[4] The city's name was taken from its close proximity to the runways at Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport.

[7] Growth in the city was spurred by the opening of the Airway Heights Corrections Center by the Washington State Department of Corrections in 1992 and the opening of the Northern Quest Resort & Casino by the Kalispel Indian Tribe in 2000.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.63 square miles (14.58 km2), all of it land.

Traveling into Airway Heights along U.S. Route 2, the main road into the city, from Downtown Spokane, one will climb over 500 feet.

Airway Heights joined the Spokane County Library District in 2023 following a referendum of city residents.

[16] The closest hospital to the city is Deaconess Medical Center, located in Downtown Spokane.

Healthcare services located in the city itself include the Airway Heights Dental Center, West Plains Chiropractor, and APEX Physical Therapy.

[17] U.S. Route 2 is the main east-west thoroughfare in the city, which lacks a traditional downtown area.

[18] U.S. Route 2 connects Airway Heights with Fairchild to the west and Spokane to the east.

Bus route 61, which serves Airway Heights, begins at the transit authority's main hub in Downtown Spokane, and extends to Fairchild Air Force Base.

In July 2015 Mayor Patrick Rushing was asked to resign by the city council because he called President Barack Obama a "monkey man" and First Lady Michelle Obama a "gorilla" on his Facebook page.

[20] This follows an earlier incident in 2015 in which Rushing resigned his position as a school bus driver after he was charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident.