Boeing Field
public airport in Washington (state), United States
King County International Airport (IATA: BFI, ICAO: KBFI, FAA LID: BFI), commonly known as Boeing Field, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, 5 mi (8.0 km) south of downtown Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA (King County International Airport), but it is not the airport identifier. The airport has scheduled passenger service operated by Kenmore Air, a commuter air carrier, and was being served by JSX with regional jet flights. It is also a hub for UPS Airlines. It is also used by other cargo airlines and general aviation aircraft. The airfield is named for founder of Boeing, William E. Boeing, and was constructed in 1928, serving as the city's primary airport until the opening of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in 1944. The airport's property is mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. The airport covers 634 acres (257 ha), averages more than 180,000 operations annually, and has approximately 380 based aircraft.
History
Aviation history in Seattle began in 1910 when Charles Hamilton performed an air show at The Meadows racetrack, located on the site of the present-day Museum of Flight. Hamilton executed diving maneuvers and staged a race between an aircraft and an automobile.
“Boeing Field” enters the record as public airport in Washington (state), United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Boeing, Field and public can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Boeing Field” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Boeing, Field and public provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2875716. VIAF identifies the subject as 131652446. The Library of Congress control number is no96021728. Authority coordinates are 47.530, -122.302. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1928, 1944 and 1910.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Boeing Field”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Boeing Field primary sources, Boeing Field archive and Boeing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Boeing Field”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Boeing Field” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.