The facility is located in the Antelope Valley, approximately 60 miles from downtown Los Angeles.The airport covers 5,832 acres (2,360 ha) at an elevation of 2,543 feet (775 m) above mean sea level.

[3] In January 2024, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger announced a Board-approved proposal for a preliminary site plan for a $1.6 billion, two million square foot bus and passenger rail car hub of manufacturing and innovation located on the eastern section of the airport's land holdings.

[7] The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operates the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) at its site near Plant 42 at Avenue P and 25th Street East.

This center controls and tracks aircraft over much of the western United States, including parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and the Pacific Ocean.

It was established by the Bureau of Air Commerce (later the Civil Aeronautics Administration) who maintained a network of emergency landing fields.

[9] Palmdale Army Airfield was declared a surplus facility in 1946 and was purchased by Los Angeles County for use as a municipal airport.

[10] The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 caused the Air Force to reactivate the property for use in final assembly and flight testing of military jet aircraft.

In 1990, America West Airlines was operating nonstop service to Las Vegas and Phoenix with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops.

In March 2001, Los Angeles County hired Tri-Star Marketing to prepare the presentations needed to bring air-passenger service back to Palmdale Regional Airport.

The incentive package included a $900,000 grant from the federal government to the city of Palmdale to develop regional airport service.

The communities around LAX and Burbank do not want the noise of additional flights, but most Antelope Valley residents support expanding service at Palmdale.

The United Express flights operated by SkyWest Airlines offered twice-daily, Canadair CRJ-200 regional jet service beginning on June 7, 2007.

[21] As of August 2022, these plans were awaiting approval by the Air Force, which needed to sign a joint use agreement before site development could begin.

Around 40 national chains volunteered to build replicas of their shopping outlets on site, in order to take advantage of screen exposure in the Steven Spielberg film.