Chicago Executive Airport

Chicago Executive Airport https://chiexec.com/ Where Chicagoland Business Takes Off!

Like most airports across our nation, Chicago Executive Airport was once a modest grass strip created by early aviation enthusiast, in the days when airplanes were a novelty and travel by air was an uncommon luxury. In the roaring twenties the grassy 40 acre plot, with dirt and sod runways, was known as Gauthier's Flying Field. In the 1928, the field was renamed Palwaukee, after the two highways t

hat formed its southern and eastern boarders. The airport was purchased, in 1953, by George Priester who over the next 33 years expanded and developed facility until 1986, when it was purchased by the neighboring Villages of Wheeling and Prospect Heights. Re-named Chicago Executive Airport in 2007, to more accurately reflect its regional importance, the facility now covers 411 acres. Today, Chicago Executive is the third busiest airport in Illinois, after O'Hare International and Midway. Approximately three hundred aircraft are based on the field and approximately 200,000 take-offs and landings occur annually. Chicago Executive Airport is a powerful economic engine for the City of Wheeling, the Village of Prospect Heights the surrounding communities, the region and the entire Midwest. Aviation related businesses, both on and off the field, employ hundreds of technical experts, managers, pilots, mechanics and support staff. The airport produces direct and indirect economics benefits including sales tax revenue, increased business activity for local industry and retail operations including hotels, restaurants, and a wide range of aviation related and not-related enterprises. Chicago Executive Airport, an intergovernmental cooperative of the City of Prospect Heights and the Village of Wheeling, is a major aviation facility catering primarily to general aviation and the corporate aviation user.

Future pilots, aviation leaders, and trailblazers in the making! ✈️👩‍✈️We can't wait for this event to take place!
09/02/2026

Future pilots, aviation leaders, and trailblazers in the making! ✈️👩‍✈️We can't wait for this event to take place!

✈️ Girls in Aviation Day is coming up on September 19!

Chicago’s Leading Edge invites youth ages 14–18 to discover the many exciting possibilities within aviation! Join us for a fun, hands-on day featuring:

🛩️ Aircraft tours
🔬 Interactive STEM stations
🎤 A career panel with women in aviation
🎓 Aviation companies and colleges
🍕 Pizza and drinks

Explore careers as an airline pilot, air traffic controller, flight dispatcher, aircraft maintenance technician, flight attendant, engineer, and more. Meet aviation professionals, ask questions, and discover where aviation can take you! 🚀

📅 September 19
⏰ 10:00 AM–2:00 PM
📍 Priester Hangar at Chicago Executive Airport (KPWK)
1061 S. Wolf Road, Wheeling, IL 60090

We’re also looking for volunteers to help make this special day possible! Whether you’re an aviation professional, student, or simply passionate about inspiring the next generation, we’d love to have you join us.

🎟️ Register to attend or volunteer through the link in our bio!

It was on this day in 1939 -- 87 years ago – that 20,000 spectators were amazed by the talents of the Chicago Girls Flyi...
08/31/2026

It was on this day in 1939 -- 87 years ago – that 20,000 spectators were amazed by the talents of the Chicago Girls Flying Show. Twenty of the leading women pilots took to the skies over our city, performing daring "aerobatic rodeo" maneuvers, formation flying, and competitive spot-landing events.

Among these amazing aviators was Willa Brown, the first African-American woman to earn a commercial pilot's license in the U.S., and the first woman in our nation to hold both a pilot's certificate and an aircraft mechanic's license.

Photo courtesy of https://www.si.edu/

It’s 85 degrees today and we’re thinking about ice?? You bet.Chicago Executive is staying ahead of the weather, celebrat...
08/31/2026

It’s 85 degrees today and we’re thinking about ice?? You bet.

Chicago Executive is staying ahead of the weather, celebrating a new deicing truck at our partner . And it’s not enough to get the new truck on the field; we need to test it out with our friends .

The weather will turn before we know it (this is Chicago!), and this investment will keep us safe and ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at us this winter.

As we celebrate a century of serving the community, we’re reminded of some pretty humble beginnings. It was 100 years ag...
08/28/2026

As we celebrate a century of serving the community, we’re reminded of some pretty humble beginnings. It was 100 years ago that Frank and Pete Barchard dedicated 40 acres of land at the intersection of Palatine Road and Milwaukee Ave. At the time, it was named Swallow Airplane Field after the Swallow OX-5 airplane based there.

Wonder what the brothers would think seeing their airport today??

*Photo Courtesy of EAA

It’s National Aviation Day, and we like to think “Chicago learns to fly here.” Did you know that Sally Strempel, who ope...
08/19/2026

It’s National Aviation Day, and we like to think “Chicago learns to fly here.” Did you know that Sally Strempel, who operated Sally’s Flying School at our airport for 16 years until 1966, was the first woman in Illinois—and among first nationally—authorized to examine private and commercial applicants? In an interview, Sally said that that women are better pilots because ”they are more instinctive, master detail more quickly and take nothing for granted.”

Thank you, ORD Airport Watch, for visiting us! We hope you were able to see some cool things and experience a little of ...
08/14/2026

Thank you, ORD Airport Watch, for visiting us! We hope you were able to see some cool things and experience a little of what our airport has to offer. We’re excited to continue building this lifelong friendship and look forward to many more visits and memories together! ✈️❤️

Big thanks to our new friends at Chicago Executive Airport for an awesome airfield tour today! Our group loved getting a behind-the-scenes look at Ascension FBO, visiting U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and learning more about everything happening at PWK. And of course, checking out all those aircraft was a major highlight!



Did you know that almost 100 years ago, the Chicago Daily News pioneered the use of airplanes both by reporters and to d...
08/10/2026

Did you know that almost 100 years ago, the Chicago Daily News pioneered the use of airplanes both by reporters and to distribute newspapers? In fact, in 1929, more than 100,000 newspapers were flown from the earliest iterations of our airport. Today, local airports are an indispensable part of the media toolkit.

Run the Runway is about more than crossing the finish line. It's about investing in the future of aviation. ✈️ We're pro...
08/07/2026

Run the Runway is about more than crossing the finish line. It's about investing in the future of aviation. ✈️ We're proud to support the Chicago Executive Pilots' Association and their scholarship program, helping the next generation of pilots and aviation leaders reach new heights. Congratulations to the 2026 scholarship winners!

08/05/2026

What an incredible weekend! ✈️ A huge thank you to for joining us June 26–28 and helping make our 100th Anniversary celebration one to remember. We loved having you at Chicago Executive Airport and truly appreciate everything you did to make the weekend so special. We hope to see you back again soon! 💙

07/29/2026

✈️ Every pilot has a story. Meet Stacey Greenhill as she shares her passion for aviation and the journey that brought her to the skies. We're proud to highlight the incredible people who make our aviation community so special.

Address

1020 Plant Road
Wheeling, IL
60090

Telephone

+18475372580

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