Although airport struggled in its early years, it has growing number of passengers these days.

L.E. Derryberry, a fellow aviation cadet with Charles A. Lindbergh, came to Abilene and approached J. McAlister Stevenson and Dr. M.T. Ramsey about his desire to establish an airport and flying school.

Derryberry and Ramsey are credited as the ''fathers'' of aviation in Abilene.

Their efforts came at a time when people didn't believe flying was a good form of traveling.

More than 75 years later, airport officials have reported record-breaking numbers of passengers flying through Abilene.

Next month, the Abilene City Council will consider approving a bond package that could include up to $3.9 million in airport improvement projects. That money could be used to garner $30 million from the federal government.

A look back at aviation

1920s

•  1925 - Dr. M.T. Ramsey and J. McAlister Stevenson bought a tract of land east of town that became known as Kinsolving Field, where the Abilene Zoo and the West Texas Fairgrounds are presently located.

• Sept. 16, 1927 - Charles A. Lindbergh visited Abilene, and drew a crowd of about 75,000 people.

• December 1928 - The city of Abilene commissioned the B. Russell Shaw Company to make a comprehensive airport survey and recommendations regarding Abilene's aviation possibilities.

• April 1929 - the city voted to buy Kinsolving Airport for $37,800.

1950s

• June 20, 1951 - Directors of Pioneer Airlines sent a request asking city officials to expand the airport in order to facilitate new passenger planes.

• 1953 - A new airport was built across the highway, south of Kinsolving Field. It went into operation Dec. 15.

• April 25, 1954 - More than 22,000 people, including sound-barrier-breaker Charles Yeager, attended the dedication ceremony of the Abilene Municipal Airport.

1960s

• 1969 - A second parallel runway and new terminal building were added to the airport.

• Oct. 13, 1969 - The first plane to use the new terminal arrived at 6:55 a.m.

1970s

• June 1972 - A nationwide strike of airline pilots, protesting hijackings, almost brought all Texas International flights in Abilene to a halt, but a ruling in Dallas' Federal Court ordered the pilots back to work.

• January 1973 - An ice storm in Abilene grounds planes for seven days.

• August 1974 - Five years and four restaurant operators later, airport officials closed the airport restaurant for lack of business.

• December 1974 - The only airline in Abilene shut down operations after pilots agreed to honor picket lines set up by ground personnel who were on strike in a wage dispute.

• January 1975 - Apollo Airlines began operating a daily charter shuttle service to Dallas/Fort Worth while Texas International personnel were on strike.

• April 1975 - After months of teasing customers with talks of their return, TI employees came back to their jobs.

1980s

• August 1981 - About 70 to 80 percent of the nation's air traffic controllers went on strike and were fired after their union rejected a government contract offer.

• August 1984 - Construction began on repairs to the east-to-west runway.

1990s

• November 1998 - American Eagle began its commuter jet service between Abilene and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

2000s

• September 2001 - Flight service slowly resumed in Abilene after planes across the nation were grounded following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

• November 2002 - In line with other cities across the nation, federal screeners replaced contract employees who manned the passenger security checkpoint at the airport.

• 2003 - The airport underwent renovations that included an expansion to the terminal, installations of escalators and baggage claim upgrades.

• May 2005 - Abilene Regional Airport broke a record with the highest number of boardings for any month since 2000.

• July 16, 2005 - The president of American Eagle Airlines, Peter Bowler, asked city officials for help in opposing efforts to repeal the Wright Amendment. Splitting flights between D/FW International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport would reduce the number of aircraft available to fly to smaller communities like Abilene, Bowler said.

• August 2005 - Game Time Restaurant & Sports Bar and the new Buffalo Trading Post gift shop at Abilene Regional Airport opened.

• September 2005 - Hurricane Rita's anticipated rampage grounded Continental Airlines flights to Houston for a few days.

• November 9, 2005 - Mayor Norm Archibald and representatives of other Texas cities who are concerned about airline flights into and out of their airports traveled to Washington, D.C., to show support for the Wright Amendment.

Did you know?

• The Reporter-News delivered a special tabloid to be scattered over Taylor County by air on Oct. 27, 1919. Some copies were marked as tickets for free airplane rides.

• Lindbergh's visit was believed to be the catalyst for aviation in Abilene.

• Mrs. Ernest Grissom is believed to be the first woman to fly solo in Abilene.

• Kinsolving Field was named after Grady Kinsolving, whose home stood near the airport.

• The early years of the airport were difficult because the public wasn't buying into the idea that flying was a good way to travel.

• The Abilene Municipal Airport was used as an auxiliary base by the Army Air Corps during World War II.

• In the '50s, the original cost of the airport was estimated at $1.2 million. The cost was shared equally by the city and the federal government.

• Three trucks moved a hangar, weighing more than 200 tons, half a mile to the new airport location in December 1953.

• American Airways was the first scheduled airline serving Abilene. Ramsey and Derryberry had their own unscheduled airline, called West Texas Air Transport, in the early days.

• Glen Meeks held the airport manager's position longer than anyone else who has served.

• Airport officials used a wooden control tower for nearly 20 years until a five-story metal tower replaced it in 1961.

• Five months after the new terminal opened in October 1969, the airport experienced a drop in passengers on flights.

• Tittle, Luther, Loving and Lee, the architectural firm that designed the Abilene Air Terminal Building, received recognition for its work in October 1971.

• Airport security was beefed up in 1972 at Abilene's Municipal Airport to prevent hijackings.

• Former city councilman Sam Waldrop hesitated to support a $1 tax per passenger in 1973 that would help offset increasing costs to provide fire and hijacking protection at the airport. The tax was ultimately approved in April.

• A woman traveling through Abilene in June 1974 hid a .38 in a shoe she carried in her luggage. It was wrapped in tissue and the security guard missed it. The gun was spotted in Dallas. His explanation for not searching her shoes in the luggage: ''She was a very sweet person, not nervous or jumpy. She wasn't dangerous.''

• During the TI strike in December 1974, American Airlines offered limo service to Dallas from Abilene Regional Airport from Dec. 19 to Dec. 24. The service was discontinued after the Texas Railroad Commission received complaints from competing airports.

• Jimmy Carter stopped at the airport for an hour-long visit to campaign in October 1976.

• Officials from ASA thought the risk of passengers in small airports was too low to justify screening passengers in July 1992.

• In the six months that Aspen Mountain Air offered service from Abilene Regional Airport in 1998, it averaged fewer than four passengers a day.

• American Eagle became the only airline servicing Abilene in 2001 after Continental Express discontinued service due to the revenue the company lost when planes were grounded after the attacks.

• The airport made its greatest parking fee gains in recent years during the first half of 2004.

• Game Time Food & Beverages Services offered a proposal in 2004 to airport officials to provide concessions at the airport. The company's offer was the sole proposal the airport received.

• The Eagle Aviation Services Inc. maintenance base is one of two heavy maintenance facilities in the nation that services American Eagle planes. The other is in Marquette, Mich.

• Nearly 83,500 people boarded airplanes at Abilene Regional Airport in 2005, up 14 percent from the 73,300 that boarded in 2004. The last record was set in 1994 when 74,120 people boarded planes here.

Airlines past and present

Texas International Airlines

Chaparral Air

American Airways

Sentinel Airlines

Continental Airlines

Trans-Texas Airways

Pioneer Airlines

Southern Air Transport

Southwest Air Fast Express (Safeway)

Cromwell Airlines

Apollo

American Eagle

Delta / Atlantic Southeast Airlines

Conquest Airlines

Rio Airlines

Fort Worth Air

Frontier Airlines

Dallas Express

Aspen Mountain Air

Casino Express Airlines

Managers past and present

Col. L. E. Derryberry

Ed Edmondson

R.C. Fry

Aubrey Johnston

Glenn Meeks

A.R. Falconi

Richard Crider

Daniel T. Weber