Boston Airport

Boston Airport is a location in the Commonwealth which is initially deserted but later controlled by the Brotherhood of Steel in 2287.

Layout
Before the war, the airport was composed of several runways, hangars, and support buildings. Struck by rising sea levels after the Great War, the runways and other low-lying buildings were submerged by the adjacent ocean.

The airport is comprised of a central terminal building, which is mostly destroyed, a parking garage and a small garage. There is also a tarmacked surface which bears the remains of several Horizon Airlines jet airliners. The airliners are completely destroyed, with the wings having separated and the fuselages being torn into three parts. The aircraft interiors have been completely stripped out. The tarmac is also littered with an abundance of junk.

The entire site is inhabited by feral ghouls. There is a glowing one on the top floor of the terminal. The tarmac is sunken into the bay, and mirelurks inhabit the shore. In the lowest floor of the parking garage there are two police protectrons which can be activated using the Novice-locked terminals nearby. After the completion of Reunions, the Brotherhood of Steel will establish a base at the airport, containing a helipad for vertibirds, a gantry to hold the remains of Liberty Prime and a supply depot. The Prydwen will also be anchored over the airport unless destroyed.

There is an area at the end of the terminal which contains a workshop in a waiting area, which has no roof. It can be used as a settlement but there are severe limitations:


 * Water purifiers cannot be built since the settlement radius doesn't extend to the water. Only pumps can be used to provide a water supply.
 * Crops cannot be planted at all and garden plots cannot be built. There is no way to produce food.
 * No recruitment radio beacon can be built, so no settlers will join.
 * No guard post and artillery piece can be built. The only way to improve the defense of this place is to use turrets.
 * No store can be built.
 * No scavenging station can be built.

Therefore, there is little purpose or practicality in building a settlement here. There is plenty of flat surface within the radius, which can allow for large buildings to be constructed without obstruction. That being said the area could be built up by the Sole Survivor into an exclusive settlement located right beside Boston Airport.

The settlement is however used as part of several story line quests for the Brotherhood of Steel. Firstly as a build area to construct parts for the quest Liberty Reprimed and also as a build area to construct the signal interceptor if siding with the Brotherhood in the quest The Molecular Level.

Inhabitants

 * Knight Sergeant Gavil
 * Knight Lucia
 * Initiate Clarke
 * Proctor Ingram
 * Madison Li (after completing From Within)
 * Professor Scara (after completing Liberty Reprimed, if the player character hasn't recruited Li)

Notable loot

 * There is a fusion core in the generators at the southeastern end of the ground floor of the terminal.
 * There is a mini nuke upstairs guarded by a glowing one.
 * There is a Fat Man in a car, near the water on the runway. From the Boston Airport fast travel location proceed east. The nose section of an airplane will be in front of the Sole Survivor. The Fat Man is located in a van on the water's edge behind the nose section.
 * Fishing tournament ad at the airport's ruins, on a magazine shelf behind the information desk terminal computer, at terminal B. Found when clearing ghouls on quest Duty or Dishonor.
 * Racetrack advertisement at the airport's ruins, next to the information desk terminal computer.
 * Supply log near the terminal and Gavil.
 * A lot of metal boxes with random scrap, ammo boxes, along with a few chem and aid boxes (not considered stealing).

Related quests

 * Duty or Dishonor: Someone has been stealing supplies from the base; find out who did it.
 * Learning Curve: Meet up with the Brotherhood Scribe and guide him to his needed location.
 * Liberty Reprimed: The Sole Survivor must help the Brotherhood rebuild their top secret weapon; Liberty Prime.
 * Airship Down: The Institute has decided to launch a massive attack on the Brotherhood's base and to infect Liberty Prime with a virus to destroy the Prydwen. The Prydwen crashes onto the airport, destroying most of the Brotherhood's base, after being shot down by Liberty Prime's eye laser.
 * Rockets' Red Glare - In the wake of the attack on their HQ, the Railroad launch a counterattack against the Prydwen. The ensuing destruction levels most of the airport, making much of the area inhospitable in the wreck of the airship.
 * The Molecular Level - Get help from the Brotherhood of Steel to infiltrate the Institute.

Appearances
Boston Airport only appears in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes
Boston Airport seems to be based on Boston's Logan International Airport, but with a number of changes. For example, the air traffic control tower that the Prydwen uses as a mooring mast seems to resemble the "googie" architecture of the Theme Building at Los Angeles International airport more than the real life Logan airport tower. Since the real life Logan Airport control tower was built in the 1970's, this is another example of the divergence between the Fallout universe and our own.