NCH The bidding process is a pain - but with NASi’s Sourcewell contract, the runway de-icer qualification process has already been done for you! © 2026 Nachurs Alpine Solutions. All rights reserved. WWW.nasi-tm.com 800.622.4877 x310 nasi_cs@nasindustrial.com LEARN MORE ®
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