A brief history of the first airport hotel

 

According to USA Today, the first airport hotels opened for business on July 15, 1929 on the ground of what is now the North Field of Oakland International Airport close to San Francisco. Named Oakland Airport Inn, the structure is still visible today. Back in 1929, the hotel had 37 rooms, a restaurant, a barbershop and a ticket office. Unfortunately, business went downhill after a year due to two airlines which no longer fly to Oakland airport. To maintain profitability, the hotel focused instead on Boeing School of Aeronautics pilots and trainees which operated on the airport’s ground from 1929 until the early 1940s.  It is now the home to the Amelia Earhart Senior Squadron 188, which is a branch of the local Civil Air Patrol. Not surprisingly, Amelia Earhart was a regular guest at the Oakland Airport Inn.

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