Meacham Airport was Fort Worth's original airport. It was built as an Army training field in 1914. It was purchased by the city of Fort Worth on July 3, 1925, and re-named as Fort Worth Municipal Airport. In 1927, the airport was renamed Meacham Field after former Fort Worth Mayor Henry C. Meacham. During World War II, Meacham Field was used as a stop for military aircraft traveling from Eastern factories heading to the Pacific coast.

Meacham was Fort Worth's major airport until April 1953 when major carriers moved to Amon Carter Field (later Greater Southwest International Airport). The January 1953 OAG shows 50 weekday airline departures from Meacham, 33 of which headed for Dallas. None of the others flew nonstop north of Wichita Falls, west of Midland, south of Austin or east of Dallas.

Since 1953 Meacham Airport has been used for corporate aircraft, commuter flights, and student pilot training. It was renamed in 1985 to Fort Worth Meacham Airport and in 1995 to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. Since 1953 seven airlines have tried scheduled passenger flights from Meacham; none lasted more than a couple of years.

Tejas Airlines (1979–80) flew Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners to Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Laredo

Metro Airlines (1979–81) flew DHC-6 Twin Otters

Fort Worth Airlines (1984–85) flew NAMC YS-11s

Exec Express Airlines (1987–88), later Lone Star Airlines, flew Dornier 228s

Mesa Airlines (1997–98) flew Canadair CRJ regional jets

In April 2006 low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines expressed interest in operating out of the airfield as it started operations in 2007, but it folded before the repeal of the Wright Amendment in 2014.

On 16 April 2008, the American Airways Hangar and Administration Building, constructed at the airport in 1933, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

On 15 January 2015, the airport advisory board voted to permanently close runway 9/27 to make room for additional hangars. The runway had been closed for about a year due to deteriorating pavement.

In 2018, city officials and company founder David Neeleman hinted that a proposed low-cost carrier, tentatively named Moxy, now named Breeze Airways, may operate from Meacham starting in 2020. Due to COVID-19 Breeze's launch has been delayed. City aviation director at the time Bill Welstead denied holding discussions with Moxy but confirmed that Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air were interested in serving the airport. Although the city has recently spent millions of dollars on several projects to improve airport facilities for general aviation, Welstead claimed that the city was not actively planning to build adequate terminal parking for passengers, which he said would be necessary before commercial airline service could begin.