The Robert LaFleur Airport is a small general aviation airport in Waterville. It was originally opened in 1931. A 2011 history of the airport explains the federal involvement in its development.

In a 1933 town report, Mayor Thayer explains that: “In order to secure improvement for the airport— a very desirable improvement for the community—the City has entered into an agreement of lease, with option to purchase, with the owners of the airport, this condition being precedent to any activity by the Civil Works Administration. This contract will not involve any expense to the City of Waterville but will result in securing for this locality improvements that should make this airport one of the finest in the State of Maine.”

Mayor Jackson’s essay in the 1934 town report said that F.E.R.A. took over the work of grading and other work at the airport. “In 1936 the Mayor of Waterville addressed the Council in connection with the future development of the airport in cooperation with the Federal Works Project Administration. The extension of the NE-SW runway to 2500′, the East-West runway to 2500′ and the NW-SE runway to 2000′, the installation of boundary lights and the clearing of other land adjacent to the runways was required. In the subsequent months various parcels of land were purchased to permit the necessary expansion of the airport. The total area of the airport with these additions was approximately 170 acres. By Council order of February 1, 1938, $1,640.00 was taken from the temporary appropriation to pay for these additional parcels of land.”

Finally, “[i]n 1947 the Waterville Airport was named in memory of Captain Robert A. LaFleur, a U.S. Army Air Corps officer who was declared “missing in action” somewhere over Germany on July 2, 1943.”

https://livingnewdeal.org/sites/robert-lafleur-airport-waterville-me/

During WWII, the federal government appropriated the airport, establishing an air base for planes bound to and from Great Britain. Lane Construction of Hampden was one of the contractors who worked on upgrading the airport for the military. Almost overnight, Presque Isle Army Airfield became a vital air transport installation and the city found itself a busy war center.

When the United States Air Force closed Presque Isle Air Force Base in 1961, the former Air Force Base was redeveloped. A business park, which includes Northern Maine Community College (which is closely integrated with the nearby University of Maine at Presque Isle), was developed on one side of the base, while the other portion became Northern Maine Regional Airport, now Presque Isle International Airport.

The airport saw frequent service prior to the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, which led to a collapse in service as airlines pulled out of less profitable markets. Presque Isle currently relies on Essential Air Service to serve its market of approximately 200,000 residents.  In 2024, the airport became the first Essential Air Service destination for JetBlue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presque_Isle_International_Airport