Home - The Beginnings 1970’s - 1990’s Early 2000’s The History and Growth of Fort Lauderdale International Airport - FLL Fort Lauderdale Airport - From it’s beginnings to today. The beginning days of Fort Lauderdale airport did not start so out grand. In fact the aviation location was basically a small runway operation back in 1929, on what had formerly been a discarded golf course that the airport first began to exist. Named after a famous local aviator, Merle Fogg, who died while piloting the plane he loved, Merle Fogg Field became operational in the dark years of the Great Depression. By 1942 the U.S. military had taken over all functional air strips in the U.S. and made them operating bases for aircraft. Merle Fogg Field was rechristened Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale by the U.S. Navy. The primary function of Fort Lauderdale Airport during the war was the retrofitting of civilian passenger aircraft to become cargo carriers for the war effort. Traffic routes then shipped the reconfigured aircraft by boat to Europe as well as Northern Africa for cargo service. After significant military demand began to wane, the base was then repurposed as a training facility for naval pilots to build their skillsets and practice on different types of planes. One of the most famous military personnel that flew at the base and learned aviation technique was George H.W. Bush, who would years later become the country's President after President Ronald Reagan in the 1990s. At the time, President Bush, Sr., was in training to receive certification as a naval pilot, attaining a record as the country's youngest naval pilot when he passed qualifications. At the ending of the war, the Fort Lauderdale Airport was also the scene of a flight disappearance. Flight Group 19 left the Airport on December 5, 1945, heading into the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft team was not heard from again, losing 14 crew and 5 individual planes. It was rumored the planes had entered the Bermuda Triangle and numerous rumors and myths developed over the years about the Group's unexplained disappearance. General conclusions determined that Flight 19 had crashed into the ocean after getting lost and running out of fuel. After the end of World War II, Fort Lauderdale Airport as a military base was shut down. On October 1, 1946, the U.S. Navy packed its bags and vacated the facility, turning over the keys of the ownership and administrative control to the regional local government, Broward County. The airport was renamed Broward County International Airport. Two years later, the county actually gained operational control of the complex and full title of ownership in 1953. However, it was not until 1956 that Broward County was able to operate the first commercial airline company out of the location, Mackey Airlines. Initial flight traffic in and out of Fort Lauderdale Airport started with commercial cargo flights at first. It was not until two years later, in 1958, that domestic travel began to use the Airport as a flight location for passengers. The first three companies to build landing ports at the Airport included Northeast Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and National Airlines. With the increased traffic and revenue from business, the Airport administration was able to begin construction on a full-blown, traditional terminal which was completed a year later in 1959. For the next few decades, however, Fort Lauderdale airport operated as a bit of a backwoods location. Average passenger traffic at the end of the 1960s only totaled 100 passengers a day. FLL Airport Today Privacy Policy