Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Hayward Executive Airport (KHWD) is a busy, tower-controlled general aviation field on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, a few miles southeast of Oakland International Airport. Built as an Army airfield in 1942 and later home to Air National Guard fighter and troop-carrier units, it is today one of the Bay Area's principal general aviation and corporate-jet airports, with an ILS-equipped main runway and a full-time control tower.
Hayward Executive Airport, known locally as Hayward Air Terminal in earlier decades, sits in the city of Hayward, California, on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It is a City of Hayward-owned, publicly used airport that today serves private, corporate and air-taxi traffic, with Ameriflight's Northern California operation based there. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting mix of history - as a former World War II Army airfield and Air National Guard base - and a modern, tower-controlled general aviation environment close to the busier Class C airspace of Oakland International.
The airport lies near the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Hayward, California, about five miles southeast of Oakland International Airport (OAK). It is a towered field, and pilots inbound are advised to establish contact with Hayward Tower well before arrival to deconflict with Oakland traffic and VFR aircraft transiting the area, particularly to the southeast toward Coyote Hills, which sees heavy VFR traffic.
Hayward has two physical runways, both asphalt and lit. The main runway, 10R/28L, is 5,009 feet as landing/departure length on the 28L end and 4,867 feet on the 10R end, and is equipped with an ILS serving runway 28L. The parallel runway, 10L/28R, is 3,081 feet in both directions.
Hayward Tower operates on 118.9 MHz, with ground control on 121.4 MHz and clearance delivery on 128.05 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency is 120.2 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. ATIS broadcasts on 126.7 MHz. Norcal Approach/Departure serves the airport on 124.4 MHz, 125.35 MHz and 134.5 MHz. An ILS approach is available to runway 28L.
Pilots are recommended to call Hayward Tower on 120.2 at least seven to eight miles out to help sequence with Oakland arrivals and departures and with VFR traffic transiting the area, especially southeast of the field toward Coyote Hills. Tower controllers are trained to work position reports given using magnetic headings (north, south, east, west). Pilots should read back all hold-short instructions in full, including runway and callsign. Aircraft calling for taxi are expected to be ready to move promptly, particularly from the general aviation ramp areas behind the Hayward hangars. Noise-abatement procedures published by the City of Hayward should be reviewed before operating at the airport.
Coyote Hills, to the southeast of the airport, is a notable local landmark and a focus of VFR transiting traffic that pilots should be alert for when approaching from that direction. The airport's position on the east shore of San Francisco Bay, close to Oakland International Airport, is itself a key visual reference for orientation during VFR flights in the area.
The airfield was built in 1942 during the Second World War as an auxiliary field to Chico Army Air Field, originally known as Hayward Army Air Field, and it may also have carried the name Russell City Army Air Field after the unincorporated area in which it stood. It was assigned to the US Army Air Forces' Fourth Air Force and primarily flew Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. After the war it was declared surplus, and in April 1947 the War Assets Administration transferred roughly 690 acres and associated buildings and equipment to the City of Hayward, which renamed it Hayward Municipal Airport. The California Air National Guard moved onto adjoining land in 1949, initially as home to the 61st Fighter Wing and the 194th Fighter Squadron, redesignated the 144th Fighter Bomber Wing in 1950 and flying North American P-51D and P-51H Mustangs from 1948 until October 1954; the unit gained a strong reputation in aerial gunnery competition, including a fifth-place finish in the first all-jet worldwide gunnery meet in 1953 using borrowed F-86A Sabres. The 129th Air Resupply Squadron formed at Hayward in April 1955, flying Curtiss C-46D Commandos and later Grumman SA-16A Albatrosses, and became the 129th Troop Carrier Group in 1962 after a control tower was built in 1960. In May 1980 the remaining Air National Guard units at Hayward were reassigned to Naval Air Station Moffett Field; that lineage continues today as the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield.
Hayward Executive Airport is now a vibrant general aviation and corporate airport, home to more than 400 based aircraft ranging from single-engine types to business jets, supported by around 40 aviation-related companies on the field. It has held the Ameriflight Northern California division since September 2012, and a new airport administrative building, costing about 3.97 million dollars, opened in October 2014. Recent FAA figures showed the airport handling well over 100,000 aircraft operations a year, the great majority general aviation. The field is served by a full-time control tower, and pilots should note that prior permission may be required for certain activities under the airport's published rules and regulations.
