FAA Remembers: Key 2011 Anniversaries 

85th Anniversary of: 

Federal Regulation of Aviation 

May 20, 1926: President Calvin Coolidge signed the Air 

Commerce Act of 1926 into law. The act instructed the Secretary 

of Commerce to foster air commerce; designate and establish 

airways; establish, operate, and maintain aids to air navigation 

(but not airports); arrange for research and development to 

improve such aids; license pilots; issue airworthiness certificates 

for aircraft and major aircraft components; and investigate 

accidents. 

President Calvin Coolidge, Courtesy of Library of Congress 

75th Anniversary of: 

Federal Control of Air Traffic 

July 6, 1936: Federal air traffic control began as the 

Bureau of Air Commerce (FAA predecessor 

organization) took over operation of the first airway 

traffic control centers at Newark, Chicago, and 

Cleveland established and operated by a consortium 

of airlines. When the Bureau assumed control of the 

centers, it hired fifteen center employees to become 

the original Federal corps of airway controllers. 

1937 Newark Airway Traffic Control Center 
70th Anniversary of: 

Opening of Washington National Airport 

June 16, 1941: CAA officially opened 

Washington National Airport for full-time 

operations. By the end of the year, almost 

300,000 passengers had enplaned or 

deplaned at the airport, and scheduled air 

carrier operations reached a high of 192 

daily in the month of September. 

1940s Washington National Airport 

Federal Control of Airport Traffic Control Towers 

November 1, 1941: CAA began 

operating airport traffic control towers.

(Prior to this time, towers were operated 

by local airport authorities, except at 

CAA-managed Washington National 

Airport.) By November 15, the Agency 

controlled towers at Albuquerque, NM; 

Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Floyd 

Bennett Field, NY; Orlando, FL; 

Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; and 

Savannah, GA. 

1940s Civil Aeronautics Administration air traffic control tower, Buffalo, NY 
65th Anniversary of: 

FAA Aeronautical Center 

March 15, 1946: CAA announced the 

selection of Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma 

City, OK, for the location of its new 

aeronautical center for training and 

maintenance. The agency immediately 

relocated the Standardization Center 

(Houston), the general aircraft maintenance 

base for the Midwest, and the Signals Division 

School, and planned eventually to move all 

Federal airways schools and similar Agency 

activities to this central location. 

1940s Training Class, Oklahoma City, OK 

Federal Aid to Airports 

May 13, 1946: President Truman signed the Federal 

Airport Act establishing the Federal-aid airport 

program, the first peacetime program of financial aid 

aimed exclusively at promoting development of the 

nation's civil airports. The Act authorized 

appropriations of $500 million for the contiguous 

United States and $20 million for Alaska and Hawaii 

over a period of seven years, beginning July 1, 1946. 

Federal allotments were to be matched by local funds. 

1940s Atlanta Municipal Airport 
30th Anniversary of: 

Air Traffic Controllers Strike 

August 3, 1981: Nearly 12,300 members of the 

15,000-member Professional Air Traffic 

Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike, 

beginning at 7 a.m., EST, grounding 

approximately 35 percent of the nation's 14,200 

daily commercial flights. Shortly before 11 a.m. 

on August 3, President Ronal Reagan issued the 

strikers a firm ultimatum: return to work within 48 

hours or face permanent dismissal. The 

government moved swiftly on three fronts -- civil, 

criminal, and administrative – to bring the full 

force of the law to bear on the strikers. In a series 

of legal steps, Federal officials: 

• Asked the Federal Labor Relations Authority 

(FLRA) to decertify PATCO as the bargaining 

agent for the 17,200 controllers and controller 

staff members. 

1981 Picketing in front of FAA Headquarters, Washington, DC 

• Moved to impound the union's $3.5 million strike fund. 

• Filed criminal complaints in Federal courts in eleven cities against twenty-two PATCO officials. 

Sought restraining orders against the strikers in thirty-three courts. 

Approximately 875 controllers returned to work during the 48 hour grace period granted. After expiration 

of the grace period, about 11,400 controllers were dismissed. Most of those fired appealed the action, and 

440 were eventually reinstated as a result of their appeals. 

The strike and dismissals drastically curtailed FAA’s controller workforce. According to DOT’s FY 1982 

annual report, the firings reduced the number of controllers at the full performance or developmental level 

from about 16,375 to about 4,200. To keep the airways open, approximately 3,000 ATC supervisory 

personnel worked at controlling traffic. FAA assigned assistants to support the controllers, and 

accelerated the hiring and training of new air traffic personnel. Military controllers arrived at FAA 

facilities soon after the strike began, and about 800 were ultimately assigned to the agency. The day the 

strike began, FAA adopted Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) 44, establishing provisions for 

implementing an interim air traffic control operations plan. That plan allowed FAA, among others things, 

to limit the number of aircraft in the national airspace system. Hence, on August 5, the agency 

implemented a plan dubbed "Flow Control 50," whereby air carriers were required to cancel 

approximately 50 percent of their scheduled peak-hour flights at 22 major airports. FAA maintained an en 

route horizontal spacing between aircraft under instrument flight rules of up to 30 miles. Aircraft were 

kept on the ground, as necessary, to maintain this spacing. FAA gave priority to medical emergency 

flights, Presidential flights, flights transporting critical FAA employees, and flights dictated by military 

necessity. General aviation flights operated under the severest restrictions. Aircraft with a gross takeoff 

weight of 12,500 pounds or less were prohibited from flying under instrument flight rules; moreover, 

aircraft flying under visual flight rules were prohibited from entering terminal control areas. Other general 

aviation aircraft were served, as conditions permitted, on a first-come-first-served basis. 
10th Anniversary of: 

9/11 Terrorist Attacks 

September 11, 2001: Nineteen radical Islamic extremists with the group al 

Qaeda penetrated security at three major airports, seized four U.S. domestic 

airliners, and turned them into missiles that destroyed the World Trade 

Center in New York City, and damaged the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, 

killing thousands. Passengers on one of the planes fought the hijackers 

causing the plane to crash in a Pennsylvania field, killing all on board. For 

the first time in history, FAA put a ground stop on all U.S. air traffic. 

Eastern Standard Time 

• 7:59 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 with 92 people on 

board, takes off from Boston Logan airport for Los Angeles. 

• 8:14 a.m.: United Air Lines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people on 

board, takes off from Boston Logan airport for Los Angeles. 

• 8:20 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 64 people on 

board, takes off from Washington Dulles airport for Los Angeles. 

• 8:38 a.m.: FAA notifies the North American Aerospace Defense 

Command’s (NORAD) Northeast Air Defense Sector about the 

suspected hijacking of American Flight 11. 

• 8:42 a.m.: United Air Lines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 with 44 people on 

board, takes off from Newark airport for San Francisco. 

Courtesy Library of Congress 

• 8:46 a.m.: American Flight 11 crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center. 

• 9:03 a.m. (approx.): United Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center. 

• 9:04 a.m.: FAA's Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center stops all departures from airports in its 

jurisdiction (New England and eastern New York State). 

• 9:06 a.m.: FAA bans takeoffs of all flights bound to or through the airspace of New York Center from 

airports in that air route traffic control center and the three adjacent air route traffic control centers – 

Boston, Cleveland and Washington. This is referred to as a first tier ground stop and covers the 

Northeast from North Carolina north and as far west as eastern Michigan. 

• 9:08 a.m.: FAA bans all takeoffs nationwide for flights going to or through New York Center 

airspace. 

• 9:15 a.m.: FAA (New York Center) notifies NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector that United 

Airlines 175 was the second aircraft that crashed into the World Trade Center. 

• 9:25 a.m.: FAA bans takeoffs of all civilian aircraft regardless of destination – a national ground stop. 

• 9:37 a.m.: American Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. 

• 9:45 a.m.: In the first unplanned shutdown of U. S. airspace, FAA orders all aircraft to land at the 

nearest airport as soon as practical. At this time, there were more than 4,500 aircraft in the air on 

instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plans. 

• 10:03 a.m.: United Flight 93 crashes in Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania. 

• 10:39 a.m.: Reaffirming the earlier order, FAA issues a notice to airmen (NOTAM) that halts takeoffs 

and landings at all airports. 

• 12:15 p.m.: The airspace over the 48 contiguous states is clear of all commercial and private flights. 

• 2:30 p.m.: FAA announces there will be no U.S. air traffic until noon Eastern Standard Time 

Wednesday at the earliest.