Aviation
The main airport in St. Louis, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, has historic origins as well as strong ties to the military. It is named after Albert Bond Lambert, who learned to fly with the Wright Brothers and served in the Army in World War I. Major Lambert, along with the Missouri Aeronautical Society, leased 170 acres in 1920 and constructed a hangar to serve as the first airfield in St. Louis (see Figure 16). [23] It was initially used exclusively for military functions; WWI veterans William and Frank Robertson along with the Missouri National Guard operated at the airfield. Called the “St Louis Flying Field” at the time, it played host to the 1923 International Air Races, where Lambert met a young Charles Lindberg. Lindberg remained at the field as an instructor after the event and soon after embarked on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris, sparking global interest in flying. His plane on the voyage was named “The Spirit of St. Louis.”
Lambert bought the airfield property outright in 1925 and later that year, the Post Office began airmail service from St. Louis to Chicago, which marks the earliest beginnings of American Airlines. In 1928, the voters of St. Louis approved a $2 million bond for airport improvements, which brought the first paved runways and taxiways to the airfield as well as additional hangers. [23] One of the WWI veterans, William Robertson founded the Curtiss-Robertson Airplane Manufacturing Company, which developed a large portion of the aircraft that flew at Lambert Airfield. The airfield was part of the initial Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) plan to extend air and rail passenger service coast-to-coast. TAT transformed into Transcontinental & Western Airlines (TWA) and influenced construction of Lambert’s first passenger terminal which served over 24,000 people in its first year of service in 1933. [23]
During World War II, the Curtiss-Wright plant at Lambert Field underwent a $10 million expansion for increased military operations, which created a new 6,000 foot military runway (see Figure 18) as well as a Naval Air Station for training cadets. Additional monetary grants and new airliner production after the war led to service from TWA, American Airlines, and Ozark Airlines at Lambert by 1950. Curtiss-Wright halted their aircraft production after the war, however McDonnell Aircraft took over the plant at Lambert and continued to build Navy jet fighters and other military aircraft to meet the increased demand brought by the Korean War. The factory at Lambert was also the site where the company was commissioned by NASA to build the first American spacecraft, Mercury and Gemini, which also served as a model for future Apollo missions. [23]
As the wars came to an end, the air travel industry grew rapidly and St. Louis became a major hub of demand, especially for TWA. St. Louis was one of the country’s first airports to offer jet airline service when the Boeing 707’s began operating there in 1959. The airport was renamed St. Louis International Airport in 1971 to reflect this progression. Airline industry deregulation (free competition over ticket prices and routes) occurred in 1978 and created an even larger increase in demand. Over 336,000 aircraft operations took place at Lambert in 1979 alone. [24] In the coming decade after that, Lambert expanded to 81 gates, Southwest Airlines began service, and TWA absorbed Ozark Airlines to now offer flights to both coasts and direct international flights to cities like Paris and London from St. Louis. In the 1980s, the Airport Expansion Program added a new 9,000-foot runway, new taxiways, a tunnel for a road under the runway, and a school and fire stations in the neighboring community. [23] The rapid progression can be seen in Figure 19.
On the brink of the 21st century, the 220,000 square foot East Terminal was opened in 1998 to meet the growth of Southwest Airlines in St. Louis. [23] TWA merged with American Airlines in 2001, connecting the two airlines that had served Lambert the longest. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing and continued to produce aircraft at Lambert for all branches of the U.S. military and its allies around the world. In the early 2000s, a more than $1 billion airport expansion program brought the transition of 2,000 residential and commercial properties into construction land for an additional runway. [23] By this time, over 30 million people flew through Lambert annually, reflecting the airport’s vital role in our country’s aviation industry.
References:
[23] Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. "History." FLYSTL. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 17, 2014. http://www.flystl.com/AboutLambert/History.aspx.
[24] Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Airport Improvement Task Force Report, Doc., at 13 (1981).
[23] Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. "History." FLYSTL. Last modified 2014. Accessed August 17, 2014. http://www.flystl.com/AboutLambert/History.aspx.
[24] Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Airport Improvement Task Force Report, Doc., at 13 (1981).