[6] PSP was built as a United States Army Air Corps emergency landing field in 1939 on land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians due to its clear weather and its proximity to March Field and the Los Angeles area.

In March 1941, the War Department certified improvements to the existing airport in Palm Springs as essential to National Defense.

In 1964, Western Lockheed L-188 Electras flew nonstop to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.

[10] Bonanza and successors Air West and Hughes Airwest served Palm Springs for many years with the Fairchild F-27 followed by Douglas DC-9s.

Air Force One continues to make an appearance at PSP, most recently in February 2020 with a visit from then-President Donald Trump.

[26] For the 2019–20 season, Delta upgraded Seattle to mainline and expanded Atlanta to three times weekly, using the Boeing 757.

However, in 2020, as a result of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines suspended most seasonal and some year-round destinations as traffic plummeted during the month of March,[27] and Canadian service being almost eliminated due to the temporary closure of the Canada-United States border (even though WestJet continued serving PSP with reduced frequency).

[32][33] Although Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, and Reno have since been discontinued, San Jose and Boise continue to run seasonally.

Meanwhile, American upgraded most Phoenix flights to mainline and increased capacity to Dallas/Fort Worth during peak season by using the Airbus A321.

Delta also added capacity on the long-running Salt Lake City route by swapping out the CRJ-200 in favor of the larger CRJ-900 and Embraer E175.

Delta still occasionally deploys the Boeing 757 to Palm Springs as an aircraft swap of if demand is high.

[34] During the 2021-22 winter season, airlines continued expanding at PSP, allowing passenger traffic to meet and even exceed pre-pandemic levels.

[35] Although Chicago-Midway has since been dropped, the airline upgraded Sacramento and Las Vegas to double daily service.

ceased operations in August of that year (due to ExpressJet's bankruptcy), and Swoop has since pulled out.

In March, PSP launched a new incentive program to attract more year-round domestic and international service (from cities with U.S. Border Preclearance), along with nonstop flights to Hawaii.

[42] Although the airport regularly sees Canadian service during season, it has never hosted a nonstop flight to Hawaii.

[citation needed] As a result, airlines further adjusted their schedules for the 2022-23 tourist season to meet passenger demand.

In September, American and Alaska relaunched their respective seasonal services to Chicago O'Hare and Portland one month early.

Delta also extended their seasonal flights to Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul into May and Seattle as late as early June to meet rising demand, even as temperatures exceed 100 degrees.

[46] Although a true international airport, PSP only has U.S. customs and immigration facilities for general aviation aircraft including business jets.

The center section houses the security screening area and automatic doors to/from the open-air walkways airside.

Ticketing is on the right (south) wing, while baggage claim and car rental counters are on the left (north).

After clearing security, passengers leave the main building via the automatic doors and enter the open-air courtyard, which contains a full-service restaurant, coffee shop, and multiple sets of restrooms.

Named in honor of the late singer, congressman and former mayor of the city,[50] this newer concourse has 8 gates (all with jet bridges) and is the elevated one of the two.

SB's outdoor escalator and walkway are shaded by a designer roofline similar to that of the Denver International Airport.

In the year ending December 31, 2018, the airport had 57,512 aircraft operations, average 158 per day: 41% general aviation, 37% airline, 19% air taxi, and 3% military.

Sunline's SunBus routes 2 and 4 provide direct service to downtown Palm Springs via the bus stops at El Cielo/Kirk Douglas and Tahquitz/Civic.

There is also a grassy knoll adjacent to the intersection of Vista Chino (State Route 111) and Farrell providing a good view of aircraft descending onto Runway 13R.

In addition, the Palm Springs Air Museum is directly on airport property, providing views of aircraft taking off from Runway 31L or 13R from the outdoor exhibits.

[citation needed] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency