October 2025
90 Years at PHX: 2010s
As part of our year-long 90th anniversary celebration, we’re looking back at the previous decades in our history.
The 2010s were a time of development at America’s Friendliest Airport® as the airport strived to provide a world-class experience to the traveling public. In October 2010, the airport celebrated its 75th anniversary and offered a look back at the events that shaped it. From a rural farm to a busy airport, the theme that kept coming up when talking to long-time employees was change and growth and a commitment to service that kept customers coming back.
“It’s amazing to look at all the decades and see the changes to the airport and the city,” said City of Phoenix Aviation Department employee Allen G. “It has changed so much but what has remained consistent is delivering great service – even back at the beginning – even in the go-go 80s, customer service has always remained consistent -even for 90 years.”
From 2012-2014, Terminal 4 saw all new restaurants. These new restaurants focused on not only nationally recognized concepts, but local favorites as well. The airport wanted to give travelers a true taste of what they can experience in Phoenix and Arizona. America’s Friendliest Airport® perhaps became America’s Tastiest Airport too.
On April 8, 2013, Phoenix Sky Harbor also celebrated the first milestone of the PHX Sky Train® construction with the opening of Stage 1. This stage connected Terminal 4 with East Economy Parking and the new 44th Street PHX Sky Train® Station, which provided a vital connection between the airport and the City’s light rail. With a cell phone waiting lot there as well, this new station became a great alternative, especially during holiday periods, for pick-up and drop-off, to avoid roadway traffic and terminal curb congestion. In December 2014, Stage 1A of the PHX Sky Train® opened connecting Terminal 3 with the rest of the system.
February 2015 saw Super Bowl XLIX come to the Valley, and the day after the big game, PHX welcomed a record number of visitors through its doors. Shortly thereafter in March, work began on the first phase of the Terminal 3 Modernization Program, a program designed to make the terminal more accessible and efficient for users. That year also saw more than 44 million passengers come through its doors.
On July 1, 2016, Phoenix Sky Harbor marked another milestone and celebrated British Airways’ 20 years of nonstop service between London and Phoenix. Later that year, ThePointsGuy rated PHX as the Number 1 airport in the U.S., and in December, the first phase of the Terminal 3 Modernization Program was completed with the opening of a new consolidated security checkpoint to get passengers to their gates faster and new ticket counter area.
2017 marked yet another busy year for America’s Friendliest Airport® and perhaps the airport got a little friendlier with the launch of a new therapy dog program, the Navigator Buddies in September. Other notable events that happened in 2017 included the completion of the first phase of a Terminal 4 retail overhaul that added 19 shops of local and nationally recognized brands; the Phoenix City Council approving renaming Terminal 3 in honor of former Arizona Sen. John S. McCain; British Airways adding a second seasonal nonstop flight between London and Phoenix; and Southwest Airlines announcing plans to occupy a future eighth concourse at Terminal 4.
In 2018, the second phase of the Terminal 4 retail overhaul was completed with the addition of 16 new shops, including the first-ever medical clinic at the airport. The Phoenix Airport Museum also celebrated its 30th anniversary; a new Airport Tour Program began; the PointsGuy again rated Phoenix Sky Harbor as the best airport in the U.S.; and PHX broke ground on the PHX Sky Train® extension to the Rental Car Center.
Even though the decade was nearing its end, Phoenix Sky Harbor was showing no signs of slowing down. In January 2019, PHX completed improvement changes to its international facilities including opening a new queuing area for Secondary Screening, installing automated passport control kiosks and more. Also in January, the second component of the Terminal 3 Modernization Program was completed. This included an all-new south concourse with new shops, restaurants, and amenities like a children’s play area, nursing room, art gallery, and more. In March, the airport and American Airlines held a celebration for the launch of new nonstop service between Phoenix and London – the airline’s first intercontinental service from PHX.
Phoenix continued to be future focused, and in June, the Phoenix City Council approved the airport’s Comprehensive Asset Management Plan (CAMP), which created a roadmap for the future with various development initiatives including a new west terminal, new concourse at Terminal 3 and more. In November, the Wall Street Journal ranked Phoenix Sky Harbor number one in the U.S. among large airports for overall convenience, reliability and value, and the year ended on a record-breaking note with PHX serving nearly 46.3 million passengers – the most ever.
It seemed that the airport was well on track to continue to excel leading into the 2020s and the future looked bright.
Captions: (Top) The opening of the PHX Sky Train® was a major milestone for the airport.; (Middle) Our Volunteer Navigator Buddies Program launched in September 2017 and brought therapy dogs to the airport for the first time.; (Bottom) The Terminal 3 Modernization Program brought a new South Concourse with new shops, restaurants and other customer amenities.
Join us next month as we look at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the airport, its recovery efforts, and how Phoenix Sky Harbor is planning for the future. For more information on our 90th anniversary, visit https://www.skyharbor.com/90years