Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport - History

History

The first commercial air service to Birmingham began in 1928 by St. Tammy and Gulf Coast Airways, operating through Roberts Field on the west side of Birmingham on a route from Atlanta, Georgia to New Orleans, Louisiana. Delta Air Service began service to Birmingham in late 1929 with six seat Travel Air airplanes along a route stretching from Love Field in Dallas, Texas to Birmingham. When American Airways (now American Airlines) began their Atlanta, Georgia to Fort Worth, Texas route, Birmingham was not included in the route because their Ford Tri-Motor aircraft could not land at Roberts Field. As a result of this development, Birmingham began construction of a new airport, Birmingham Municipal Airport on the current Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport site.

The new airport opened with great public fanfare on May 31, 1931 with a single two story, white, Georgian style terminal and a single east-west runway. The terminal stood immediately east of the later 1962 and 1971 terminal complexes. No remains of the 1931 terminal or landscaping are visible. With the addition of American Airlines in 1931 and Eastern Airlines in 1934, air traffic increased enough to warrant a second runway.

World War II saw the airport leased to the United States Army Air Forces for $1 a year to support national defense. Birmingham Army Airfield was a section assigned to the Third Air Force as a fighter base, operated by the 310th Army Air Force Base Unit. The Army Air Force considerably improved the airport with land acquisitions, paving of additional taxiways, and construction of a control tower and an aircraft modification center south of the terminal (this is now operated by Pemco).

After the airport was returned to city control in August 1948, Southern Airways began service to the airport. By March 1951, four runways were in operation, Runways 5/23 (now designated 6/24) and 18/36, as well as additional runways at approximately 45/225 degrees on the north side of Runway 5/23 and 85/265 degrees primarily south of Runway 5/23. Runway lengths were all approximately 4,000 feet (1,200 m) to 5,500 feet (1,700 m). The runway at 45/225 degrees is now largely removed, though a paved portion remains crossing taxiway F near the Alabama Air National Guard facilities, used as a location for airport equipment and helicopter landing/parking. The runway at 85/265 is also mostly removed, with remaining segments making up taxiway A5 and a portion of taxiway F east of Runway 18/36.

By 1959, Runway 5/23 was lengthened to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and service was started to Birmingham by Capital Airlines which operated British-manufactured, four engine Vickers Viscount turboprop airliners. Capital’s merger with United Air Lines resulted in the initiation of the first ever jet service to Birmingham with the French-manufactured Sud Aviation Caravelle IV-R twin jet operated by United. By the late 1960s, Douglas DC-8, Douglas DC-9, Convair 880 and Boeing 727 jetliners were in scheduled service at BHM.

During the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, pilots and crews from the Alabama Air National Guard's 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Birmingham were selected to train Cuban exile fliers in Nicaragua to fly the Douglas B-26 Invader in the close air support role. Although the 117th was currently flying the RF-84F Thunderflash, it had only recently retired its RB-26C Invaders, making it the last squadron in the Air Force to do so; thus the 117th was seen as the logical choice for the CIA's secret mission. Seven of the volunteer aviators participated combat operations during the final day of the invasion, on August 19, 1961. Birmingham natives Leo Baker, Wade Gray, Riley Shamburger, and Thomas "Pete" Ray were killed when their (two) aircraft were shot down. While American involvement had been suspected since before the invasion even began, Pete Ray's frozen body was kept as concrete proof of U.S. support.

Continued growth in passenger traffic by 1962 resulted in the construction of a second passenger terminal and a new air traffic control tower, built west of the original 1931 terminal. This was dedicated on February 11, 1962 as the Birmingham Air Terminal. Charles H. McCauley Associates was the supervising architect and Radar & Associates was the designing architect. It consisted of a single story building of repeated bays with steeply pitched roofs, which flanked a wider, higher center bay at the south end of the building for ticketing. A long, flat roofed northern section comprised the ground-level aircraft gates. The south portion remains today for various airport support functions.

In 1973 the current semi-circular terminal was completed west of the 1962 terminal and air traffic control tower. It originally had 15 aircraft gates and a 1,600 space parking deck. Allegheny Air (now US Airways) began service from Birmingham to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1970s. Deregulation of the airline industry saw airlines such as Com Air, Florida Express, People Express, Air New Orleans, L'Express Airlines, and most importantly Southwest Airlines enter the Birmingham market. With the introduction of flights to Canada and Mexico, the official name of the airport was changed to Birmingham International Airport on October 20, 1993. Also in 1993, the airport marked the completion of a $50.4m terminal renovation.

In the early 1990s, Runway 18/36 was extended to 7,100 feet, allowing its routine use by airline jets. By the early 2000s, Birmingham had constructed a new 211 feet (64 m) tall control tower and completed significant improvements to the air cargo areas, including an entirely new facility at the far west end. The 1960s blue air traffic control tower was demolished in 2001. In 2006, Birmingham International Airport celebrated its 75th year of serving the central Alabama region. In July 2007, an 2,000-foot (610 m) eastward extension to Runway 6/24 was completed and dedicated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Now at 12,002 feet (3,658 m) in length, Runway 6/24 allows a fully loaded and fueled Boeing 747 to land or takeoff in Birmingham.

On June 23, 2008, Birmingham city mayor Larry Langford announced his proposal to rename the airport as the Fred L. Shuttlesworth International Airport, in honor of civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth. On July 16, 2008, Mayor Langford and the Birmingham Airport Authority voted to change the name of the airport from the Birmingham International Airport to the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport after the former civil rights activist. The name change cost about $300,000. In October 2008, the airport was officially renamed again to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. The FAA approved the name change and signage of the airport took place on April 3, 2009.