History
PSP was originally constructed as a United States Army Air Corps emergency landing field in 1939 on land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians due to its clear weather and its proximity to March Field and the Los Angeles area.
In March 1941, the War Department certified improvements to the existing airport in Palm Springs as essential to National Defense. The airport was approved to serve as a staging field by the Air Corps Ferrying Command 21st Ferrying Group in November 1941. Land was acquired to build a major airfield one half miles from the old airfield site. The new airfield, designated Palm Springs Army Airfield was completed in early 1942, and thereafter the old air field was used only as a backup landing site.
Many of the field's Air Transport Command 560th Army Air Forces Base Unit personnel stayed at the comfortable Lapaz Guest Ranch nearby. Training conducted at the airfield was by the 72d and 73d Ferrying Squadrons in long-distance over-water flying and navigation. Later, training was also provided to pursuit pilot training by IV Fighter Command 459th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron. Training was conducted with P-51 Mustang; P-40 Warhawk and P-38 Lightning aircraft.
On June 1, 1944, training operations moved to Brownsville Army Airfield, Texas and the airfield was used for military (Army and Navy) air transport flights until the end of April 1945. The auxiliary field or backup field was declared surplus on May 12, 1945, and the main airfield was declared excess and transferred to the War Assets Administration for disposal in 1946 and it was sold to private buyers.
The City of Palm Springs purchased the land in 1961 and converted it for commercial use, which began in 1964 as the Palm Springs Municipal Airport.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, American Airlines and Trans World Airlines (TWA) both served Palm Springs with Boeing 707 jetliners which were the largest commercial passenger aircraft to operate from the airport at the time. American Airlines then introduced Douglas DC-10 wide body jetliner service into PSP. The DC-10 trijet remains the largest airliner type ever to provide scheduled passenger service from the airport.
On December 30, 2006, a U.S. Air Force Presidential Boeing VC-25 (the USAF military version of the Boeing 747), departed Palm Springs International Airport with the body of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford and delivered to Washington, D.C., for official federal memorial services.
Read more about this topic: Palm Springs International Airport
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