[4] Named for Albert Bond Lambert, an Olympic medalist and prominent St. Louis aviator, the airport rose to international prominence in the 20th century thanks to its association with Charles Lindbergh, its groundbreaking air traffic control (ATC), its status as the primary hub of Trans World Airlines (TWA), and its iconic terminal.

[6] The airport had its beginnings in 1909, when the Aero Club of St. Louis created a balloon launching base called the "Permanent Aviation Field and Dirigible Harbor" in Kinloch Park, a suburban development of the 1890s.

[7] In October 1910, the airfield hosted the first International Air Meet, attracting "many famous persons," including the Wright brothers, who brought six airplanes and their Exhibition Team.

[9] The following year, the airfield—generally called "Kinloch Field"—was the takeoff point for what is generally regarded as the first parachute jump from an airplane.

[13] Charles Lindbergh's first piloting job was flying airmail for Robertson Aircraft Corporation from the airfield.

[14][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] In August 1942, voters passed a $4.5 million bond issue to expand the airport by 867 acres (351 ha) and build a new terminal.

[23][24] After the war, NAS St. Louis reverted to a reserve installation, supporting carrier-based fighters and land-based patrol aircraft.

[14] To handle increasing passenger traffic, Minoru Yamasaki was commissioned to design a new terminal, which began construction in 1953.

[25][26][14] The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 44 weekday TWA departures; American, 24; Delta, 16; Ozark, 14; Eastern, 13; Braniff, 6 and Central, 2.

After Missouri residents rejected that, Lambert in 1977 received a $290-million expansion that lengthened the runways, increased the number of gates to 81, and boosted its capacity by half.

The jet age came to Ozark in 1966 with the Douglas DC-9-10 and its network expanded to Denver, Indianapolis, Louisville, Washington, D.C., New York City, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando.

With the addition of jets, Ozark began its fastest period of growth, jumping to 653 million revenue passenger miles in 1970 and 936 million revenue passenger miles in 1975;[32] Ozark soon faced heavy competition in TWA's new hub at Lambert.

In 1979, the year after airline deregulation, STL's dominant carriers were TWA (36 routes) and Ozark (25), followed by American (17) and Eastern (12).

[33] In April 1980, British Caledonian began a nonstop flight to London's Gatwick Airport using a Boeing 707.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was headquartered in New York City but its main base of employment was at Kansas City International Airport (KCI) and had large operations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) as well as St. Louis.

Lambert again grew in importance for TWA after the airline declared bankruptcy in 1992 and the following year moved its headquarters to St. Louis from Mount Kisco, New York.

[43] TWA increased the number of cities served and started routing more connecting passengers through its hub at Lambert.

[49][50] As TWA entered the new millennium, its financial condition deteriorated; it was purchased by American Airlines in April 2001.

American was looking at something strategic with its new St. Louis hub to potentially offload some of the pressure on O'Hare as well as provide a significant boost to the airline's east/west connectivity.

[54][55] The September 11 attacks depressed air service nationwide: total airline industry domestic revenue passenger miles dropped 20% in October 2001 and 17% in November 2001.

[44] On the international front, American dropped flights to London-Gatwick in October 2003, leaving St. Louis without transatlantic service.

[65][50] In 2008, Lambert's position as an American Airlines hub faced further pressure due to increased fuel costs and softened demand because of a depressed economy.

[68] American's closure of the St. Louis hub coincided with its new "Cornerstone" plan, wherein the airline would concentrate itself in several major markets: Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.

[72] In the aftermath of the American hub closure, Southwest Airlines boosted daily departures from 74 to 83, adding six new destinations for a total of 31.

Southwest quickly replaced American as the carrier with the most daily flights, and continues to dominate the airport to this day.

Four American Airlines aircraft were damaged, including one that was buffeted by 80 mph (130 km/h; 70 kn) crosswinds while taxiing after landing.

[81] The FAA closed the airport at 8:54 pm CDT, and reopened it the following day at temporarily lower capacity.

[83] In late 2016, officials with the City of St. Louis announced that brand researchers had found that travelers might be confused by the name "Lambert–St.

The first panel includes Albert Edward Forsythe and C. Alfred Anderson, the first black pilots to complete a cross-country flight; the Tuskegee Institute and the Tuskegee Airmen; Eugene Bullard; Bessie Coleman; and Willa Brown, the first African American woman commercial pilot.

This aircraft, a red Monocoupe 110 Special manufactured in St. Louis in 1931, hangs in the ticketing hall of Terminal 2.