History
Tallahassee Regional Airport began operation as Tallahassee Municipal Airport, with a dedication ceremony on April 23, 1961. The flag of the United States was presented to the City of Tallahassee by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I fighter ace and Chairman of the Board of Eastern Airlines. An aerial demonstration was performed by U.S. Army aircraft from Fort Rucker, Alabama. Tallahassee Municipal replaced Dale Mabry Field which closed that same year.
Eastern Airlines inaugurated the opening of the airport by ferrying city, state and chamber of commerce officials. Aboard the flight were: Tallahassee Mayor Joe Cordell, State Comptroller Ray Green, Tallahassee City Commissioners Davis Atkinson, George Taff, Hugh Williams, Tallahassee City Manager Arvah Hopkins, Tallahassee City Clerk-Auditor George White, Airport Manager Flagg Chittenden, and Ernest Menendez, Frank Deller, James Calhoun, John Ward and Jeff Lewis, all of the Tallahassee/Leon County Chamber of Commerce.
Standing from left to right: James Messer, Jr., Edward Hill, John A. Rudd, George C. White, and Arvah B. Hopkins.
During the 1960s, 70s and early 1980s, the airport's primary runway was Runway 18/36, a 6076 foot runway with an FAA certified ILS approach, enabling all weather approaches by airliners and civilian aircraft, and a USAF certified High TACAN approach for practice use by Air Force aircraft at nearby Tyndall AFB. An additional runway, Runway 9/27, was 4000 feet and length and supported general aviation operations. By the 1970s, the airport had regular scheduled commercial service from Eastern Airlines, Delta Air Lines, National Airlines and Southern Airways, primarily using Boeing 727, Boeing 737 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft.
By the 1980s, the existing terminal was becoming increasingly obsolete and the 6100 foot main runway was considered less than optimal for the Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 coming into service. The existing Runway 9/27 was converted to taxiway and a new Runway 9/27 that was 8000 feet in length and equipped with ILS was constructed immediately to the south. Concurrently, a new passenger terminal was constructed just north of the new runway. On December 3, 1989, the city opened the existing $33 million, airline passenger terminal, and on February 20, 2000, the passenger terminal was officially renamed the Ivan Munroe Terminal in honor of Tallahassee aviation pioneer Ivan Munroe. Munroe was the first man in Tallahassee to own a plane.
On July 20, 2002, A FedEx Boeing 727 crashed a half mile short of the runway 9 while attempting to land. The NTSB determined that the crash was due to a combination of pilot fatigue and pilot error.
With the recent addition of slots at Washington National Airport for US Airways, that airline has started nonstop flights to Tallahassee from Washington Reagan Airport.
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