July 2025
90 Years at PHX: 1990s
As part of our year-long 90th anniversary celebration, we’re looking back at the previous decades in our history.
The 1990s saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of the World Wide Web, Beanie Babies, Grunge, and the popularity of CD-ROMs. In Phoenix, the 1990s were a time of more rapid population growth.
The year 1990 saw a few significant events at the airport. On June 26, 1990, at 2:47 p.m., Phoenix also experienced a new record – 122 degrees. Some airlines stopped taking off and landing for part of the day at Phoenix Sky Harbor as aircraft manufacturers hadn’t developed performance charts for a temperature that high. Those performance charts have since been adjusted to account for extreme heat.
The year also saw the opening of a new terminal. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was already seeing this growth in the 1980s, and in July 1986, the Phoenix City Council approved one of the Airport’s most ambitious building projects of its time – the design and construction of a new large terminal – Terminal 4. In October 1989, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, and in November of 1990, the new terminal opened. Terminal 4 was completed at a cost of $248 million and was the largest structural capital improvement project in Phoenix.
Construction began on the terminal core and three concourses — two for use by what was then America West Airlines and one for international arrivals — but prior to completion, a route expansion by Southwest Airlines required that it too be located in Terminal 4. Two more concourses were added, and the building opened in November 1990 with five concourses and 44 gates. The 3.9 million square feet terminal handled 15.4 million passengers or 70 percent of Sky Harbor's total traffic in 1991.
In 1995, the Phoenix City Council approved a proposal to rename the Sky Harbor Executive Terminal as the Lincoln J. Ragsdale Executive Terminal.
1996 brought an exciting new travel option to Phoenicians. On July 1, British Airways’ DC 10 named “Epping Forest” departed London Gatwick for Phoenix, the first nonstop service between the two cities, with onward connection to San Diego. Today, British Airways offers daily service to London Heathrow Airport and provides a vital connection between Phoenix and Europe.
The decade continued to see other improvements. In 1997, Terminal 3 was remodeled to improve the passenger experience. In 1998, a sixth concourse was added to Terminal 4, and the international concourse was expanded to include more gates.
Captions: (Top) British Airways arrives in Phoenix; (Middle) Terminal 4 grand opening; (Bottom) Terminal 4 was one of the most ambitious building projects in Phoenix for its time.
Join us next month as we look at the 2000s and the changes that would come to the aviation industry and Phoenix Sky Harbor.
For more information on our 90th anniversary, visit https://www.skyharbor.com/90years
