Michigan City Municipal Airport Guide

Michigan City Municipal Airport, also called Phillips Field, is a public general aviation airport in LaPorte County, Indiana. It sits on 285 acres at 1300 North Highway 212, about three nautical miles east of Michigan City's central business district, at an elevation of 655 feet. No scheduled airline service operates here, so the field handles private, charter and business flying.

The field has one paved asphalt runway, 2/20, measuring 4,100 by 75 feet. The Airport Layout Plan outlines an extension to 5,000 feet. About 50 aircraft are based on the field, including business jets and twin-engine planes. Facilities include 21 executive hangars and two T-hangar complexes. Services cover aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, charter flights and skydiving. Self-service fuel is available around the clock, and the office is staffed from 8 am to 5 pm Central, seven days a week.

Aviation at the site goes back to barnstorming around 1915. The city created its first Board of Aviation Commissioners in 1945 and built a 2,400-foot runway in a single weekend. FAA grants between 1950 and 1970 paid for a paved runway and an administration building. In 1971 the FAA blocked a city plan to sell the airport, citing a 1959 grant agreement. Phillips Field takes its name from Joe Phillips, who ran a grass field of his own nearby.