West Houston Airport

The airport opened in 1962, as Stephen Cummings and his partner Willie Dopslauf graded a runway for a new airstrip, Memorial Skyland. This work was completed in 1965 by Dopslauf and John Bridge and named it Lakeside Airport due to its location near the Addicks reservoir. Bridges teamed up with Jack Landers and Adrian Kachel in surfacing the runway, as well as in developing the T-Hangar complex and the White Hangar on the east side of the airport. In 1966 Woody Lesikar first landed at IWS and found a job instructing with a flight school operating out of the airport. He eventually bought the one-plane operation and began flying from IWS. Lesikar began Skyline Aviation, which was a flight school, rental, and charter operation based in IWS. Only 20 years old and without capital, he was extended a $25,000 line of credit from Cessna Aircraft, which was enough to purchase three planes at the time. By the age of 26, he had incorporated and purchased the airport from its original owners. The 70s brought a boom to the airport. The flight school, which was both FAA and Veteran approved, had grown to 30 aircraft. The FAA-approved charter service featured the first Cessna Citation aircraft to come to Houston. An avionics repair station and newer (and larger) facilities were also built. In the 80s, land to the west of the airport was acquired in order to facilitate expansion. The terrible Houston traffic brought about commuter airlines, which would fly from Lakeside to Houston Intercontinental Airport (now called the George Bush Intercontinental Airport). Commutair was first, followed by Royale Airlines and Continental Airlines. As there were already 300 aircraft stationed at the airport, an airplane hangar was built. A new terminal was also built in order to supply service to Dallas Love Field and other cities in the region. The name was changed to West Houston Airport around this time. In the mid-1980s, IWS was served by Air West, a commuter airline with eight nonstop flights to Dallas Love Field on weekdays. These were flown by four-engine de Havilland Canada DHS-7 Dash 7 turboprops. Sadly, in the latter half of the 80s, Houston's economy took a downturn, and the airport (along with all the other airports in the area) lost half its customers, largely due to plane owners selling their planes to obtain security. The 90s brought about a recovery, and IWS was still recognized as an FAA reliever airport. In 1991 the airport hosted the American Bonanza Society thanks to its president, William H. Bush. Over three hundred and fifty Beechcraft owners attended, and the airport was able to take a leadership position in the community once again. In the 00s, the airport saw new third-party-owned hangars, and by 2010 the airport had over 500,000 square feet of hangar space. In 2012, following a complete remodeling of the terminal building and parking area, the airport was able to celebrate its 50-year anniversary.

The airport is located 15 miles west of Downtown Houston, in the Greater Katy area. 

• The terminal building is a two-story facility that also features conference rooms. 
• There are currently over 375 aircraft stationed at the airport.
• There were 103,000 aircraft operations in 2016. These included 68% general aviation, 31% transient general aviation, and 1% air taxi. 
• The flight school is still operational.
• Several aviation organizations conduct meetings at the airport.