Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Waterloo Regional Airport, also known as Livingston Betsworth Field, lies four miles northwest of Waterloo in Black Hawk County, Iowa, and serves as the region's general aviation and scheduled-airline gateway. Its long main runway with an ILS approach, FAA-staffed tower, and full-service FBO make it a straightforward and well-equipped stop for visiting sim pilots. The field grew from a wartime training airstrip into a flourishing regional airport under long-serving manager Walter Betsworth, whose name it later took.
Waterloo Regional Airport (ICAO: KALO, IATA: ALO), officially Livingston Betsworth Field, sits four miles northwest of the city of Waterloo in Black Hawk County, Iowa. It is owned and operated by the City of Waterloo and functions as a non-hub commercial service airport alongside a substantial general aviation base, with over seventy based aircraft. For a sim pilot the field offers a long, ILS-equipped primary runway, a control tower, and a mix of airline and light GA traffic that makes for an interesting Midwest US destination.
The airport lies four miles northwest of Waterloo, Iowa, in Black Hawk County. It is served by an FAA air traffic control tower, placing it within controlled airspace during tower operating hours.
Waterloo Regional has three physical runways, all hard-surfaced and lit. The primary runway, 12/30, is 8,384 feet long and equipped with an ILS on runway 12. Runway 18/36 is 5,959 feet long, and runway 06/24 is 5,352 feet long. Field elevation is 869 feet.
Waterloo Regional Airport operates on air/departure frequency 118.9 MHz, with ATIS on 120.65 MHz. The tower and common traffic advisory frequency both use 118.1 MHz, ground control operates on 121.9 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Runway 12 is served by an ILS approach.
The airfield began as a training airstrip during the Second World War and subsequently expanded into a flourishing regional airport under its founding manager, Walter Betsworth. Following Betsworth's death in 1979, the field was renamed Livingston Betsworth Field in honour of Betsworth and of Jonathan Livingston, a noted Iowa flying ace. Scheduled airline service to Waterloo began in 1948 with Mid-Continent Airlines DC-3s, and over the following decades the airport was served in turn by Ozark Air Lines, Braniff International, Trans World Airlines, and a succession of regional affiliates including American Eagle, United Express, Northwest Airlink and others, flying aircraft ranging from DC-9s and Fairchild F-27s to Saab 340s and Canadair regional jets. Runway 12/30 was extended from 5,400 to 6,500 feet in the mid-1960s to accommodate jet equipment. Competition from larger airports such as The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids gradually reduced airline service, and after Delta Air Lines withdrew in 2011 the route to Chicago O'Hare was awarded to American Eagle under the federal Essential Air Service programme.
Waterloo Regional Airport remains an active FAA-towered field, with the control tower operating daily from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. American Airlines' regional affiliate American Eagle currently provides twice-daily scheduled service to Chicago O'Hare, alongside substantial general aviation activity supported by a full-service fixed base operator, aircraft storage hangars and a general aviation terminal. The airport is scheduled to close all aircraft operations from 8 to 22 September 2026 for runway construction and infrastructure upgrades, a point sim pilots planning historical or current-day scenery should note.
