East Hampton Airport

Construction began in 1936 on an original 209 acre plot (which quickly expanded to 260 acres). At the time it was second largest airport in terms on Long Island. Only Roosevelt was bigger. It pre-dates LaGuardia Airport (1939); John F. Kennedy International Airport (1941), Francis S. Gabreski Airport (1943); Long Island MacArthur Airport (1944) and Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton (1956). Suffolk County, New York sold the land to East Hampton for $1 at the urging of East Hampton Supervisor Perry B. Duryea Sr.[7] The Works Progress Administration granted $45,000 of the original $100,000 of building the airport.[8] The WPA request was made by the town after being petitioned by the East Hampton Business Men's Club.

In 1937 the East Hampton Star speculated Juan Trippe who had a house on ocean near the airport and had shown interest in the airport might be considering it for a base for Pan American Airways trans-Atlantic service.[9]

The original airport had no water, elasticity, telephones or buildings.[10]

The first terminal was a World War I barracks toed by mule from Camp Upton.[11]

Shortly after opening the opening the Hampton Air Service began offer scheduled flights between the airport and Holmes Airport (near the Bulova headquarters near Lagaurdia Airport today).[12]

In 1943 plans were made to expand the airport to 700 acres.[13]

During this time those spotted at the airport included Henry Ford II, W. Averell Harriman, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable.[10]

In 1945 Charlotte Niles and Margaret Lowell Wallace (Women's Airforce Service Pilots WASPS) became the operators of the airport after a hanger belonging to Tripp.[14] Niles said her father was William White Niles who was attorney for the Wright Brothers.[10] They arranged for numerous improvements including a concrete hanger.

In the 1980s East Hampton Air, and Montauk-Caribbean Airways competed for scheduled service to New York. They were joined by Trump Air on May 28, 1989, In 1990 all three services were discontinued.[11]

In 1989, East Hampton in the Beaux Arch ’89 project invited architects to submit a design for a new terminal to replace the shack terminal. More than 100 entries arrived. After the town decided not to build the winner, litigation ensued and in 1994 the current terminal was built.[11][15][16]

On August 28, 1999 Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton held a fundraiser at the airport hanger.[17] The Clintons had begun spending their vacations in East Hampton in 1998 after Hillary Clinton began considering a run for the U.S. senator. During the times Marine One was parked at the airport.

The advent of the BLADE Urban Air Mobility app by Hamptons resident Robert S. Wiesenthal in 2014 had a major effect on helicopter service. The app made it possible to book individually seats at scheduled times at a set price rather than going through the trouble of finding a chartered helicopter and then finding others to split the cost of the charter.[18] Although Blade's logo is emblazoned on many of the helicopters, Blade does not own or operate the helicopters. They are owned by third-party vendors.[18]

Management of the airport is experiencing considerable upheaval since 2014 when the app Blade made it much easier for travelers to book seats at set price and schedule on chartered helicopters. This led to a 43% increase in helicopter traffic going from 6,706 flights/year in 2015 to 9,577 in 2019.[19] This in turn brought about substantial number of noise complaints both in the immediate vicinity as well as along the length of routes from New York City to the airport. Blade in January 2022 was charging between $700 and $795 for the 100 mile trip. There were calls to close the airport. Parallels have been made with Santa Monica Airport which experienced similar problems and is now slated to close in 2028. East Hampton hired Cooley LLP which advised Santa Monica in that case.[20]

In January 2022 the Town announced it plans to temporarily close the airport in February and open a few days days later as private town owned airport that would require local permission for aircraft to use the airport. The Town in the past had tried unsuccessfully control the helicopters but was thwarted in court cases regarding curfews. Courts decided that the FAA which provided funds for the airport rather than the Town controlled the rules of the airport. The town allowed the FAA grants to expire on September 21, 2021.[21][5]

East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and the entire slate of Democratic candidates was re-elected in November 2022 and his approach for privately operating the airport was seen as a compromise to keep the airport open. The FAA had advised Van Scoyoc that in order to keep the airport open under its previous operation it would have required the Town to get permission from all airport operators in order to implement new rules. By temporarily closing the airport the Town could impose its new rules.[6]

The plan to keep the airport open but restrict the helicopters but permit local aircraft was called by the New York Post "aerial class warfare Hamptons-style — pitting millionaires against billionaires."

Among the billionaires who use the airport are Steve Cohen, Eric Schmidt, Robert Kraft, and Ronald Perelman.[5]

Among the options are that helicopters could get permission to use the airport but with stricter rules available about times and flight rules. The privately owned Montauk Airport 12 miles east of the East Hampton Airport requires prior permission for aircraft to use it.

As Helicopter and seaplane traffic increased large swathes of the rural North and South Forks of Long Island complained of helicopter noise levels comparable to those encountered close to major commercial airports.[22][23][24][25][26]