Qualla: Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport: Introduction

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting), CC BY-SA 3.0. In the late 1960s, someone looked at the Florida Everglades and saw the future of aviation: a 39-square-mile airport with six runways, designed to handle supersonic transports that would link Miami to the world. The Boeing 2707 was under development. Concorde was taking shape in Europe. South Florida seemed ideal because supersonic aircraft needed to fly over water, and the swamp was available. They broke ground in 1968, built one runway, triggered one of the fiercest environmental battles in American history, and stopped. Today, a single 10,500-foot strip of asphalt sits in the middle of the Big Cypress wilderness - the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, ICAO code KTNT, a monument to the future that never arrived.

Image: Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport: The Supersonic Dream

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fred Ward, Public domain. The Everglades Jetport, as it was originally known, was conceived when supersonic commercial aviation seemed inevitable. Boeing was developing the 2707, a Mach 2.7 transport that would carry 300 passengers. South Florida's geographic position - water to the east, south, and west ...

Image: Fred Ward | Public domain

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport: The Swamp Fights Back

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 4.0. A 1969 federal scientific advisory report delivered the verdict: the jetport would permanently disrupt the region's hydrology and threaten the entire South Florida ecosystem, including Everglades National Park. Environmental groups mobilized. The report stated bluntly that the pr...

Image: Fredlyfish4 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport: Pan Am's Training Ground

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fred Ward, Public domain. The abandoned runway found a second life. In the 1970s, Pan Am and Eastern Airlines used Dade-Collier heavily for commercial pilot training. The 10,500-foot runway could accommodate Boeing 747s, and its relatively new instrument landing system let pilots practice approaches in si...

Image: Fred Ward | Public domain

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport: A Runway in Search of a Purpose

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fred Ward, Public domain. Over the decades, the long, lonely runway has attracted an eclectic roster of uses. High-speed automobile events have been held on the pavement. Oil exploration was proposed in 2009 but dropped after conservation groups objected. The Carlos Gimenez administration floated the idea...

Image: Fred Ward | Public domain