West Coast Aviation Hub
Pasco's aviation history began in 1909 when Charles A. Zornes established the first flight school on the West Coast along the Columbia River in Pasco. Later, aviation pioneer Walter Varney based his aviation business out of Pasco, Washington, where on April 6, 1926, one of his aircraft takes off from Pasco and becomes the first Commercial Air Mail flight in the United States. Varney's legendary operation later becomes United Airlines. In World War II, the airport becomes Naval Air Station Pasco, one of the busiest naval training base in the country.