Orlando Executive Airport

A Legacy of Private Aviation

Originally Orlando Municipal Airport, ORL opened in 1928 as the first commercial airport in central Florida, with USPS starting airmail to Orlando the following year. In 1940, The U.S. Army Air Corps took control of the airport for use as a training facility and was renamed Orlando Army Air Base. During the war, it was used by I Bomber Command and by the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command to fly antisubmarine patrols along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits. With the U-boat threat waning, the base became home to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics and later the Army Air Forces Tactical Center. Night fighter operations trained at the base, and upon completion of training completion, squadrons were sent to the European or Pacific Theaters for combat. In 1946, the airport was released to the City of Orlando, whereas the Orlando Army Air Base remained to the north and northeast of the airport as a non-flying administrative and technical training facility. In 1947 the military component was renamed the Orlando Air Force Base, and it served as a technical training facility for the Air Training Command, a ground-launched tactical missile training facility for the Tactical Air Command, and a headquarters installation for the Military Air Transport Service and the Air Rescue Service. Air Force presence remained until 1968, when the military component was transferred to the U.S. Navy, promptly renamed the Naval Training Center Orlando. However, the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed the center be closed by the 1st of October, 1999. The property was sold to the City of Orlando, which subsequently sold it to private developers. Most of the base was demolished for the sake of residential and commercial properties. As for the airport, in 1946, Eastern Air Lines and National Airlines began servicing the airport. Within five years, the main terminal building (which featured a built-in control tower) had been built. Development around the airport meant that by the early 1960s, further expansion was unlikely. In 1961 the airport was renamed Herndon Airport after former Orlando city engineer “Pat” Herndon. This was done in anticipation of jet airline flights servicing the new Orlando Jetport at McCoy (known today as Orlando International Airport). In 1965 Herndon was served by Delta Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, and National Airlines. Within a year, all three airlines had switched their operations to the new airport at McCoy. In 1976 the City of Orlando transferred the property and all operational responsibilities to the newly established Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which the Florida State Legislature had chartered to operate and manage all publicly owned airports in Orange County. As such, the Authority renamed the airport in 1982 the Orlando Executive Airport (and in 1998 simply Executive Airport).