St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport

History

The airport is on the west shoreline of Tampa Bay, six miles (10 km) north of St. Petersburg, Florida (the "birthplace of commercial air transportation"). Barely a decade after the pioneer flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the first tickets for airline travel were sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of Tony Jannus to fare-paying passengers. Using a Benoist XIV amphibious aircraft, the inaugural flight took place from a location near the downtown St. Petersburg Pier. Mayor Abram C. Pheil of St. Petersburg and Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, were the first passengers, flying across the bay to Tampa and, according to a United Press account, reportedly reaching the maximum speed of 75 miles per hour during the flight. Other reports indicate that they reached an altitude of 50 feet (15 m).

This was the beginning of commercial air transportation anywhere in the world and is commemorated by a replica of the Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area. Another replica is displayed at the St. Petersburg Museum of History adjacent to the Pier. Since 1991, the terminal holds the archives of the Florida Aviation Historical Society.

Construction and wartime

Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the airport was acquired by the United States Army Air Forces, which used it as a military flight training base assigned to Third Air Force.

The 304th Fighter Squadron, a combat training unit of the 337th Fighter Group based P-40 Warhawks and, later, P-51 Mustangs at Pinellas Army Airfield (as it was then known) for the duration of World War II. Antisubmarine patrols against German U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico were also flown from the airfield.

To commemorate the airport's vital role during that conflict, a plaque was dedicated at the airport terminal in 1994 by the P-51 Fighter Pilots Association and Brigadier General James H. Howard, who was the only European Theater fighter pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II and later served as the last wartime base commander of Pinellas Army Airfield. A permanent exhibit honoring General Howard is located in the terminal.

Postwar operation

After World War II the property was returned to Pinellas County by the U.S. government to operate as a civil airport. It was originally called Pinellas International Airport and given the IATA designation, PIE, which it still uses, because PIA was already taken by Peoria International Airport. It was later changed to St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport because, according to airport manager "Bobo" Hayes, tourists didn't know where Pinellas county was.

In the 1950s some airlines flew to both PIE and TPA, such as Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines and Northwest Airlines. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide (OAG) shows 17 airline departures: ten Eastern, six National and one Mackey. Four of those flights were nonstop beyond Florida, including an Eastern DC-4 to Chicago and a 1049G to Pittsburgh.

With the advent of the Jet age runway 17/35 was extended north into Tampa Bay; the first scheduled jet was a Northwest Airlines 720B from Chicago in late 1961. (The 1961 Aviation Week directory says PIE's longest runways were 5700 ft, but probably 17/35 was 8000 ft when the 720B arrived.) The increased capacity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, compared to the DC-6 and DC-7, prompted the Civil Aeronautics Board to approve consolidation of airline service for the Tampa Bay area at TPA in the early 1960s.

Eastern was the last scheduled airline at PIE; it left in 1964. Airline service returned to PIE in the 1970s when Air Florida flew Electras out of PIE; in 1982, Northeastern International started DC-8 nonstops to Islip, New York, and in 1983 People Express started nonstops to Newark with Boeing 737s and Boeing 727s. In 1986 Florida Express flew BAC One-Elevens nonstop to its hub in Orlando. In 1987 American Airlines started nonstops to its Raleigh-Durham hub, but by October 1989 PIE had no scheduled airlines.

American Trans Air and Air South began flights in the mid 1990s but both ended operations at PIE in 2004, ATA downsizing due to bankruptcy and Southeast going defunct.

Recent developments

In September 2006 Allegiant Air announced scheduled service from St. Petersburg–Clearwater to cities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Allegiant's destination count from PIE has increased to 21 airports in the eastern United States. In February, the Lansing, Michigan service shifted to Grand Rapids, Michigan, with four weekly flights.

The airport recently completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, larger gates, new plumbing, and building loading bridges, as the previous system required all passengers to walk across the tarmac to the gate.

In January 2015 Silver Airways announced it was beginning service to PIE, but in March the company had cancelled its plans.

Facilities

The airport covers 1900 acres (769 ha) at an elevation of 11 feet (3 m). It has two asphalt runways: 18/36 is 9,730 by 150 feet (2,966 x 46 m) with an ILS approach, and 4/22 is 5,903 by 150 feet (1,799 x 46 m).

The airport is also the home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in the United States, operating HC-130 Hercules and MH-60T Jayhawk aircraft. The U.S. Army Reserve also maintains an Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) at PIE immediately west of the approach end of Runway 17R for Companies A and F, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment and Medical Evacuation Unit, operating UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-operated control tower, the FAA's Central Florida Region Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS)...the busiest AFSS in the United States...and the St. Petersburg VORTAC for airways navigation are also important federal government services at the airport.

Along with scheduled passenger and charter airlines and military flight operations, United Parcel Service / UPS Airlines, other air cargo, general/corporate aviation are also major activities, with UPS conducting extensive Boeing 757. The entire tract of the airport is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) and a large Airport Industrial Park developed in the 1980s is a major center of commerce. The airport and its tenants employ over 3,000 people and have an economic benefit of more than $400 million yearly to the Tampa Bay area.

The airport has a 24-hour airport rescue and fire-fighting (ARFF) department (Index C), along with operations, facilities, engineering, security, and administrative personnel.

For the year ending June 30, 2016, the airport had 105,273 aircraft operations, an average of 288 operations per day; with 72% general aviation, 14% military, 11% commercial airline and 3% air taxi. In January 2017, there were 261 aircraft based at this airport: 100 single-engine, 31 multi-engine, 53 jet, 38 helicopter, 38 military and 1 ultralight.

Airlines and destinations

St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport has one terminal and thirteen gates: 1–12 and 14.

Accidents and incidents

On June 6, 1982, a Douglas C-47A (N95C), of Fromhagen Aviation, was written off after the starboard engine failed during the takeoff for a training flight. All five people aboard survived.

On September 30, 2015, the pilot of a Piper PA-30, registered to Jet Aircraft Management, crashed and died while practicing takeoffs and landings.

On June 1, 2016, Allegiant Air flight 871 made an emergency landing at the airport, its scheduled destination. The plane departed from Moline, Illinois. No injuries were reported, and the airline declined to comment on the mechanical failure.