Most scheduled airline traffic in theTampa Bay Area usesTampa International Airport (TPA), 10 miles (16 km) east, but St. Pete–Clearwater remains a destination for low-cost carriers. St. Pete–Clearwater is a focus city for Las Vegas–basedAllegiant Air. The airport is also less busy than Tampa and is frequently used by pilots of private planes and executive jets.[citation needed]
The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and "Fly2PIE" in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.
The airport is on the west shoreline ofTampa Bay, six miles (10 km) north ofSt. Petersburg, Florida (the "birthplace of commercial air transportation"). Barely a decade after the pioneer flight of theWright brothers atKitty Hawk in 1903, the first tickets for airline travel were sold by theSt. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line ofTony Jannus to fare-paying passengers. Using aBenoist XIVamphibious aircraft, the inaugural flight took place from a location near the downtownSt. Petersburg Pier.[7] Mayor Abram C. Pheil of St. Petersburg and Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, were the first passengers, flying across the bay toTampa and, according to aUnited Press account, reportedly reaching the maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) 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.[8]
The 304th Fighter Squadron, a combat training unit of the 337th Fighter Group basedP-40 Warhawks and, later,P-51 Mustangs at Pinellas Army Airfield (as it was then known) for the duration ofWorld 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 GeneralJames H. Howard, who was the only European Theater fighter pilot to be awarded theMedal 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.
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 byPeoria International Airport.[9] In 1958,[10] the name was changed to St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport because, according to airport manager "Bobo" Hayes, tourists didn't know where Pinellas County was.[8]
The airport was the original home to two of the first scheduled air freight airlines in the United States,U. S. Airlines (dating to 1946) andAerovias Sud Americana (1947), which was also known as ASA International Airlines. U. S. Airlines had domestic routes to the northern cities, whereas ASA had routes to Latin America. One of ASA's specialities was flying livestock, and consequently the airport had animal pens to allow ASA to assemble the animals they were flying south.
With the advent of thejet age, runway 17/35 was extended north into Tampa Bay; the first scheduled jets were Northwest AirlinesBoeing 720Bs from Chicago in late 1961 (the 1961Aviation Week directory says PIE's longest runways were 5,700 feet, but it appears 17/35 was 8,000 feet when the 720B arrived). The increased capacities ofBoeing 707 andDouglas DC-8 jets prompted theCivil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to approve consolidation of airline service for the Tampa Bay area at TPA in the early 1960s.
In 1963, Northwest was flyingLockheed L-188 Electra propjet service Miami–Fort Lauderdale–St. Petersburg–Atlanta–Chicago O'Hare–Minneapolis/St. Paul–Fargo, ND–Grand Forks, ND–Winnipeg, Canada.[14] Eastern was the last scheduled airline at PIE during the mid-1960s and it ended flights from the airport in 1964. The year before, Eastern had been operating prop flights from St. Petersburg nonstop to Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Cleveland and Louisville as well as direct one-stop service to Columbus, OH, Detroit and Indianapolis.[15]
Scheduled air service returned to PIE in 1972, whenAir Florida beganintrastate airline flights to Miami and Orlando withBoeing 707s.[16] Air Florida replaced its 707s withLockheed L-188 Electras out of PIE, and in 1974 was flying nonstop to Miami, Orlando and Tallahassee.[17] According to theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), only one airline was serving St. Petersburg in the fall of 1979: regional air carrier Red Carpet Airlines operatingConvair 440 prop aircraft five days a week nonstop from Miami and two days a week nonstop fromGrand Cayman in the Caribbean.[18] According to the OAG, by 1981 the airport still had only one air carrier operating scheduled passenger service: commuter airline Sun Air operating smallEmbraer EMB-110 Bandeirante turboprops with one weekday nonstop flight from Miami as well as one weekday nonstop flight from nearby Tampa.[19]
Jet service returned in 1982 withNortheastern International Airways flyingDouglas DC-8 nonstop flights toLong Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York. By 1983, Northeastern was flyingBoeing 727-100 nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale and New Orleans, in addition to its nonstop service to Islip.[20] Also in 1983,People Express was flying nonstop to New York/NewarkLiberty International Airport withBoeing 727-200s,737-100s and737-200s. Locally based regional air carrierAtlantic Gulf Airlines was flyingVickers Viscount turboprops nonstop to Miami in 1983, and by 1984 was operatingConvair 580 turboprops to Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tallahassee.[21][22] By 1984, Northeastern had added nonstop West Palm Beach jet flights as well as direct jet flights to Hartford/Springfield, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, San Diego and Tulsa.[23] People Express then expanded its flights from the airport, and in 1985 was flying nonstop to Charlotte and New York/Newark as well as operating direct, no change of plane jet service to Boston, Detroit and Syracuse.[24] Also in 1985,Florida Express British Aircraft CorporationBAC One-Eleven jets were serving PIE with four daily nonstops to its Orlando hub with direct flights to Columbus, OH, Fort Lauderdale, Indianapolis and Nashville via Orlando.[25] In 1987,American Airlines initiated nonstop mainline jet flights to its Raleigh-Durham hub whileMidway Airlines (1976-1991) commenced nonstopBoeing 737-200 jet flights in 1988 from itsChicagoMidway Airport hub with direct one stop service fromCleveland;[26] however, by October 1989 PIE once again had no scheduled airline service.
American Trans Air (ATA) andAir South began jet flights from PIE in the 1990s. In the fall of 1991, American Trans Air was the only airline serving the airport with just three nonstopBoeing 727 flights a week from Indianapolis.[27] By early 1994, ATA was operating nonstopBoeing 757-200s from ChicagoMidway Airport, nonstopBoeing 727-200s from Indianapolis, nonstop Boeing 727-200s from Milwaukee and weekly nonstop wide bodyLockheed L-1011 TriStars from Philadelphia.[28] By late 1994, American Trans Air had expanded its service and was operating domestic nonstop service to Fort Lauderdale and St. Louis as well as international nonstop flights toNassau, Bahamas, in addition to its flights to Chicago Midway, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.[29][30] ATA was primarily operating Boeing 727-200 jets on these services in late 1994 but was also operating larger Boeing 757-200 jetliners on some nonstop flights between the airport and Chicago Midway at this time as well.[30] In the summer of 1995, Air South was flying nonstopBoeing 737-200 jet service to Atlanta, Columbia, SC, Miami and Tallahassee.[31] The Air South service to Miami in 1995 included up to five 737 nonstops on weekdays while at the same time commuter air carrierGulfstream International Airlines was operating twice daily nonstop flights to Miami with smallBeechcraft 1900C turboprops.[32] In 1997,Reno Air was operating "Gulf Coast Flyer" service nonstop to Gulfport/Biloxi withMcDonnell Douglas MD-80s.[33] By 1999, the OAG listed four airlines operating jets to St. Petersburg: American Trans AirBoeing 727-200 nonstops from Chicago Midway Airport and Indianapolis,Canada 3000Airbus A320 nonstops fromToronto,Nations AirBoeing 737-200 nonstops from Gulfport/Biloxi andRoyal AviationBoeing 757-200 nonstops from Toronto.[34] Also in 1999,Air Transat, a Canadian-based scheduled and charter airline, was operating wide bodyLockheed L-1011 TriStar jets on its flights into the airport.[35] In the late spring of 2004,Southeast Airlines was operating nonstopMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service from the airport to Allentown, PA (ABE), Columbus, OH (LCK), Gary, IN (GYY), and Newburgh, NY (SWF).[36][37] Southeast Airlines went out of business in the fall of 2004, while Air South had previously ceased serving the airport back in 1996, and subsequently went out of business as well.
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 since increased to 59 airports in the eastern United States. In February, the Lansing, Michigan service shifted toGrand Rapids, Michigan, with four weekly flights. Allegiant operatesAirbusA319 andA320 jets on its flights from the airport.[39]
In 2009, the airport completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, larger gates, new plumbing, and building passengerjet bridges.[40][41]
In January 2015,Silver Airways announced it was beginning service to PIE, but in March the company had cancelled its plans.[42]
As of 2021, the airport is planning to convert decommissioned runway 9/27 into a taxiway to enhance service for air carriers, the U.S. Coast Guard, andPinellas County Sheriff's Office aircraft.[43]
The airport covers 1900 acres (769ha) at an elevation of 11 feet (3 m). It has two asphaltrunways: 18/36 is 9,730 by 150 feet (2,966 x 46 m) with anILS approach, and 04/22 is 6,000 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m).[1][44]
TheU.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, operatingUH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
The entire tract of the airport is designated as aForeign 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.
Aside from the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport serves as the base for the Honor Flight of West Central Florida.[45] American Veterans partake in a flight to Washington D.C. annually to visit memorials dedicated to individuals who fought for the United States in various wars.[45] About 75 to 80 veterans participate in the program annually which is designed to fly older veterans who typically could not visit Washington, D.C., otherwise.[45]
Baggage-claim area, with replica ofBenoist XIVflying boat flown by aviation pioneerTony Jannus in 1914 (2009 photo)PIE's baggage-claim area has four baggage carousels (2009 photo).PIE Airport Sign
St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport has one terminal with two gate areas, known as A-Side & B-Side. A-Side has gates 1-6 and B-Side has gates 7-12. Gates 1 & 12 are Arrivals Only gates, with gate 1 exiting into the Ticketing A lobby and gate 12 exiting into the baggage claim.[46]
On January 10, 1955,National Airlines Flight 1 (Lockheed Lodestar N33369) was departing the airport forSarasota when the copilot lost directional control and the pilot was unable to regain control of the aircraft. The plane ended up in a sodded area off of the runway and all 13 onboard safely evacuated; the plane was damaged beyond repair.[100]
On June 6, 1982, aDouglas C-47 (N95C) owned by Fromhagen Aviation crashed during a training flight; all 5 onboard survived but the aircraft was destroyed. The copilot had never flown a DC-3 before.[102]
On September 30, 2015, the pilot of aPiper PA-30, registered to Jet Aircraft Management, crashed and died while practicing takeoffs and landings.[103][104]
On January 4, 2016, aBeechcraft 200 Super King Air (N275X) of Skyway Aircraft Inc. was being flown fromAlbert Whitted to PIE for flap examination when the pilot failed to configure the landing gear, resulting in a gear-up landing. The plane was written off due to substantial damage; the pilot survived.[105]
^abMcCarthy, Kevin M. (2003),Aviation in Florida, Illustrated by William Trotter (illustrated ed.), Pineapple Press Inc, pp. 159–164,ISBN9781561642816,archived from the original on February 26, 2022, retrievedOctober 23, 2016
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Knoxville, Tennessee
Asheville, North Carolina
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Cincinnati, Ohio
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Indianapolis, Indiana
Des Moines, Iowa
Bangor, Maine
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency