1940s
• March 1948 - Lee Wagener appointed airport manager. Served for 35 years.
1950s
• June 2, 1953 - Mackey Airlines commenced international service from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau
• 1954 - Sunny South, Hill Air Co., and Red Aircraft Co. opened for business
• October 4, 1956 - Broward County received Quit-Claim Deed from US Government on Naval Air Station
• August 1958 - The Boy family moved from North Carolina and opened National Jets FBO and Carolina Aircraft Corp
• December 13, 1958 - Northeast Airlines inaugurated service to New York
• 1958 - Eastern and National Airlines commenced service
• March 1, 1959 - New air terminal completed
• December 31, 1959 - Passenger traffic reached 134,773, a 178% increase over 1958
• 1959 - Delta started Fort Lauderdale Service
1960s
• February 20, 1961 - Northeast Airlines begins first jet service to Broward County
• 1967 - Mackey Airlines merged with Eastern Airlines. Under management of Len Povey, Eastern Air Services named one of the top 30 FBOs in the U.S.
• December 31, 1969 - Passenger traffic exceeded 1 million
1980s
• June 1983 - Project 80s commenced. $263 rebuild of terminal complex
• August 1, 1986 - Terminal 4 opened. Concorde landed for the first time
• December 31, 1986 - Passenger traffic reached 8 million
1990s
• February 1990 – Air Canada began service to Montreal
• December 31, 1994 - Passenger traffic hits the 10 million mark
• June 1995 - Air Jamaica began flying at FLL
• January 1996 - Southwest began flying at FLL
• May 1999 - Spirit became “hometown airline” and moved its offices to Miramar
• December 1999 - Hibiscus Garage opened adding 4,900 new parking spaces
2000s
• April 2001 - Terminal 1 opened with new Concourse C
• December 31, 2000 - Passenger traffic hits 15 million
• February 11, 2001 - JetBlue began flying at FLL
• January 2003 - Concourse B opened in Terminal 1
• November 2003 - New entrance roadway opened for traffic
• December 31, 2003 - Year ended with 17.9 million passengers. Up 5.3% over 2002
• 2003 - Spirit and American Airlines began international operations
• 2003 - Aeromexico, Cayman Airways, and Avianca joined the airport family
• February 2004 - Sets an all-time record for monthly passenger traffic during any month……1,789,676 passengers. Up 20.7% over Feb 2003 and marked the 5th straight month of double digit growth.
• December 31, 2004 - Passenger traffic reached 20 million
• January 2005 - Rental Car Center opened
• July 2005 - Cypress Garage opened
• November 2007 – Allegiant Airlines began nonstop flights to Allentown, PA
• May 2008 – Caribbean Airlines started service to Port of Spain, Trinidad
• November 2009 – Virgin America began flying at FLL
• December 31, 2009 – Passenger traffic reached 21,061,024
2010s
• September 2010 - Spirit, Broward’s hometown airline, celebrated its 20th anniversary
• September 2011 – Flights to Cuba began via Airline Brokers Company
• December 31, 2011 – International passengers broke 3.6 million
• February 2011 – JetBlue celebrated its 10th anniversary at FLL
• February 2011 – United Airlines returned to FLL
• January 2012 – Groundbreaking for the expanded South Runway
• July 2012 – Alaska Airlines began nonstop flights to Seattle
