<P> After several years of Palm Beach County fighting the Air Force presence in West Palm Beach, the Air Force started to close down operations there . The 1707 ATW was inactivated on June 30, 1959 and reassigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma . With the wing's departure, Palm Beach County took over airfield operations . The Air Force retained a small presence at the base with the 9th Weather Group becoming the main operational unit at Palm Beach AFB, performing hurricane and weather research for the Air Weather Service . The Air Photographic and Charting Service (APCS) moved its 1370th Photo - Mapping Wing to the base, performing geodetic survey flights . During the early 1960s Palm Beach AFB was used by Air Force One, with President John F. Kennedy landing at the base when staying at the Kennedy home in Palm Beach . The Air Force finally closed Palm Beach AFB in 1962 and all property was conveyed to Palm Beach International Airport the same year . </P> <P> Delta Air Lines began scheduled flights in 1959 and Capital Airlines in 1960 . The first turbine - powered flights were Eastern Airlines Lockheed L - 188 Electras in 1959, and Eastern DC - 8 nonstops to Idlewild started in December 1960 . </P> <P> In October 1966 an eight-gate Main Terminal opened on the northeast side of the airport; in 1974 Delta Air Lines moved into its own six-gate terminal with the airport's first jetways . The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) built a new Air Traffic Control Tower on the south side of the airport in this period . </P> <P> On October 23, 1988 the 25-gate David McCampbell Terminal, named for World War II naval flying ace, Medal of Honor recipient and Palm Beach County resident CAPT David McCampbell, USN (Ret) was dedicated . The 530,000 - square - foot (49,000 m) took two years to build . </P>

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