Terminal 1-Lindbergh turns 50 this month.  It’s amazing how much change five decades have brought to the aviation industry, to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and to the terminal itself.

The 600,000-square foot terminal was built for $8.5 million – less than it will cost to upgrade MSP’s security camera system in 2012. Of the seven airlines that served the terminal when it opened, only United Airlines remains. Braniff, Eastern, North Central, Northwest, Ozark and Western fell victim to bankruptcies, mergers or acquisitions. In their place are other carriers: Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, US Airways and Great Lakes Airlines, MSP’s newest entrant. Other carriers – Air Tran, Icelandair, Southwest and Sun Country – operate from a second terminal that wasn’t even in the plans when Terminal 1-Lindbergh opened in 1962.

Back then, about 5,500 people a day, on average, traveled through the new terminal, compared to 80,000 now. The terminal wouldn’t possess a name separate from the airport’s until 1985, when the building was rededicated to Charles A. Lindbergh. Food service in 1962 consisted of a dining room, snack bar and coffee shop – a far cry from today’s 47 Terminal 1-Lindbergh restaurants, featuring flavors from all over the world.

The Twin Cities was rightfully proud of its new terminal, with its modern glass façade and concrete, saw-toothed roof. People were beginning to understand that a bustling airport was key to economic growth in the region. If successful, the airport would bring progress and prosperity to Minnesota and link it to a world that had seemed to shrink considerably following two world wars and the... Read More