ASMS History Display at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

On May 23, 2024, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) celebrated twenty-five years as a commercial airport. Aviation activity at this location dates back farther than this, however, and there is an ASMS connection.

The land on which ABIA is located was donated to the federal government in 1942 by the City of Austin, with the condition that it be returned to the city after the government was done using it. The US Government used the site to build Del Valle Army Air Base. In March 1943, it was renamed to Bergstrom Army Air Base in honor of the first Austinite to be killed in World War II, Captain John August Earl Bergstrom. In 1947, with the creation of the US Air Force, the base was renamed again to Bergstrom Air Force Base. It remained as such until the base was deactivated in 1995.

With the USAF no longer needing the land, the city jumped at the opportunity to solve the long unresolved problem of replacing Robert Mueller Airport in east Austin. Here were existing runways capable of handling big jets quite close to downtown. Of course it wasn't as simple as that. A terminal, parking garages, runway improvements and a long list of facilities had to be financed, planned, and built. Work began in 1995 after military activity ceased at the base, and the airport opened for commercial passenger traffic on May 23, 1999.

A thoughtful part of that work was creating a display to commemorate Bergstrom’s history as an AFB. ASMS was contacted and asked to provide models of aircraft that had served at Bergstrom. We settled on a constant 1/72 scale and numerous ASMS members built the models. The airport construction team had custom airfoil shaped display cases made and did the signage for the display including a historical marker like the ones along the highways. ASMS is responsible for the occasional maintenance needed on the models in the display, and recently refurbished or replaced several of them for the airport’s 25th anniversary.

The display can be found on the west end of the baggage claim area near Door B7, near the Delta Airlines Baggage Service desk and the exit for International Arrivals. You can access the display without going through the security check.