diff --git a/airflow/__init__.py b/airflow/__init__.py
index 07982f9339203..6b089af898874 100644
--- a/airflow/__init__.py
+++ b/airflow/__init__.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ def __init__(self, namespace):
 from airflow import hooks
 from airflow import executors
 from airflow import macros
+from airflow import contrib
 
 operators.integrate_plugins()
 hooks.integrate_plugins()
diff --git a/airflow/contrib/__init__.py b/airflow/contrib/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2d1d..0f2017b2e2101 100644
--- a/airflow/contrib/__init__.py
+++ b/airflow/contrib/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import airflow.contrib.hooks
+import airflow.contrib.operators
diff --git a/airflow/contrib/hooks/__init__.py b/airflow/contrib/hooks/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7ef723417f542
--- /dev/null
+++ b/airflow/contrib/hooks/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+'''
+Imports the hooks dynamically while keeping the package API clean,
+abstracting the underlying modules
+'''
+from airflow.utils import import_module_attrs as _import_module_attrs
+
+_hooks = {
+    'ftp_hook': ['FTPHook'],
+}
+
+_import_module_attrs(globals(), _hooks)
diff --git a/airflow/contrib/hooks/ftp_hook.py b/airflow/contrib/hooks/ftp_hook.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..867b7763464c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/airflow/contrib/hooks/ftp_hook.py
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+import datetime
+import ftplib
+import logging
+import os.path
+from airflow.hooks.base_hook import BaseHook
+from past.builtins import basestring
+
+
+def mlsd(conn, path="", facts=[]):
+    '''
+    BACKPORT FROM PYTHON3 FTPLIB
+
+    List a directory in a standardized format by using MLSD
+    command (RFC-3659). If path is omitted the current directory
+    is assumed. "facts" is a list of strings representing the type
+    of information desired (e.g. ["type", "size", "perm"]).
+
+    Return a generator object yielding a tuple of two elements
+    for every file found in path.
+    First element is the file name, the second one is a dictionary
+    including a variable number of "facts" depending on the server
+    and whether "facts" argument has been provided.
+    '''
+    if facts:
+        conn.sendcmd("OPTS MLST " + ";".join(facts) + ";")
+    if path:
+        cmd = "MLSD %s" % path
+    else:
+        cmd = "MLSD"
+    lines = []
+    conn.retrlines(cmd, lines.append)
+    for line in lines:
+        facts_found, _, name = line.rstrip(ftplib.CRLF).partition(' ')
+        entry = {}
+        for fact in facts_found[:-1].split(";"):
+            key, _, value = fact.partition("=")
+            entry[key.lower()] = value
+        yield (name, entry)
+
+
+class FTPHook(BaseHook):
+
+    """
+    Interact with FTP.
+
+    Errors that may occur throughout but should be handled
+    downstream.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, ftp_conn_id='ftp_default'):
+        self.ftp_conn_id = ftp_conn_id
+        self.conn = None
+
+    def get_conn(self):
+        """
+        Returns a FTP connection object
+        """
+        if self.conn is None:
+            params = self.get_connection(self.ftp_conn_id)
+            self.conn = ftplib.FTP(params.host, params.login, params.password)
+
+        return self.conn
+
+    def close_conn(self):
+        """
+        Closes the connection. An error will occur if the
+        connection wasnt ever opened.
+        """
+        conn = self.conn
+        conn.quit()
+
+    def describe_directory(self, path):
+        """
+        Returns a dictionary of {filename: {attributes}} for all files
+        on the remote system (where the MLSD command is supported).
+
+        :param path: full path to the remote directory
+        :type path: str
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        conn.cwd(path)
+        try:
+            # only works in Python 3
+            files = dict(conn.mlsd())
+        except AttributeError:
+            files = dict(mlsd(conn))
+        return files
+
+    def list_directory(self, path, nlst=False):
+        """
+        Returns a list of files on the remote system.
+
+        :param path: full path to the remote directory to list
+        :type path: str
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        conn.cwd(path)
+
+        files = conn.nlst()
+        return files
+
+    def create_directory(self, path):
+        """
+        Creates a directory on the remote system.
+
+        :param path: full path to the remote directory to create
+        :type path: str
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        conn.mkd(path)
+
+    def delete_directory(self, path):
+        """
+        Deletes a directory on the remote system.
+
+        :param path: full path to the remote directory to delete
+        :type path: str
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        conn.rmd(path)
+
+    def retrieve_file(self, remote_full_path, local_full_path_or_buffer):
+        """
+        Transfers the remote file to a local location.
+
+        If local_full_path_or_buffer is a string path, the file will be put
+        at that location; if it is a file-like buffer, the file will
+        be written to the buffer but not closed.
+
+        :param remote_full_path: full path to the remote file
+        :type remote_full_path: str
+        :param local_full_path_or_buffer: full path to the local file or a
+            file-like buffer
+        :type local_full_path: str or file-like buffer
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+
+        is_path = isinstance(local_full_path_or_buffer, basestring)
+
+        if is_path:
+            output_handle = open(local_full_path_or_buffer, 'wb')
+        else:
+            output_handle = local_full_path_or_buffer
+
+        remote_path, remote_file_name = os.path.split(remote_full_path)
+        conn.cwd(remote_path)
+        logging.info('Retrieving file from FTP: {}'.format(remote_full_path))
+        conn.retrbinary('RETR %s' % remote_file_name, output_handle.write)
+        logging.info('Finished etrieving file from FTP: {}'.format(
+            remote_full_path))
+
+        if is_path:
+            output_handle.close()
+
+    def store_file(self, remote_full_path, local_full_path_or_buffer):
+        """
+        Transfers a local file to the remote location.
+
+        If local_full_path_or_buffer is a string path, the file will be read
+        from that location; if it is a file-like buffer, the file will
+        be read from the buffer but not closed.
+
+        :param remote_full_path: full path to the remote file
+        :type remote_full_path: str
+        :param local_full_path_or_buffer: full path to the local file or a
+            file-like buffer
+        :type local_full_path_or_buffer: str or file-like buffer
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+
+        is_path = isinstance(local_full_path_or_buffer, basestring)
+
+        if is_path:
+            input_handle = open(local_full_path_or_buffer, 'rb')
+        else:
+            input_handle = local_full_path_or_buffer
+        remote_path, remote_file_name = os.path.split(remote_full_path)
+        conn.cwd(remote_path)
+        conn.storbinary('STOR %s' % remote_file_name, input_handle)
+
+        if is_path:
+            input_handle.close()
+
+    def delete_file(self, path):
+        """
+        Removes a file on the FTP Server
+
+        :param path: full path to the remote file
+        :type path: str
+        """
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        conn.delete(path)
+
+    def get_mod_time(self, path):
+        conn = self.get_conn()
+        ftp_mdtm = conn.sendcmd('MDTM ' + path)
+        return datetime.datetime.strptime(ftp_mdtm[4:], '%Y%m%d%H%M%S')
diff --git a/airflow/contrib/operators/__init__.py b/airflow/contrib/operators/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..010acbb9fd6d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/airflow/contrib/operators/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+'''
+Imports the operators dynamically while keeping the package API clean,
+abstracting the underlying modules
+'''
+from airflow.utils import import_module_attrs as _import_module_attrs
+
+_operators = {
+    #    'example': ['ExampleOperator'],
+}
+
+_import_module_attrs(globals(), _operators)