St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport

St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport
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File:St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport FL 31 Dec 2008.jpg USGS 1998 orthophoto
IATA: PIE – ICAO: KPIE – FAA LID: PIE
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	County of Pinellas
Serves	St. Petersburg / Clearwater, Florida
Location	Pinellas County
Focus city for	Allegiant Air
Elevation AMSL	11 ft / 3 m
Coordinates
Website	www.Fly2PIE.com
Map
PIE Location in Florida
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 4/22 5,903 1,799 Asphalt 9/27 4,712 1,436 CLOSED 18L/36R 9,730 2,966 Asphalt 18R/36L 4,000 1,219 CLOSED
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 122,023 Based aircraft 323 Total passengers (2012) 865,942 Cargo tonnage (2011) 15,060
Sources: FAA, Airport website

St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (IATA: PIE, ICAO: KPIE, FAA LID: PIE) is a public/military airport in Pinellas County, Florida. It is nine miles north of downtown St. Petersburg, USA and seven miles southeast of Clearwater.

The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings (enplanements) per year. In 2014 it experienced double-digit growth and handled more than one million passengers for the first time in its history.

Most scheduled airline traffic in the Tampa Bay Area uses Tampa International Airport (TPA), ten miles (16 km) to the east, but St. Pete–Clearwater remains a destination for low-cost carriers. St. Pete–Clearwater is a focus city for Las Vegas-based carrier Allegiant Air.

Because it is less busy than Tampa, PIE is frequently used by pilots of private planes and executive jets flying to the Tampa Bay Area.

The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and Fly2PIE in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.

History

The airport is on the west shoreline of Tampa Bay, six miles (10 km) north of St. Petersburg, Florida (the "birthplace of commercial air transportation"). Barely a decade after the pioneer flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the first tickets for airline travel were sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of Tony Jannus to fare-paying passengers. Using a Benoist XIV amphibious aircraft, the inaugural flight took place from a location near the downtown St. Petersburg Pier. Mayor Abram C. Pheil of St. Petersburg and Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, were the first passengers, flying across the bay to Tampa and, according to a United Press account, reportedly reaching the maximum speed of 75 miles per hour during the flight. Other reports indicate that they reached an altitude of 50 feet (15 m).

This marked 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.

Construction and wartime

See also: Pinellas Army Airfield

Construction of the airport at its present site started in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the airport was acquired by the United States Army Air Forces, which used it as a military flight training base assigned to Third Air Force.

The 304th Fighter Squadron, a combat training unit of the 337th Fighter Group based P-40 Warhawks and, later, P-51 Mustangs at Pinellas Army Airfield (as it was then known) for the duration of World 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 General James H. Howard, who was the only European Theater fighter pilot to be awarded the Medal 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.

Postwar operation

File:PIE airport map.PNG

FAA diagram (October 2006)

After World War II, the airport property was returned to Pinellas County by the U.S. government to operate as a commercial airport. It was originally called Pinellas International Airport and given the IATA designation, PIE, which it still uses, because PIA was already taken by Peoria International Airport. It was later changed to St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport because, according to airport manager "Bobo" Hayes, tourists didn't know where Pinellas county was.

In the 1950s some airlines provided service to both PIE and TPA, such as Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, National Airlines and Northwest Airlines. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide (OAG) shows 17 airline departures: ten Eastern, six National and one Mackey. Four of those flights were nonstop beyond Florida, including an Eastern Air Lines DC-4 to Chicago and a Lockheed 1049G to Pittsburgh.

With the advent of the Jet age, the airport's runway was extended northward into Tampa Bay and the first commercial jet service to PIE was operated by Northwest Airlines. The greatly increased seating capacities of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, compared to the propeller-driven DC-6 and DC-7, prompted the Civil Aeronautics Board to approve the consolidation of commercial airline service for the Tampa Bay area at TPA in the early 1960s.

Eastern was the last remaining scheduled air carrier at PIE when it terminated service in 1964. Airline service returned to PIE in the 1970s when Air Florida flew Lockheed Electras out of PIE; in 1982, Northeastern International started DC-8 nonstops to Islip, New York, and in 1983 People Express started nonstops to Newark with Boeing 737s and Boeing 727s. In 1986, Florida Express was operating British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twin jets nonstop to its nearby hub in Orlando. In 1987, American Airlines started nonstops to its Raleigh-Durham hub, but by October 1989 PIE again had no scheduled airline service.

American Trans Air, and Southeast Airlines added air service in the mid 1990s but both ceased operations at PIE in 2004, ATA downsizing due to bankruptcy and Southeast going defunct.

Recent developments

In September 2006, Allegiant Air announced significant scheduled service from St. Petersburg–Clearwater to destinations in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Since then, Allegiant has grown its destination count to and from PIE to 21 airports across the eastern U.S. In February, the Lansing, Michigan service shifted to Grand Rapids, Michigan, with four weekly flights.

Also, the airport recently completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, expanding the gate sizes, new plumbing, and building loading bridges, as the previous system required all passengers to walk across the tarmac to/from the gate. These improvements played a significant roll in the airport luring passenger flights to and from the airport.

In January 2015 Silver Airways announced it was beginning service to PIE, but in March the company had cancelled its plans.

Facilities

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Runway 27 (March 1988)

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Runway 17L and taxiway/runway 17R (1988)

The airport covers 1900 acres (769 ha) at an elevation of 11 feet (3 m). It has four asphalt runways: 18L/36R is 9,730 by 150 feet (2,966 x 46 m) and ILS-equipped, 4/22 is 5,903 by 150 feet (1,799 x 46 m), 9/27 is 5,165 by 150 feet (1,574 x 46 m), and 18R/36L is 4,000 by 75 feet (1,219 x 23 m). Runway 18R/36L is for daylight VFR use only; at night it is used as lighted taxiway.

The airport is also the home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in the United States, operating HC-130 Hercules and MH-60T Jayhawk aircraft. The U.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, operating UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-operated control tower, the FAA's Central Florida Region Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS)...the busiest AFSS in the United States...and the St. Petersburg VORTAC for airways navigation are also important federal government services at the airport.

Along with scheduled passenger and charter airlines and military flight operations, United Parcel Service / UPS Airlines, other air cargo, general/corporate aviation are also major activities, with UPS conducting extensive Boeing 757. The entire tract of the airport is designated as a Foreign 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.

In the year ending May 31, 2012 the airport had 122,023 aircraft operations, averaging 334 operations per day. Breakdown by category was: 74% general aviation, 16% military, 6% airline, and 5% air taxi. 323 aircraft were then based at this airport: 49% single-engine, 18% multi-engine, 13% helicopter, 12% military, and 9% jet.

Airlines and destinations

File:PIE Baggage Claim.jpg

Baggage-claim area, with replica of Benoist XIV flying boat flown by aviation pioneer Tony Jannus in 1914 (2009 photo)

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PIE's baggage-claim area has four baggage carousels (2009 photo)

St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport has one terminal and thirteen gates: 1–12 and 14.

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Allegiant Air	Akron/Canton, Allentown, Appleton, Asheville, Bangor, Belleville/St. Louis, Bloomington/Normal, Cedar Rapids, Chattanooga, Chicago/Rockford, Cincinnati, Columbus–Rickenbacker, Concord (NC), Dayton (begins April 15, 2016), Des Moines, Elmira, Flint (begins April 13, 2016), Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Harrisburg, Huntington (WV), Indianapolis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lexington, Memphis, New Orleans (begins June 3, 2016), Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Omaha, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Plattsburgh, Raleigh/Durham, Roanoke, Sioux Falls, South Bend, Springfield/Branson, Syracuse, Toledo, Tri-Cities (TN), Wilkes–Barre/Scranton, Youngstown/Warren Seasonal: Fargo, Hagerstown (MD), Moline/Quad Cities, Richmond, Tulsa
Sun Country Airlines	Charter: Gulfport/Biloxi
Sunwing Airlines	Seasonal: Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto-Pearson

File:Piemap.gif

Flight destinations as of Spring 2016

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
UPS Airlines	Albany (GA), Columbia, Jacksonville, Louisville, Philadelphia, San Juan

Statistics

Airline market share

Carrier shares for (Jan 2014 - Dec 2014)

Carrier	Passengers (arriving and departing)
Allegiant	1,178,000(96.34%)
Vision	27,510(2.25%)
Sun Country	17,290(1.41%)

Top domestic destinations

Top domestic destinations (April 2014 - March 2015)

Rank	City	Airport	Passengers
1	Grand Rapids, MI	Gerald R. Ford International (GRR)	32,760
2	Cincinnati, OH	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)	31,350
3	Asheville, NC	Asheville (AVL)	28,410
4	Knoxville, TN	McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS)	28,060
5	Fort Wayne, IN	Fort Wayne International (FWA)	25,080
6	Lexington, KY	Blue Grass Airport (LEX)	23,660
7	Ashland, WV	Tri-State Airport (HTS)	23,500
8	Allentown, PA	Lehigh Valley International (ABE)	23,190
9	South Bend, IN	South Bend International (SBN)	22,810
10	Greer, SC	Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP)	22,160

Annual traffic

Annual passenger traffic (enplaned + deplaned) at St Pete-Clearwater Airport, 1992 thru 2014

Year	Passengers	Year	Passengers	Year	Passengers
		2010	776,087	2000	734,940
		2009	776,535	1999	791,973
		2008	742,380	1998	911,195
		2007	747,369	1997	883,086
		2006	389,997	1996	1,045,928
		2005	596,510	1995	1,086,051
2014	1,247,987	2004	1,333,069	1994	721,977
2013	1,017,049	2003	997,761	1993	561,322
2012	865,942	2002	623,959	1992	397,940
2011	833,068	2001	637,310

Accidents and incidents

On June 6, 1982, a Douglas C-47A (N95C), of Fromhagen Aviation, was written off after the starboard engine failed during the takeoff for a training flight. All five people aboard survived.

On September 30, 2015, the pilot of a Piper PA-30, registered to Jet Aircraft Management, crashed and died while practicing takeoffs and landings.

Historical airlines

St. Pete–Clearwater has had a rich variety of airlines, both mainline,charter, and international come and go over the decades with one of the first scheduled airlines, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line flying passengers between St Pete and Tampa occurring in the area around the airport.

Historically many of the international flights have been seasonal flights to Canada for snowbirds who have places of residence in Florida during the winter and tourists. Most airlines that have served PIE have focused on vacation packages for vacationers coming to the Tampa bay area.

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• Air Florida
• Air South
• American Airlines
• ATA Airlines
• Canada 3000
• Canadian Airlines International
• Delta Air Lines
• Direct Air
• Eastern Air Lines
• Jetsgo
• Lorair
• Myrtle Beach Direct Air

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• Nordair
• Northeastern International Airways
• Northwest Airlines
• PEOPLExpress
• Royal Airlines
• SeaCoast Airlines
• Skyservice Airlines
• Southeast Airlines
• Sun Pacific
• Trans Global Vacations (Ryan International Airlines)
• USA 3000
• Vision Airlines

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See also

• Pinellas Army Airfield
• Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater
• List of airports in the Tampa Bay area
• James G. Howes, Airport Director (1980–2000)

Airport Trivia

One interesting fact about PIE is that, throughout its history, many of the airlines serving it have had stylized Suns in their logos or the word sun in their name at one point in their operational histories. These include Allegiant, ATA Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Sunwing Airlines and Southeast Airlines.

References

Other sources

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
• Bickel, Karl A. – The Mangrove Coast, 1942 by Coward McCann, Inc., Fourth Edition in 1989 by Omni Print Media, Inc., p. 265

External links

• St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport
• St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport real-time ATC feed
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective October 31, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for PIE, effective October 31, 2024
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KPIE
  • ASN accident history for PIE
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KPIE
  • FAA current PIE delay information