Baer Army Air Base & Baer Field The airport was built at a cost of $10 million as a
United States Army Air Corps base just before
World War II. A coalition of city business interests arranged to purchase a series of contiguous land parcels outside of Fort Wayne, demolish the existing structures, and present a unified parcel to the War Department in a short enough period to meet a competitive deadline for the Development of Landing Areas for National Defense (DLAND) initiative while preserving civilian access to the existing Paul Baer Municipal Airport (now
Smith Field) on the north side of the city. War Department policy at the time required that bases and airfields be named for deceased military aviators, so other suggestions were rejected, and the department chose to name the new facility for
Paul Frank Baer, a Fort Wayne native and World War I
flying ace and early official for the Aeronautics Branch of the
United States Department of Commerce (now the
Federal Aviation Administration). The original airport had been named for Baer while he was still living, but he had since died in a
seaplane accident in
Shanghai while carrying mail and passengers for the
China National Aviation Corporation. The War Department's name choice necessitated a change of name for the municipal airport to avoid confusion, and city leaders elected to rename it for
Art Smith, a pioneering
airmail pilot, also a native of Fort Wayne, who also died in the course of his airmail duties. Operations began in April 1941 under the name
Baer Army Air Base, when
Maj. Wilson T. Douglas of the
Quartermaster Corps arrived as the base
quartermaster. The
weather station was activated in August of that year, and in November the 103 Communications Squadron arrived and the base was activated as
Baer Field. The
ordnance company departed in December, eventually reaching
Port Moresby in
New Guinea in February of the following year. Thereafter, the base was used sporadically for the
Army Air Forces Reserve and
Air Force Reserve training until 1951, the base was again in use for the
163rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, joined later that year by the
122nd Fighter Wing from
Stout Army Air Field. Since the
Korean War, the base has mostly hosted
Indiana Air National Guard units but has occasionally hosted active-duty units like the
434th Air Refueling Wing (previously the 434th Tactical Airlift Wing) on a temporary basis. The oldest original Baer Army Air Field hangar, Hangar No. 40, was in use from World War II until 2012. Hangar No. 40's final tenant was FedEx Express, who used it until the hangar was damaged in a weather-related incident. After the damage to Hangar No. 40, FedEx moved into a portion of the former Kitty Hawk hub. Hangar No. 40 was demolished between March and April 2013.
Fort Wayne Municipal Airport After the base was transferred to temporary inactive status, the city of Fort Wayne bought the airport from the
federal government's
General Services Administration for one dollar, renaming it
Fort Wayne Municipal Airport in 1946, though, colloquially, the entire complex was still referred to as Baer Field, a practice reinforced by the reactivation of the airport for military purposes in 1951, to the point a
race track adjacent to the property, Baer Field Raceway Park, which operated from 1964 to 2019, was named after it. Two passenger airlines initially served Baer Field:
TWA and
Chicago & Southern Airlines;
United Airlines appeared in 1947 with one DC-3 each way a day. C&S merged with
Delta Air Lines in 1953 and Delta is the airport's longest-serving carrier, having served the airport in one form or another ever since. In 1953 the airport's current terminal opened, replacing a converted military structure. The new permanent terminal had an air traffic control tower, an observation deck, and the "Look-Out Dining Room" restaurant with views of the ramp below. Late in the 1950s,
Hilton Hotels opened the on-site Hilton Inn, which was sold in the 1980s as Hilton opened a hotel at the
Grand Wayne Center. After Hilton sold the hotel, the on-airport Hilton was reflagged as first a
Holiday Inn, and later became a
Quality Inn and then a
Days Inn. TWA, the first airline to serve Fort Wayne at what is now
Smith Field, ended flights from Baer Field in 1963. Scheduled jet flights began in January 1967 on United
Caravelles (United had been using the
Vickers Viscount at Baer Field for several years). United's jets were soon joined by Delta
Douglas DC-9s.
American Airlines flights began in 1974, initially to
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (which opened that year) on
Boeing 727s. Along with Delta, United, and later American, locally-based Hub Airlines and other
regional airlines flew to the airport in the 1960s and 1970s. The airport was the largest in Indiana not served by airlines classified as local service airlines by the
Civil Aeronautics Board (e.g.
Allegheny Airlines and
Ozark Air Lines).
Eastern Air Lines was the only CAB regulation-era "Big Four" airline that never served Baer Field. In 1981, Baer Field's 1953 terminal building was modernized and expanded with features like
jetways to handle increased traffic brought on by the
Airline Deregulation Act. During the period immediately following deregulation in the late 1970s through the early 1980s,
Air Wisconsin,
Piedmont Airlines (later
US Airways), and
Republic Airlines began service to Baer Field. American also changed their Fort Wayne flights from Dallas to
Chicago O'Hare, while Air Wisconsin took over United's Chicago route in partnership with United and later as
United Express. Air Wisconsin also had a maintenance base on the west side of the airport in the 1980s and 1990s that handled
BAe 146,
BAe ATP, and later
Canadair Regional Jet aircraft. After Air Wisconsin closed the maintenance base,
Shuttle America briefly used the hangar before it lost its
US Airways Express affiliation, flying passengers to the US Airways Pittsburgh hub. The former Air Wisconsin hangar was later used by
Endeavor Air, and is presently in use by SkyWest. In 1985, management of Baer Field was transferred from the City of Fort Wayne to the newly established Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, with a board composed of equal numbers of City of Fort Wayne and Allen County officials.
Fort Wayne International Airport In 1991 Baer Field was renamed
Fort Wayne International Airport; the terminal was renamed to continue honoring
Paul Frank Baer. Through the 1990s the airport underwent the largest expansion and revitalization in its history. Between 1994 and 1997, the terminal was again expanded, with design by MSKTD & Associates, Inc. Other improvements included runway upgrades and the Air Trade Center on the southwest side of the property. In 1998, Fort Wayne International Airport started advertising the airport to the general public for the first time. That same year, Delta ended its mainline jet service to Atlanta. Although this ended a tradition of service dating back to Chicago & Southern Airlines when the airport was converted to civil use in the 1940s, Delta continued to serve the airport via
Delta Connection regional jets to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Other airlines serving the airport, including United,
Northwest, and American, followed Delta's lead in introducing
regional jets such as the
Canadair Regional Jet,
Fairchild Dornier 328JET,
Avro RJ85, and the
Embraer ERJ-145 to the airport.
Turboprops such as the
Saab 340,
Beechcraft 1900,
ATR 72, and
Dash 8 also continued to play a role for flights to destinations such as
Milwaukee,
Pittsburgh,
Cleveland, and
Detroit, occasionally alongside larger jets such as the DC-9,
Fokker 100, and
Boeing 737 on the same routes. By 2000, Fort Wayne International Airport was handling record traffic. The record from 2000 was not broken until 2016.
American Eagle resumed nonstop flights to
Dallas/Fort Worth that year, which continue.
Air Canada Express began a short-lived service to Toronto. The following year, Fort Wayne International Airport's traffic dropped after the
September 11 attacks. The slump continued for several years, prolonged by an ongoing fare war between
Southwest Airlines,
ATA Airlines, and others at
Indianapolis International Airport, two and a half hours from Fort Wayne. In late 2003,
ATA Connection began service from Fort Wayne International Airport to
Chicago/Midway, the first
low-cost carrier to serve the airport. Demand for the flights reached the point where airport management bought the on-site
Days Inn to make room for more parking. An on-site hotel has not returned to the airport since, as many modern hotels on the southwest side of Fort Wayne offer shuttle service. ATA briefly switched the flight's destination to Indianapolis before closing their regional division completely in early 2005.
US Airways also ended service to Pittsburgh, their lone service from the airport, as part of a broader de-hubbing of Pittsburgh. US Airways left the airport, as the discontinued Pittsburgh service was not transferred to the airline's other hubs in
Philadelphia or
Charlotte. However, nine years later after the merger of American Airlines and US Airways, Fort Wayne International Airport got service to both hubs. Around the same time as the departure of US Airways from the airport, Northwest stopped using mainline aircraft on their Detroit flights; unlike US Airways, NWA continued to serve the Fort Wayne to Detroit route using regional jets and turboprops. Delta planned on introducing service to Orlando from the airport in 2005; however, the flights were canceled days before the planned launch as the result of Delta's
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In January 2007, a modernized
air traffic control tower was opened on the south side of Fort Wayne International Airport, at a price of $9.7 million. One year later,
Allegiant Air, the airport's second low-cost carrier, began operations with service to
Orlando. Allegiant continues to serve the airport and has since added service to
Tampa/St. Petersburg,
Myrtle Beach (seasonal),
Punta Gorda (serving Fort Myers and Sarasota), and Phoenix. At one time, Allegiant also offered service to Fort Lauderdale from the airport and served Phoenix and Las Vegas before late 2008 as well. The Las Vegas and Phoenix services were initially discontinued in 2008 due to fuel costs and fuel price volatility. However, the Phoenix and Las Vegas suspensions were ultimately temporary as Allegiant began adding more fuel-efficient
Airbus A319 aircraft in 2013. The A319 allowed the airline to serve Phoenix profitably from Fort Wayne. Allegiant then added the
Airbus A320 to Florida routes. The MD-80 fleet has since been retired, making Allegiant an all-
Airbus airline of A319 and A320 aircraft, the largest passenger aircraft used at the airport. The move to an all-Airbus fleet with lower fuel and maintenance costs enabled Allegiant to serve more cities from Fort Wayne and elsewhere; seasonal
Sarasota service started in 2019 and
Las Vegas was resumed as seasonal service in 2020. The Fort Lauderdale service was eliminated along with several other Allegiant routes to Fort Lauderdale, including one from what is now
South Bend International Airport, due to congestion problems at
Fort Lauderdale International Airport. In 2008, all Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority properties including Fort Wayne International Airport and Smith Field received a new logo. The new brand, designed by Fort Wayne firm Catalyst Marketing Design, is meant to resemble
jet contrails. Debuting together with the new logo was the slogan "A Whole New Altitude" that was and continues to be used for both airports along with the Airport Authority's operations. Northwest began service to
Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport in early 2008; the service was temporarily suspended in 2009 following the merger of Delta and Northwest, but resumed in 2010 as seasonal service running between early March and late December. The Minneapolis flights are now year-round service. During and after the
Great Recession, Fort Wayne International Airport lost relatively little of its service and passengers when compared with similar Midwestern airports. Although
Continental Airlines ended Cleveland service in 2009 and Delta ended Cincinnati service in 2011, there was no impact to the airport in the end. Unlike some other similar airports, Fort Wayne International Airport gained passengers in the six years immediately following Continental's discontinuation of Cleveland flights. In the cases of both Cleveland and Cincinnati, the service discontinuation was part of broader hub cutbacks at both Continental and Delta that affected many other airports. Following the merger of Delta and Northwest, Delta also replaced the last of the turboprop flying from the airport with regional jets. Around the time of the discontinuation of Cleveland service, United placed Continental flight numbers and allowed Continental OnePass frequent-flyer miles to be earned on United flights, including those from Fort Wayne. United continues to serve the airport following the United/Continental merger, and added flights to their Newark hub in September 2016. However, this service was unsuccessful due to local passenger preference for
LaGuardia Airport and United’s 2018 decision to reduce Newark flying to many small markets. Today Fort Wayne is served by four carriers: Allegiant Air, American Eagle, Delta, and United Express. Although they account for a small percentage of airport traffic (less than 1%), charter flights from operators including Allegiant,
Vision Airlines, and
Republic Airlines also operate from the airport. Delta reduces Detroit flights during January and February, the airport's slowest months, while United and American reduce Chicago flights. Delta's Atlanta and Minneapolis flights, all American flights aside from O'Hare, and Allegiant flights to Florida and Phoenix do not see reductions in January and February. The airport's terminal received updates in 2013. These updates included new paint, expanded business, new welcome centers, new children's play areas, permanent heating and air conditioning units for aircraft use at gates and new lounge seating near the gates with power outlets. The airport's office reception area and executive offices on the second floor of the terminal building also received an update at approximately the same time. Also in 2013, Allegiant reintroduced service to Phoenix via
Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport in late October of that year. Phoenix is the third-most popular city from Fort Wayne International Airport behind Atlanta and Dallas, and prior to the reintroduction, Phoenix was also the most popular city without nonstop service from the airport. The resumed Phoenix service became Allegiant's fourth year-round and fifth total destination from the airport. About six months after the legal closing of the American Airlines-US Airways merger, Fort Wayne International Airport and
American Airlines Group announced twice-daily service to
Philadelphia International Airport and daily flights to
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, both legacy US Airways hubs. The new flights began on October 2, 2014. These three flights boosted the merged airline's departures from Fort Wayne by a third over the previous schedule, provided the airport's first route to the northeastern US since deregulation, and offered an additional gateway to the southeastern US and the Caribbean. Both hubs also improved connections to Europe from Fort Wayne, offering new one-stop flight options that were previously not available. A second Charlotte flight was added in December 2015. The success of American's Philadelphia service led United Airlines to add service to
Newark Liberty International Airport, effective September 2016. The service will initially utilize the Embraer EMB-145 regional jet. This is United's first flight aside from O'Hare from the airport since the mid-1980s, and will provide additional one-stop connections to the East Coast, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and India from the airport. However, shortly after the United announcement, American decided to discontinue Philadelphia flights as of August 2016. Unusually for such a decision, American initially did not cite a reason for the discontinuation to local media, though lower-than-expected traffic was later cited as a reason. However, some felt that the market was too small to support service to two very similar hubs in the same area. American remained committed to the airport, and continues to serve Charlotte, Chicago, and Dallas/Fort Worth multiple times daily. In November 2016, American upgraded their Dallas flights to the CRJ-900 with first-class seating and upgraded Charlotte flights to CRJ-700s with first class in March 2017. The Philadelphia decision was short-lived as American resumed Philadelphia service in June 2018, again with two daily flights (the afternoon flight that mainly serves connections to Europe sees a suspension during the slow winter months). Due to a pilot shortage, the service ended in May 2023. This marked 12 nonstop cities from the airport, with over 350 cities possible with one connection, though not all cities are served year-round. 2016 was a record year for the airport's passenger numbers, as the airport handled 727,896 passengers, marking seven consecutive years of passenger growth. 2017 improved on this number, and by 2019, the airport had ten straight record years. In 2018, a rerouting of Ferguson Road and demolition of a hangar was completed. This allowed for more parking and for a future terminal expansion, with room for more parking. ==Facilities==