National to the rescue

In 1937, National Airlines, a fledgling airline established in 1934, expressed an interest in bringing passenger service, air mail and air express to the Fort Myers area.

According to the October 1969 issue of The National Reporter, a trade magazine published by National Airlines, "George T. Baker had a dream in 1934 amid the dark clouds of America's greatest economic depression. The National Airlines System, as it was called then, operated two secondhand Ryan monoplanes on a mail route between St. Petersburg, the airline's base, and Daytona Beach." The Ryans each could carry four passengers.

Now Baker was ready to expand. At a meeting of the Fort Myers City Council, Baker explained that the present airport and hangar accommodations would be adequate for the Stinson trimotor planes which would be serving this area. However, by November 1, National would be using the new Lockheed Vega Highspeed passenger planes. By that time, the runways would have to be much longer.

Baker was accompanied by H. C. Whitney, Director of the Aviation Division of the State Road Department. Whitney recommended construction of a 4,000-foot runway made of shell covered with asphalt.

On July 16, less than two weeks later, although the runways were not completely hard-surfaced, they were sufficient for an intermediate stop on the initial flight of National Airlines between Tampa and Miami. Mayor Dave Shapard, joined by Postmaster Walter Walters, greeted the planes.

The first airmail and passenger plane arrived at the Fort Myers Airport at 8:25 a.m. and left carrying more than 25,000 letters to be returned to stamp collectors all over the country. Shapard and Walters were passengers for the flight over the Everglades.

On July 17,1937, the Fort Myers News Press reported, "Mayor Shapard returned enthusiastic over the airmail and passenger service and said a project had been worked up to make the Fort Myers Airport thoroughly modern. This would mean the construction of two black surfaced runways 4,000 feet long to accommodate fast airships."

In the same article, the fares were listed. One-way to Miami was $7.50; round trip was $13.50. The fare to Tampa one-way was $7.95 and round trip was $12.95.

According to Karl Grismer's writing in "The Story of Fort Myers," National began making regular stops at the Fort Myers Airport on August 4, 1937. "Later the airline was forced to cancel many flights because of wet grounds, and late in the year officials threatened to discontinue service until concrete runways were provided."

It wasn't that the City didn't want to comply with National's requirements. The problem was a lack of money. The area was still in the throes of the depression. Finally, in 1939 in order to qualify for Federal monies from the Works Projects Administration (WPA), the City of Fort Myers deeded the airport to Lee County and on November 7, 1939, voters approved a $75,000 bond issue to pay the local share of the cost of the improvements.

Work on the three concrete runways was commenced January 1, 1940, by the WPA. Soon, the project was taken over by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) and finally by the U. S. Army.

The airport was described in the November 28, 1940, issue of the Fort Myers News-Press as approximately square and as "level as a ping pong table" with a few exceptions.

The planned expansion included two hangars and an administration building including quarters for the CAA and the weather bureau. It was expected that, once completed, this airport could become an auxiliary base for the U.S. Air Corps and perhaps for a civilian air training base. The paved 8,000 foot runways would be long enough for the fastest flying aircraft. This $250,000 project had January 1, 1941, as a completion date, which was met.

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