St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport

The first tickets for air travel to fare-paying passengers were sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of Tony Jannus, just a little over a decade after the pioneer flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903 (using an amphibious aircraft, the Benoist XIZV). As such, St. Petersburg is considered “the birthplace of commercial air transportation.” Construction of PIE began in March 1941, although the U.S. Army Air Forces acquired it following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and it was used as a training facility by the Third Air Force (this included the 304th Squadron, a combat training unit of the 337th Fighter Group). Further, the airfield was used by antisubmarine patrol flying over the Gulf of Mexico in search of German U-boats. After the war, the airfield was returned to Pinellas County so as to return to its civil capacity. It was originally called Pinellas International Airport (hence the designation PIE) and was changed to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in 1958. From the 1950s until the mid-1960s, the airport was served by Delta Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines, and Northwest Airlines. Runway 17/35 was extended north into Tampa Bay (in response to the coming of the jet age and the need for longer runways that it brought about). It appears as though the runway was at 8,000 feet when the first jets arrived at the airport in 1961 in the form of Boeing 720-Bs. However, the capabilities of the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 jets forced the Civil Aeronautics Board to approve the consolidation of airline service for the Tampa Bay area at Tampa International Airport. In effect, this meant that by 1964 regularly scheduled commercial flights ended at PIE, with Eastern being the last airline to leave. In 1972, airline service returned through Air Florida, which began intrastate flights to Miami and Orlando using Boeing 707s. By 1979, it was replaced by Red Carpet Airlines, which was also replaced by 1981 Sun Air. In 1982, Northeastern began servicing the airport, and within two years, it was joined by People Express and Atlantic Gulf Airlines. In 1987 American Airlines began servicing PIE with flights to Raleigh-Durham, while Midway Airlines began to service PIE in 1988. However, this was all short-lived, as, by 1989, PIE again enjoyed no regular airline service. American Trans Air began servicing the airport in 1991, and in 1995 it was joined by Air South. By the end of the 90s, there were four airlines servicing PIE: American Trans, Canada 3000, Royal Aviation, and Air Transat. In the spring of 2004, Southeast Airlines began serving the airport as well, although they went out of business by the fall of that year. In 2005, five airlines were servicing PIE: ATA Airlines (formerly American Trans), CanJet (flying to Canada), Jetsgo (Canada), Skyservice Airlines (Canada), and USA 3000 Airlines. In 2006 Allegiant Air began servicing PIE, and it has since increased its destinations from the airport to 59 airports. In 2009, the airport completed renovations, which included larger gates, passenger jet bridges, new plumbing, and more. The upgrades cost $22 million. 
 

The airport is located nine miles north of downtown St. Petersburg, seven miles southeast of Clearwater, and 17 miles southwest of Tampa. 

• The initial flight from St. Pete is commemorated with a replica of a Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area. The initial flight (to Tampa) was said to have reached a speed of 75 mph, with an altitude of 50 feet. 
• There is a permanent exhibit at the terminal honoring Brigadier General James H. Howard, who was the only fighter pilot in the European Theater to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. 
• The 1958 name change away from Pinellas International Airport occurred because, in the words of the airport manager "Bobo" Hayes, tourists didn't know where Pinellas County was. 
• The airport is planning to convert decommissioned runway 9/27 into a taxiway to increase service for air carriers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office aircraft.