The airport lies outside the city limits and is owned and operated by the City of St. Louis. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport serves over 88 non-stop national and international destinations. In 2006 over 15.3 million passengers traveled through the airport.
History:
The airport was originally a balloon launching base named Kinloch Field. The Wright brothers and their Exhibition Team visited the field while touring with their aircraft, and Theodore Roosevelt flew on one of their aircraft while he was visiting, becoming the first U.S. president to fly.
In 1920, Major Albert Bond Lambert purchased the field and developed it into an airport with hangars and a terminal. Charles Lindbergh, whose first pilot job was flying airmail for Robertson Airlines at the airport, departed the airport for New York about a week prior to his record-breaking flight to Paris in 1927. Later that year, Lambert sold the airport, by then known as Lambert Field, to the City of St. Louis. Lambert thus became the first municipally-owned airport in the United States. In the late 1920s Lambert Field became the first airport with an air-traffic control system. At that time the system consisted of waving flags to communicate with pilots. The first controller's name was Archie League.
Before World War II, Robertson Airlines, Marquette Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines provided passenger service to St. Louis. During the war, the airport became a manufacturing base for McDonnell Aircraft and Curtiss-Wright. After the war, Minoru Yamasaki was commissioned to design a new passenger terminal at Lambert. Completed in 1956, the four-domed terminal design inspired future terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
In the 1970s St. Louis city officials proposed replacing the airport with a new airport in suburban Illinois. Missouri residents strongly objected and Lambert underwent a $290 million expansion that increased its operational capacity by 50 percent including lengthening of runways and increasing gate capacity to 81. The proposed MidAmerica St. Louis Airport ultimately was built in Mascoutah, Illinois and opened in 1997 and now acts as a reliever airport to Lambert although it has no major carriers and has been derided as a pork barrel.
Trans World Airlines (TWA) moved its hub from Kansas City International Airport in 1982 and became Lambert's dominant carrier. The St. Louis hub survived TWA's bankruptcy in 1993, and by the late 1990s it was the dominant hub for TWA. After American Airlines (AA) bought TWA and merged its flight operations in 2001, Lambert became a reliever for AA's existing hubs at Chicago O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Since the merger, transatlantic service is no longer available directly from Lambert. AA transferred many mainline TWA routes to American Connection, a group of affiliated regional carriers. After the 2003 cutbacks, AA introduced American Eagle service at its St. Louis hub in May 2005. Unlike American Connection, American Eagle is wholly owned by AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle.
In late December 2006, AA announced that new services would be offered from the St. Louis hub, operated by mainline equipment (i.e. larger American Airlines aircraft) due to an increased demand from business travelers that regional jets could not efficiently sustain. New routes include Austin, Boston, Raleigh/Durham, and San Antonio. At the end of 2007, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is American Airlines' fourth-largest hub, behind Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, Chicago O'Hare, and Miami International Airport. Southwest Airlines also maintains a major presence at Lambert.
In 2006 the United States Air Force announced plans to make the 131st Fighter Wing Into The 131st Bomb Wing. The 18 F-15C Aircraft would for the most part be relocated to the 120th Fighter Wing In Montana. The Pilots and crew would be relocated to Whiteman AFB to fly and maintain the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, and be the first ANG Wing to fly it. As of October 2008 11 F-15's remain, and the unit will be finished moving in late July 2009.
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10701 Lambert International Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63145
Phone: (314) 426-8000
URL: www.lambert-stlouis.com
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