Palm Beach International Airport - History

History

For the military use of the Airport, see Palm Beach Air Force Base

Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI) began operations in 1936 as Morrison Field. Morrison Field was named in honor of Miss Grace K. Morrison, a key participant in the planning and organization of the airfield. The first flight departing the field was a New York bound Eastern Air Lines DC-2 in 1936. The airport was dedicated on December 19, 1936.

In 1937 the airport was expanded beyond an airstrip and an administration building when the Palm Beach Aero Corporation obtained a lease, built hangars and the first terminal on the south side of the airport. The new terminal was known as the Eastern Air Lines Terminal. The field was used by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, commencing in 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor Morrison Field was used for training and later as a staging base for the Allied invasion of France, with numerous aircraft departing Morrison en route to the United Kingdom in order to take part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

In 1947 the newly established U.S. Air Force moved to Brookley Field, later Brookley AFB, in Mobile, Alabama and commercial services by Eastern Airlines and National Airlines resumed from Morrison Field. The name was changed to Palm Beach International Airport on August 11, 1948. In September 1950 runway 5 was 6030 ft long, 9 was 7010 ft and 13 was 6930 ft.

The airport was again used by the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and renamed Palm Beach Air Force Base, under the control of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). USAF operations occupied the north half of the airfield while civilian operations and the commercial terminal occupied the south half. MATS used the base as a training facility with the host unit being the 1707th Air Transport Wing (Heavy), and its 1740th Heavy Transport Training Unit. The 1707 ATW was known as the "University of MATS", becoming the primary USAF training unit for all Air Force personnel supporting and flying heavy transport aircraft. These included C-124 Globemaster II, C-118 Liftmaster, C-97 Stratofreighter, and C-54 Skymaster maintenance training along with aircrew and transition pilot training. Nearly 23,000 airmen trained at Palm Beach AFB during the 1950s and 1960s.

The Air Weather Service also used Palm Beach AFB as a headquarters for hurricane research, flying the first WB-50D Superfortress "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft from the base in 1956.

After several years of Palm Beach County fighting the Air Force presence in West Palm Beach, the Air Force started to close down operations at the base. The 1707 ATW was inactivated on 30 June 1959 and reassigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. With the wing's departure, Palm Beach County took over airfield operations. The Air Force retains a small presence at the base with the 9th Weather Group becoming the main operational unit at Palm Beach AFB, performing hurricane and weather research for the Air Weather Service. In addition, the Air Photographic and Charting Service (APCS) moved its 1370th Photo-Mapping Wing to the base, performing geodetic survey flights. During the early 1960s, Palm beach AFB was also used by Air Force One, with President John F. Kennedy landing at the base when staying at the Kennedy home in Palm Beach. The Air Force closed Palm Beach AFB in 1962 and all property was conveyed to Palm Beach International Airport the same year.

Delta Air Lines began scheduled flights in 1959 and Capital Airlines in 1960. Turbine-powered flights were started by Eastern Airlines in 1959 with the turboprop Lockheed L-188 Electra and Eastern DC-8 nonstops to Idlewild started in December 1960.

In October 1966 an eight-gate Main Terminal was opened on the northeast side of the airport; in 1974 Delta Air Lines moved into its own six-gate terminal with the airport's first jetways. The FAA built a new Air Traffic Control Tower on the south side of the airport during this period.

On October 23, 1988 the 25-gate David McCampbell Terminal, named for World War II naval flying ace, Medal of Honor recipient and Palm Beach County resident CAPT David McCampbell, USN (Ret) was dedicated. The 550,000-square-foot (51,000 m2), Greiner-designed terminal was designed with expansion in mind and can be doubled in size when required.

In 2003 the terminal was voted among the finest in the nation by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. In that same year, a new landscaped and state of the art I-95 interchange was built to decrease traffic on Southern Boulevard (US 98) extending Turnage Boulevard (the road around the perimeter of the concourse).

Competition from rapidly expanding Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport cut growth at the airport through the 1990s. The 2001 recession and the September 11th terrorist attacks further inhibited growth, but development in South Florida since 2002 has finally led to a surge of passenger traffic at the airport. In addition, discount carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines began service to PBI. In 2006 the county embarked on an interim expansion program by breaking ground on a 7 story parking garage and the addition of 3 gates in Concourse C. Long range expansions include gates at Concourse B and the eventual construction of a new 14 gate Concourse D to be extended east from the present terminal.