The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 categorized it as a small-hub primary commercial service facility.

[citation needed] The airport uses "Tampa Bay The Easy Way" as an advertising slogan and "Fly2PIE" in reference to its three-letter IATA and FAA codes.

The airport is on the west shoreline of Tampa Bay, six miles (10 km) north of St. Petersburg, Florida (the "birthplace of commercial air transportation").

Barely a decade after the pioneer flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the first tickets for airline travel were sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of Tony Jannus to fare-paying passengers.

[7] Mayor Abram C. Pheil of St. Petersburg and Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, were the first passengers, flying across the bay to Tampa and, according to a United Press account, reportedly reaching the maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) during the flight.

This was the beginning of commercial air transportation anywhere in the world and is commemorated by a replica of the Benoist aircraft and a plaque at the airport terminal baggage claim area.

To commemorate the airport's vital role during that conflict, a plaque was dedicated at the airport terminal in 1994 by the P-51 Fighter Pilots Association and Brigadier General James H. Howard, who was the only European Theater fighter pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II and later served as the last wartime base commander of Pinellas Army Airfield.

The increased capacities of Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 jets prompted the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to approve consolidation of airline service for the Tampa Bay area at TPA in the early 1960s.

The year before, Eastern had been operating prop flights from St. Petersburg nonstop to Charlotte, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Cleveland and Louisville as well as direct one-stop service to Columbus, OH, Detroit and Indianapolis.

[19] Jet service returned in 1982 with Northeastern International Airways flying Douglas DC-8 nonstop flights to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York.

[23] People Express then expanded its flights from the airport, and in 1985 was flying nonstop to Charlotte and New York/Newark as well as operating direct, no change of plane jet service to Boston, Detroit and Syracuse.

[34] Also in 1999, Air Transat, a Canadian-based scheduled and charter airline, was operating wide body Lockheed L-1011 TriStar jets on its flights into the airport.

[35] In the late spring of 2004, Southeast Airlines was operating nonstop McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service from the airport to Allentown, PA (ABE), Columbus, OH (LCK), Gary, IN (GYY), and Newburgh, NY (SWF).

[38] In September 2006, Allegiant Air announced scheduled service from St. Petersburg–Clearwater to cities in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

[39] In 2009, the airport completed a US$22 million renovation, including, among other things, larger gates, new plumbing, and building passenger jet bridges.

[42] As of 2021, the airport is planning to convert decommissioned runway 9/27 into a taxiway to enhance service for air carriers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office aircraft.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-operated control tower, the FAA's Central Florida Region Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) (which is the busiest AFSS in the United States) and the St. Petersburg VORTAC for airways navigation are also important federal government services at the airport.

[45] American Veterans partake in a flight to Washington D.C. annually to visit memorials dedicated to individuals who fought for the United States in various wars.