History

Out of the Past

The fledgling aviation industry was all the talk when pro-aviation candidate Watkins Overton was elected mayor of Memphis, Tennessee in 1927. Everywhere around the country, "Those Daring Young Men in Their Flying Machines" were capturing the hearts of post-war America with their flying circuses and daredevil stunts. But an equally daring class of men was looking past the thrills of wing walking and barnstorming to the concept of commercial aviation, and those men were well represented in Memphis.

Having been backed in the mayoral election by a spirited group of World War I flyers who founded the Memphis Aero Club in 1925, the newly elected Overton kept his campaign promise to name a municipal Airport Planning Commission. To that end, he appointed Col. J.W. Canada, who three years later would co-pilot the first airmail flight into Memphis; R. Brinkley Snowden; W. Percy McDonald, who would buy the first passenger ticket, a round-trip to Chicago in 1928; Edwin M. Williams; and Claude Tulley. Fortunately, this select group would prove to have a remarkable grasp of the combination of vision and business sense needed to lay the foundation for the future of Memphis aviation.

Among the Commission’s first official acts: choosing a site for and setting in motion plans to turn the dream of Memphis Municipal Airport into reality. From among the many sites selected, the final selection was made among the following three: the New Bry's Airport, a 65-acre field close to downtown but with no room for expansion; Mud Island, close to the downtown post office, but in danger of being flooded by the Mississippi River; and Ward Farm, a 200-acre tract seven and a half miles from downtown. Ruling out the first two, the Commission chose the Ward Farm site, where the surrounding open countryside would lend itself to future expansion.

The Memphis Municipal Airport, consisting of three hangars and a sod field runway, was dedicated on June 15, 1929. The gala two-day event attracted most of the Memphis citizenry, as well as over 200 planes and pilots from around the country. One of many newspaper headlines describing the celebration read, "Dream of Years is fulfilled as Municipal Airport Opens." And, indeed, the dedication was the culmination of effort and hopes, but it was also just the beginning of the success of commercial aviation in Memphis.

By the following year, 1930, the airport had its first lighted runway, and as many as 15 passengers a day were arriving and departing Memphis Municipal Airport via American Airways and Chicago & Southern Airlines, the two major carriers serving the airport at the time. In the lean years following the Depression, however, it was the U.S. Airmail service contracts that kept the planes flying and laid the foundation upon which regularly scheduled commercial passenger service would be built.

As the nation struggled toward prosperity, the demand for commercial passenger service increased, and the airport built a modern terminal in 1938, with the help of funds from the WPA. Passenger service became more profitable, with the development and production of the Douglas DC-3 airplane, which carried many more passengers and flew more quickly than older model airliners. Utilizing the DC-3, Eastern Airlines, Braniff, Capital, and Southern, contracted for passenger service with Memphis Municipal Airport in 1939.

When the United States entered World War II, the U.S. Army assumed control of the Memphis airport facilities, halting further expansion and progress until 1947, when the troops vacated the airfield and the existing terminal was enlarged. At that time, the Commission activated an already existing Master Plan to improve the runways for larger aircraft such as the 57-passenger Constellation, which carried double the passenger capacity of the DC-3, while traveling at the previously unheard-of speed of 300 mph.

When a new Airport Planning Commission was named in 1956, members soon called for the design and construction of a new airport terminal to meet the rising demands of what was being called the "Jet Age." Everywhere around the country, business forecasters began predicting tremendous growth in aviation and related industries. As in the past, local foresight and planning again proved fortuitous, when the Memphis Municipal Airport passed the one million mark in passenger service in 1959.

The new, $5.5-million terminal was dedicated in 1963, and Memphis Municipal Airport was renamed Memphis Metropolitan Airport. Described as a "self-contained Jet-Age City," the new terminal won national recognition from the American Institute of Architects the following year. With a cutting-edge design by architect Roy Harrover, the much-praised facility provided twenty-two gate positions, allowing enough space for seven airlines to operate daily flights with ease and safety.

Reflecting its status as a point of origin and an entry for international passengers and cargo, the airport’s name was changed to Memphis International Airport in 1969. That same year, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority was created to plan and direct the future of Memphis aviation. Under the newly created Authority, airport terminal capacity would more than double over the next ten years, with the addition of two sub-terminals and their adjacent concourses. During that time, the Authority would also add a north-south parallel runway to handle wide-bodied jets, an International Arrivals facility, a new control tower, and a connector road linking the interstate highway system with the airport.

Memphis International Airport received another huge boost in 1973, when FedEx Express (FedEx) was founded in Memphis, and the company built a sorting facility and an administration building on the airfield. FedEx’s package-sorting complex, which would later come to be known as the Super Hub, along with the company’s around-the-clock operations have combined over the years to make Memphis International the number-one busiest cargo airport in the world.

In 1985, Republic Airlines chose Memphis International Airport as one of its three major hubs, drastically boosting commercial passenger service. In 1986, Republic merged with Northwest Airlines, setting into motion a flurry of construction projects as the airport sought to keep up with the resulting increase in traffic and service. Construction projects included: expanding baggage handling facilities, relocating existing and building new car rental centers, updating food and beverage facilities, repaving runways and aircraft aprons, constructing a new airfield maintenance complex, adding more employee parking areas, enlarging passenger waiting areas, and building a ramp control tower to better manage aircraft parking.

Also in 1986, the Authority completed work on a new Master Plan for continued development, the key elements of which included constructing a third parallel north-south runway; extending an existing runway to 11,100 ft., to better accommodate non-stop international flights; improving existing terminal concourses; building a new International Arrivals Facility; creating additional parking; and making roadway improvements. As outlined in the 1986 Master Plan, the new International Arrivals Facility opened in June 1995, to accommodate the first non-stop Northwest/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Memphis-to-Amsterdam flight, and the third parallel north-south runway became operational in 1996. In 2000, the 11,100-ft. World Runway was dedicated with a gala celebration attended by state and local dignitaries, as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S.Department of Transportation, and the many companies doing business with Memphis International Airport. The highly anticipated World Runway allows airport access to fully loaded, wide-bodied jets that carry up to 25 per cent greater maximum payloads and fly non-stop to points halfway around the globe.

United Parcel Service increased its presence at Memphis International Airport in 1999, opening a 330,000-sq. ft. package storage facility on an 84-acre site adjacent to the new third parallel runway. Able to process more than 250,000 packages and documents per day, this is the third-largest UPS facility in the country, and the company’s only facility with the capability to combine air and ground processing capabilities in a single location.

In 2000, Northwest Airlines added a fourth bank of flights, the airline’s greatest expansion at any airport facility in its 75-year history. In addition, Northwest opened fifteen new gates and re-developed eight existing gates, to accommodate the increase of commercial passenger service on Northwest Airlink's new, regional jets.

In 2001, a service agreement was signed between Memphis-based FedEx, which has grown to become the world's largest express transportation company, and the United States Postal Service. Under this agreement, FedEx is providing approximately 3.5 million pounds, the equivalent of about 30 wide-body DC-10, of airlift cargo capacity on a daily basis.

FedEx also announced in 2001 they ordered North America’ first fleet of A380-800Fs, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, which will be based at Memphis International, one of only a handful of airports in the world that can handle these large jets. The airline will take delivery of ten of the aircraft beginning in 2008.

In 2002, runway 18R-36L was reopened after undergoing a total reconstruction in a record-setting time of slightly less than eight months; compared to usual 18 months to two years normally required for a project of this size, length, and technical complexity.

This was one of the airfield projects already underway when the September 11, 2001 tragedy occurred. While the airfield projects were only slightly delayed, the capital improvement program projects for the terminal building and ground transportations area were put on hold for over a year. After a few modifications to the program due to the changing environment since September 11, 2001, design was resumed on these projects.

The Airport Authority finalized negotiations of an historic land swap in September 2004 between the Tennessee Air National Guard and FedEx that gives the TANG the space they need to construct totally new facilities and accommodate the substantially larger C-5 Galaxy aircraft that the guard has begun flying as part of their new mission. TANG’S relocation to the southeast corner of the airport will free space for FedEx to expand and consolidate its operations on the north end of the airport. TANG now has the long needed space needed to upgrade its facilities. When their new base is complete in 2008, it will be the first in the country to fully comply with all the new ant-terrorism regulations of the Department of Defense.

All Group VI aircraft (C-F and A380-800F) will be located on the east portion of the airfield and thus improve the efficiency of ground activities for both parties by ensuring that both have smooth access to the 11,120-foot World Runway.

Extension of Taxiway “Y” to the south end of Runway 18L-36R alongside the new TANG ramp is in progress as well as planning for a new cargo development on the southeast portion of the airfield and a new Emergency Response Center that will include an aircraft rescue fire fighting station that will replace the existing fire station. Memphis International continues to be the #1 Air Cargo Airport in the World in 2005.

A $25 million renovation to the terminal’s food / beverage/ retail concessions program begun in 2003 was completed in December 2005 giving passengers a taste of Memphis in the new facilities themed around Memphis’ rock-n-roll and blue music heritage. The theme was carried out not only in the architectural design and environmental treatments but also in the retail products and the food offerings which include many menu favorites from local area restaurants.

Landside improvements to the ground transportation area and parking over the next few years are focused on the reconfiguration of the outbound and inbound airport roadways for easier traffic flow. The outbound roadway was essentially complete by the end of 2005 and the inbound roadway should begin design and then construction within the next year. The new inbound roadway from Plough Blvd. Into the Terminal has been officially named Jim McGehee Parkway in recognition of the Airport Authority’s Chairman Emeritus and his many contributions to the growth and development of Memphis International Airport during his tenure, 1981-1996.

These and other developments will continue to propel Memphis International Airport through the 21^st Century and allow the fulfillment of its vision to be recognized as a “world class” aviation center as we carry out the mission of being an aviation leader which goes above and beyond the expectations of our customers and the citizens of the Mid-South.