BILLINGS, Mont. — The Billings City Council voted this week to establish an independent governmental authority to oversee Billings Logan International Airport, ending nearly a century of direct municipal control over one of Montana’s busiest commercial aviation facilities.
The council approved the measure following a presentation from Billings Aviation and Transit Director Jeff Roach and aviation consulting firm Stephen Baldwin and Associates. Under the new structure, ownership of the airport’s physical facilities and assets would transfer to the newly created authority, which would assume full operational responsibility for the airport going forward.
The city has held direct oversight of the airport since it opened in May 1928, making Billings Logan the last commercial service airport in Montana still operating under municipal control. The other major commercial airports in the state — in Bozeman, Missoula, and Kalispell — have each transitioned to independent authority models in prior years.
The timing of the transition comes as the airport is experiencing a period of significant growth. Billings Logan surpassed one million total passengers in 2025, marking the first time in its 98-year history the airport reached that threshold. Despite the milestone, the Federal Aviation Administration ranked it fourth among Montana’s commercial airports in 2024 by enplanements, trailing Bozeman, Missoula, and Kalispell.
Supporters of the authority model have argued that independent governance gives airports greater flexibility to pursue capital investment, negotiate airline agreements, and respond to growth without the constraints of municipal budget processes.
