Tampa International Airport
Trans Canada Airlines inaugurated international flights in 1950 and Drew Field was renamed Tampa International Airport. The airport's second terminal opened in 1952 near the intersection of Columbus Drive and West Shore Blvd.
The April 1957 OAG shows 30 departures a day on Eastern: nonstops to MDW-YIP-CLE-IDL-BOS, seven nonstops to Atlanta and 18 within Florida. National had 26 departures including seven nonstops beyond Florida (to HOU-HAV-DCA-IDL and three to MSY). Trans-Eastern had 12 departures and Mackey had two DC-3s, none nonstop beyond Florida. Trans-Canada had thirteen nonstops a week to Toronto or Montreal.
The 1952 terminal, built for three airlines, was swamped after the Civil Aeronautics Board granted Capital, Delta, Northeast, Northwest and Trans World Airlines authority to fly to Tampa in the late 1950s. An annex was built east of the terminal to accommodate the new carriers.
Turbine-powered flights began in 1959 on Eastern Air Lines' Lockheed L-188 Electra; in 1960 National, Eastern and Delta Air Lines began jet flights with the Douglas DC-8 (Delta was first, with a Chicago nonstop in May or June). Weekly flights to Mexico City began in 1961 on Pan American.
Congestion became a serious problem at the 1952 terminal as the airlines began to replace their piston airliners with larger jets; the terminal was again expanded to temporarily handle the traffic.
Read more about this topic: Tampa International Airport, History
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)