What Is The Busiest US Air Force Base?

Travis Air Force Base is one of the busiest airforce bases in the United States Air Force
and is a major jumping-off point to support American Pacific theater operations. However, there are other bases that contend for the accolade as the US Air Force’s busiest
base – to a large degree, it depends on one’s criteria. The busiest air force bases are not necessarily

the same as the largest US Air Force bases
.

Some of the Air Force’s busiest airbases

Determining what Air Force
base is the “busiest” depends on what one means by “busiest.” If one counts the number of operations, that will provide a different answer to counting the number of passengers or cargo tonnage an airbase handles. Travis Air Base is sometimes said to be the busiest airbase, but it handles the largest cargo aircraft, meaning that total operations may not be that high.

Select large and busy US Air Bases:

• Travis Air Base
• Sheppard Air Force Base
• Columbus Air Force Base
• Dover Air Force Base
• Ramstein Air Force Base (Germany)
• Luke Air Force Base
• Eglin Air Force Base
• Davis–Monthan Air Force Base

Sheppard, Dover, & Columbus also claim to be busiest

Reporting in 2018, Air University reported that Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas had become the “busiest joint-use air field in the Air Force, taking the top spot from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for Fiscal Year 2017.” In Fiscal Year 2010, the USAF Air Traffic Activity Report found that Columbus Air Force Base contains the “busiest Air Traffic Control complex in the USAF at 410,764 combined operations.”

Photo: Lockheed Martin

Dover Air Force Base just two miles southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware, is home to the 436th Airlift Wing and also claims to be the busiest USAF base. In 2020, the base stated:

“Dover AFB and its host unit, the 436th Airlift Wing (436 AW), run the busiest and largest air freight terminal in the Department of Defense (DoD). The 436 AW works around the clock to transport personnel and cargo to all corners of the world in fulfillment of its rapid global mobility mission.” – Dover AFB

Photo: Tech. Sgt. Morgan Whitehouse | 165th Airlift Wing | US Air Force

Luke Air Force base may have the most fighter jets

Many of these airbases focus on logistics and cargo – although when many people think of Air Force airbases, they may think of fighter jets. One of the airbases with the most fighter jets is Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. “Luke Air Force Base is home to the active duty 56th Fighter Wing and the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 944th Fighter Wing. Luke is the largest and only active-duty F-16 training base in the world with more than 138 F-16s assigned.” Luke Air Force base is also a base for F-35 training.

Davis-Monthan has the most aircraft

By far, the largest Air Force base (as measured by the number of aircraft stationed there) is the Davis–Monthan Air Force Base. It is home to the US’s only boneyard
for storing military aircraft and boasts around 4,000 aircraft. For comparison, the US Air Force only operates a total of around 5,000 non-trainer and non-UAV aircraft.

US AF Ramstein Air Base

The USAF Ramstein Air Base in Germany is the US’s gateway to Europe and the base sits at the heart of the NATO alliance. The air base’s website states, “Ramstein AB supports the largest population of Americans outside of the U.S., around 56,000 personnel, across the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC).“

Photo: USAF

Should a war break out in Europe and article 5 of the NATO charter be activated calling for the US to come to the aid of its allies, Ramstein Air Force Base would likely take a central role in American efforts. It has played a vital role in supporting Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and would be a primary target if there was a war between NATO and Russia.

Travis Air Force Base: busiest by cargo and passengers

Travis Air Force Base was formally activated in May 1943 during World War II. It played a major role in the Pacific War and became known as the “Gateway to the Pacific.” The base is just 54 miles from San Francisco and is home to the 60th Air Mobility Wing (the largest wing in the Air Mobility Command). The command operates a fleet of C-5 Galaxies, KC-10 Extenders, KC-46 Pegasus, and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft (although the wing has just bidden farewell to its KC-10 Extenders as the aerial tankers are replaced with new KC-46 Pegasus aircraft).

The Travis Air Force Base website states it “handles more cargo and passengers than any other military air terminal in the United States.” The massive base supports vast humanitarian airlift operations at home and worldwide, and tens of thousands of active Air Force military personnel, Air Force Reserve personnel, and civilians work there.