Celebrating 60 Years of Air Service: RFD - It s the way Flying Should Be.

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1 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s February 26, President Harry S. Truman signed the deed transferring ownership of the 1,600 acre tract of land that had been the U.S. Army s Camp Grant during WW I and WW II to the Greater Rockford Airport Authority. May 14, The first meeting of the Board Commissioners of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority was held at 3 p.m. in the office of the Mayor of the City of Rockford. The following were present: Kimball L. Finkenstaedt, Harry Shaw, Glenn Alberstett, Swan Hillman, and Foster Smith. Soldiers unload from a train arriving at Camp Grant For his decisive role in helping the Authority acquire Camp Grant land, Senator Scott W. Lucas was the guest of honor and broke the first ground at the ceremony celebrating the Authority s acquisition of an airport site. Construction plans were to be completed in six phases. October 21, During the latter part of 1949, the first phase of construction was completed which included removal of obstructions, grading and paving of three runways 4,100 feet long by 100 feet wide, and ramp area. Phase I work was completed just in time for Governor Adlai Stevenson s aircraft to land for a visit at Rockford. President Harry S. Truman confers with Senator Scott W. Lucas.

2 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s Rockford is going to grow and so is the airport. This statement holds as true today as it did June 26, 1951, when it was made by Kimball L. Finkenstaedt, first chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority Commercial airline service established. September 26, 1950 Mid-Continent Airlines begins Rockford-Chicago service. January 5, 1951 Mid-Continent s service level goes to 10 flights daily. Greater Rockford Airport personnel pose in front of their new crash rig. The passenger terminal and Ozark Airlines are pictured in the back (1959). May 16, 1951 Ozark Airlines begins Rockford-St Louis service. June 15, 1952 Mid-Continent and Braniff International Airlines merge, keeping the Braniff name. June 11, 1958 Ozark boards its 100,000th Rockford passenger Completion of a weather station in 1958 gave Greater Rockford Airport one of the nation s finest federal facilities. It includes the FAA Flight service station, built in 1950, and the US weather bureau building. Braniff Airlines aircraft prepares for takeoff Ozark Airlines enplanes 28,000 people, recording it as the best year of travel at the Rockford airport.

3 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s 1960s Rockford was the Experimental Aircraft Association s original home before moving to Oshkosh, WI in The control tower chalked up a world record for total operations (takeoffs and landings) in one day--4, 766 by 2,800 aircraft. The event would continue to grow throughout the decade before eventually relocating to Oshkosh. May 1, 1961 Ozark begins first Rockford service to the new O Hare International Airport in Chicago. s Instrument Landing System goes into service this same year. Air Traffic Control Tower (1960). June 2, 1962 Chicago City Council grants permission to Peoria-Rockford Bus Company to provide Rockford-O Hare service Woodward Governor becomes the first industry to lease airport land to construct its own hanger Among Illinois airports conducting instrument operations, Rockford was ranked fourth Two runways were long enough to serve the largest expected aircraft by The north-south runway had grown to 6,000 ft. and the northeast-southwest runway to 5,000 ft. The Experimental Aircraft Association s International Fly-In was held annuallly in Rockford from 1959 through After 11 years in Rockford, the fly-in eventually moved to Oshkosh, WI. Sept. 12, 1967 Commuter Air Service begins flights between Greater Rockford Airport and two Chicago airports, O Hare and Meigs Field.

4 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s October 1, 1970 Ozark begins Rockford-Washington D.C. service with DC-9 jetliners and would later add package delivery service. Greater Rockford Airport Authority s Washington legal counsel files for CAB approval of hyphenation with Chicago Runway was constructed to accommodate jumbo jets Gerald Ford becomes the 3rd President to visit Rockford. TWA pilots prepare aircraft to be shown at the open house in The USAF Thunderbirds make an appearance at the airport, attracting between 30,000 and 50,000 spectators. The USAF Thunderbirds pose after their Rockford performance celebrating the nation s bicentennial in April 25, Ozark Airlines launches its new Rockford-Denver jet airliner service. March 12, 1978 Coleman Air Transport begins Rockford-Detroit service. May 11, Coleman begins service to Minneapolis-St Paul. TWA flight attendant pins wings on a child during the open house.

5 FLY CHICAGO/ROCKFORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT () s May 1, 1980 Trans-World Airlines begins Rockford O Hare service with Boeing 727 jetliners. April 29, 1984 American Central Airlines begins service to Detroit with three flights daily. June 8, 1984 Frontier Airlines begins service to Denver with three daily flights July 1, 1986 Britt Airways replaces Frontier Airlines. Mississippi Valley Airlines starts service to O Hare with four daily flights on June 1st, July 4, hosts its first AirFest. Over the years, Midwest AirFest landed some great acts including the Thunderbirds second visit to Rockford in Midwest AirFest continued for eight years. September 1987 Celebrated that opening of if it s new 50,000 sq. ft. terminal. Over 3,000 people attended the grand opening celebration. The new $5.8 million Air Passenger Terminal was dedicated by the Greater Rockford Airport Authority Board, assisted by Kimball Finkenstaedt, the first chairman of the Board of Commissioners. July 1988 The Greater Rockford Airport Authority hired Fredrick C. Ford as it s new executive director. Within a year, an air cargo facility equipped with ground support equipment was developed, an office was established for U.S customs, commercial air British Airways Concorde visited the Greater Rockford Airport October 22 and October 30, The airline offered two non-stop flights to London, only allowing a total of 200 passengers to enjoy the experience of traveling twice the speed of sound. service was improved, and an application was submitted for a Foreign Trade Zone. (FTZ #176 was approved March 1991.) April 1989 Emery Worldwide marks the long-awaited beginning of air cargo service at. The service would generate about $25,000 annually for the airport, and fuel and loading contracts for two airport tenants.

6 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s 1986 to Northwest Airlink provides air service from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN to Rockford, IL. Detroit, MI service was added in 1996 and continued through to Skyway Airlines provides air service from Milwaukee, WI and Detroit, MI to Rockford. Northwest Airlink announces new service from Rockford to Minneapolis/St. Paul with three daily roundtrip flights. July 1990 Soviet fighter jets perform for the first time in the United States at the Rockford AirFest. The air show attracted over 60,000 spectators, generating more than a half a million tourism dollars in the Rockford area American Airlines (American Eagle) provides service from Rockford to Chicago O Hare. December 19, 1993 United Parcel Service announces they would bring 300 jobs to the community, with the possibility of creating 500 more in the years to follow United Parcel Service moves to the Greater Rockford Airport creating the second largest sorting hub in their world-wide network. Emery Air begins providing services to UPS, including over 16,000,000 gallons of jet fuel per year. United Parcel Service s new sorting hub facility opens at Rockford in October 1994 with four jets.

7 F LY C H I C A G O / R O C K F O R D I N T E R N A T I O N A L A I R P O R T ( R F D ) s 2000 & Northwest Airlink stops their service from Minneapolis/St. Paul & Detroit. March 25, Bob O Brien begins his first day of work as the executive director of. July 8, Over 2,000 people gathered at to show their support of TransMeridian Airlines (TMA) new service. August After two years without passenger service, TMA begins non-stop flights to Orlando and Las Vegas ( service ended September 30, 2005). Thousands of supporters showed up in the rain to welcome TransMeridian Airlines to Rockford in July ,732 Founders donated over $270,000 to help bring passenger service back to. July 14, hosts a ribbon cutting for the new Snow Removal Equipment Building. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was instrumental in assisting in securing federal grant dollars to fund this project that replaced the original building built in February Hooters Air starts service to Atlanta, Denver, and Las Vegas. Additional destinations were subsequently added including Myrtle Beach and Clearwater/St. Pete. (service ended December 2005) January 27, hosts a ribbon cutting and tour of the International Arrival Gate facility. Congressman Don Manzullo (R-IL 16th) was instrumental in facilitating discussions which directly lead to the development and funding of this project making an international-grade airport. February SunShip1 provides s first international flight to Cancun (service ended July 2005). Vacation Express provides connecting service to Mexico and Caribbean through Orlando (service ended September 30, 2005) The first Hooters Air flight departs from to Denver in February 2004.

8 FLY CHICAGO/ROCKFORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT () s March completes series of terminal enhancement projects including: expansion of passenger hold area, parking, new baggage carrousel, and the addition of two additional jet bridges. May 2, Northwest Airlines begins service to Detroit (service ended January 2006). August hosts its first air show in 10 years. AirFest 2005 attracted over 30,000 attendees. September Over $45 million dollars of merchandise was reported to have passed through FTZ #176 the previous year. November & December, Allegiant Air begins service to Las Vegas and Orlando, replacing the service once offered by TMA. Bob O Brien and Board Chairman Mike Dunn kiss the nose of the United Airlines jet in celebration of new non-stop service to Denver in March February 11, Apple Vacations starts non-stop service to Cancun. March 3, United Airlines begins non-stop service to Denver. March 2, Festival Airlines hosts a press conference to announce that this new Chicagobased airline will be offering numerous nonstop vacation destinations from to begin in fall August 17, hosts a 60-Year Anniversary celebration in the Terminal. Hundreds of supporters attend the event.