Tampa International Airport

Tampa International Airport currently serves as a main hub for Gulfstream International Airlines under the Continental Connection name. It is also a focus city for Southwest Airlines. The airport presently serves 68 non-stop destinations, including international service to the United Kingdom, Canada, and to destinations throughout the Caribbean. The airport handled 18,262,934 passengers in 2008, making it the 27th busiest airport by passenger movements in North America.

History
Tampa Bay was the birthplace of commercial airline service, when pioneer aviator Tony Jannus flew the inaugural flight of the St Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line on January 1, 1914, from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa using a Benoist Flying Boat — the first scheduled commercial airline flight in the world using a heavier-than-air airplane.

Drew Field
Postcard from Drew Field

In 1928 the city completed the 160-acre (0.65 km2) Drew Field six miles (10 km) west of Downtown Tampa. The more popular Peter O. Knight Airport was opened on Davis Island near Downtown Tampa in 1935, where both Eastern and National Airlines operated until 1946.

The United States Army Air Force took over Drew Field during World War II and expanded and modernized the airport. The airfield was used by Third Air Force and renamed it Drew Army Airfield. Third Air Force used it as a training center by 120,000 combat air crews and flew antisubmarine patrols from the airfield. There was one accident in 1943 that killed five fliers. Despite this, Drew Field set a safety record for the Third Air Force in 1945 after 100,000 flying hours had been completed over a period of 10 months without a fatal incident. The aircraft operated included the B-17, C-47, AT-6, B-25, and others.
[edit] Tampa International Airport

After the hostilities, Eastern and National Airlines moved to Drew Field. The reason for the relocation was that the Peter O. Knight Airport was too small to handle the new Douglas DC-4, DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation prop-liners that were being placed into service. During this period the airlines were housed in the former Base Operations Building which was converted into a terminal.

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 building, which was built for three airlines, was soon swamped. The Civil Aeronautics Board granted Capital, Delta, Northeast, Northwest and Trans World Airlines authority to fly to Tampa during the late 1950s and as a result created havoc at the undersized terminal. An annex was built east of the terminal to accommodate the new carriers.

Jet-powered operations began in 1959 when Eastern Air Lines introduced the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The following year National Airlines began turbojet service with the Douglas DC-8 jetliner. Flights to Mexico City began in 1961 with weekly service by Pan American.

Congestion became a serious problem at the 1952 Terminal when the airlines began to replace their piston powered equipment with larger jetliners. As a temporary measure the terminal was once again expanded to handle the growth in traffic.