Opened in 1928 as the
Orlando Municipal Airport, the airport was the first commercial airport in central Florida. The
United States Postal Service started
airmail service to Orlando the following year.
Military use The
United States Army Air Corps took control of the airport in 1940 for use as a training facility and renamed it the
Orlando Army Air Base. For the next six years, the airport remained under military control. In June 1941, the Army Air Corps became the
United States Army Air Forces and beginning in late 1941 through mid-1943, Orlando Army Air Base was used by
I Bomber Command and later by units of the
Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command (AAFAC) to fly antisubmarine patrols along both the east coast as well as over the
Gulf of Mexico and the
Florida Straits, augmenting
U.S. Navy and
U.S. Coast Guard aircraft in that capacity. With the lessening of the U-boat threat, Orlando AAB became the home of the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) and subsequently as the Army Air Forces Tactical Center (AAFTC). In 1943 the AAFSAT began training units in
night fighter operations. The 481st Night Fighter Group was established, equipped with the Douglas
P-70, a variation of the
A-20 Havoc attack aircraft used for training. Squadrons attached to the group in 1943 and 1944 were the 348th, 349th, 420th, 423d, 425th, 426th and 427th Night Fighter Squadrons, which, after completion of training, were sent overseas to either the Pacific or European Theaters for combat. In contrast, the
Orlando Fighter Wing was stationed at the base. In 1946 the airfield was released to the
City of Orlando, while the military support facilities north and northeast of the airport remained under
U.S. Army Air Forces control as a non-flying administrative and technical training installation still named Orlando Army Air Base. With the establishment of the
United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947, this installation was renamed
Orlando Air Force Base, serving as a technical training facility for the
Air Training Command, a ground-launched tactical missile training facility for the
Tactical Air Command, and as a headquarters installation for the
Military Air Transport Service (later
Military Airlift Command) and the
Air Rescue Service. In 1968,
Orlando AFB was transferred to the
United States Navy and renamed
Naval Training Center Orlando. This installation served as the newest of one of three Navy enlisted recruit training centers (boot camps) and as home to various technical training schools, to include the
Naval Nuclear Power School for officer and enlisted personnel. The
1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed that NTC Orlando be closed no later than 1 October 1999. The base property was sold to the City of Orlando, which in turn sold it to private developers. Most of the installation was demolished and residential and commercial properties developed on the site, renamed
Baldwin Park.
Airline use In 1946 passenger flights on
National Airlines and
Eastern Air Lines began at the now civil Orlando Municipal Airport. Five years later the airport built its main terminal, a two-story structure with a built-in
control tower; this terminal building stood until late 1999. The April 1957
Official Airline Guide shows 20 weekday departures: 14 Eastern and 6 National. Eastern Air Lines had a nonstop flight to Atlanta; no other nonstops left the state. The nonstops to Washington that began in 1959 were probably the longest ORL ever had. The August 1955 diagram shows Runway 17 along the west side of the field, Runway 18 , Runway 4 , Runway 10R (still called 10R, though 10L was closed) and Runway 13 . By the early 1960s development around the airport had made further expansion unlikely. The airport's 6000 foot main runway, Runway 7/25, wasn't long enough for early jet airliners such as the
Boeing 707,
Douglas DC-8 and
Convair 880, so the city and Orange County governments lobbied the
U.S. Air Force to convert
McCoy Air Force Base, a
Strategic Air Command B-52 base about eight miles to the south, to a civil-military airport with an airline terminal on undeveloped land on the east side of the base and military operations on the west side. In 1961 the airport was renamed
Herndon Airport after former Orlando city engineer "Pat" Herndon, the change being in preparation for commencing jet airline flights to the new
Orlando Jetport at McCoy at
McCoy AFB, known today as
Orlando International Airport. In 1965 three airlines were serving Herndon Airport:
Delta Air Lines,
Eastern Air Lines and
National Airlines. Delta flew
Douglas DC-6 and
Douglas DC-7 propliners on nonstop flights to Atlanta with direct service to Chicago. Eastern and National operated
Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops with National flying direct service to New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Norfolk, Charleston, SC, Savannah, Jacksonville, FL and Miami, and Eastern operating nonstop and direct flights to Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, FL and Tallahassee. Eastern
Convair 440 prop aircraft also stopped at ORL with local service being flown to several destinations in Florida. By 1966, all three airlines had switched to operating their flights from the Orlando Jetport at McCoy, no longer serving Herndon.
Later developments In 1976 the City of Orlando ceded control of the airport and transferred the property, its former City of Orlando Aviation Department, and all operational responsibilities to the newly established
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), chartered by the Florida State Legislature to operate and manage all publicly owned airports in
Orange County, Florida. GOAA renamed the airport Orlando Executive Airport in 1982, and in 1998 to its present name of Executive Airport. In 1992, in cooperation with the
City of Orlando, GOAA constructed
Colonel Joe Kittinger Park in the southwest corner of the airport. Named in honor of noted local aviator,
Colonel Joe Kittinger Jr.,
USAF (Ret) by the City of Orlando, the aviation-themed park overlooks the approach end of ORL's Runway 7. The park was temporarily closed in 2008 and partially demolished for an expansion project of the State Road 408 East-West Expressway, sacrificing part of the park's previous facilities and acreage for a storm water retention area. The park, albeit reduced in size, reopened in March 2011. In 2014, GOAA and City of Orlando officials approved inclusion in the park of a demilitarized
F-4D Phantom II jet fighter on loan from the
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF). This aircraft arrived at ORL from Texas on July 22, 2014 and is on pylon-mounted static display at the park. The jet received from NMUSAF, AF Ser. No. 65-0747, was actually flown by Colonel Kittinger multiple times, including while based in Thailand during the Vietnam War and after the war while based in England. ==Accidents and incidents==