Tweed New Haven Airport

History

Ground-breaking ceremonies for the new airport occurred on November 11, 1929. The facility was later dedicated and opened for traffic on August 29, 1931 as the New Haven Municipal Airport. In 1961 it was renamed in honor of John H. "Jack" Tweed, its first airport manager. The first airline to serve New Haven was Li-Con Airways, Inc., of Islip, Long Island, New York. That carrier commenced service on November 10, 1933 and provided passenger and air mail service until July, 1934. In the fall of 1934, American Airlines began serving New Haven, pulling out in 1960 and being replaced by Allegheny Airlines. Eastern Airlines left in 1969.

1970s and 1980s

Fixed-Base Operator "New Haven Airways" started scheduled flights and became New Haven's home town airline, NewAir. The airline had flights to New York's JFK and LaGuardia Airports, Philadelphia, Baltimore/Washington International, and Washington National Airports, on Twin Otters, EMB-110s, and Shorts-360s.

Competing was Pilgrim Airlines based at Groton–New London, to New York–JFK and LaGuardia, as well as Boston, on Twin Otters and F-27s. By the mid-1980s the two airlines merged and were purchased by Hartford-based Business Express Airlines, which initially flew only from Brainard Airport to Boston and Philadelphia.

In 1987 Hyannis-based Provincetown-Boston Airlines (PBA), a commuter airline for Peoplexpress Airlines and then Continental Airlines, began flights to New Haven. PBA flew EMB-110s from Tweed to Continental's hub at Newark and to Hyannis and Nantucket MA.

US Air Express flew to Philadelphia and Washington, DC airports.

Jet flights from New Haven to Chicago-O'Hare started in 1985–86, initially on Air Wisconsin's BAE-146s as "United Express"; from 1991 to 1996 United 737-300s and 737-500s flew non-stop to O'Hare. Continental Express service continued, on Beech 1900s and ATR-42s, while Business Express flights became Saab 340s and Beech 1900s.

Service Decline

By the late 1990s Business Express service ended, as it put its Saab-340s out of service, after its acquisition by AMR Corporation. Continental Express flights ended in the 1990s, then came back, and then left again by the late 1990s.

Comair (Delta Connection) began service to HVN in 2004 with three daily flights to Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport using CRJ-200 aircraft. The Airline ceased operations at HVN during the month of January, 2006.

Pan Am Clipper Connection, operated by Boston-Maine Airways, began non-stop flights to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Hanscom Field, and Pease International Airport on March 8, 2007 using 19-seat Jetstream 31 aircraft. Service ended on July 30, 2007.

This left US Airways Express as the only airline at Tweed, which in 2015 became American Eagle.

Present day

American Eagle, which flew from New Haven to Philadelphia and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., now is the only passenger airline at New Haven, flying to Philadelphia.

United Airlines connects to New Haven's Union Station in downtown New Haven via Amtrak train to/from Newark (EWR); the airport code for New Haven in this case is ZVE, but United does not fly to Tweed.

Tweed Airport is popular with private aircraft and companies carrying tourists who want to view the Connecticut shoreline. During events at Yale University, the general aviation ramp is often crowded with private jets – during the 1997 commencement, the corporate jets of Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble were parked nose to nose. The airport also gets heavy use during the annual New Haven Open at Yale tennis tournament.

Today, the airport is operated by AvPorts of Teterboro, New Jersey, under contract with the Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport Authority.

Public transit to the airport is available on Connecticut Transit's "G" route.

Planned Expansion and Opposition

The future of the airport has been the subject of disagreement between the City of New Haven and the Town of East Haven. New Haven has advocated airport runway expansion, which would be required to attract more commercial air service and larger planes. Some groups of local residents have historically been opposed, saying that expansion would negatively affect the local environment and health of New Haven and East Haven residents.

In 2002, the Federal Aviation Administration and the State of Connecticut had approved the airport's layout plan which specified the installation of safety overruns and extending the length of Tweed's main runway 02-20. In 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration and the State of Connecticut approved the addition of safety overruns to Tweed's main runway. The City of New Haven issued the wetlands and building permits for the project, but officials in East Haven voted to reject the upgrade proposal and deny permits for work on the East Haven (North) side; the Airport Authority and the City of New Haven filed a lawsuit against the Town of East Haven to allow work on the north overrun and won.

Since the lawsuit, The Airport Authority has completed the work for the $25 million safety overruns on the New Haven (south) side of the airport, as well as the East Haven (north) side.

On March 16, 2009 New Haven and East Haven announced that an agreement had been reached, keeping the main runway at 5,600 feet (1,700 m), with all obstructions in the approach zones to be removed. Departures are to be capped at 30 per day, with a passenger cap of 180,000 boardings per year.

In July 2014, the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority and the City of New Haven sought federal grant money as a part of the Small Community Air Service Development Program. Language within this air service proposal described the airport's hope to lengthen the main runway past 5,600 feet (1,700 m). In the same month, the airport also sought an increase in annually-appropriated State of Connecticut funds, specifically to pave the runway safety areas in order to expand the length of the runway. This legislation was not enacted and federal money for air service development was not granted. In 2015, Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven and Rep. Rosa DeLauro wrote a joint letter to residents pledging their support for runway expansion.

Opposition to the airport runway expansion is strong among some local residents, resulting in a small, grassroots campaign. Tensions flared up at May 20, 2015 and May 21, 2015 community meetings. East Haven voters and Mayor Joseph Maturo still oppose Tweed expansion proposals.

In November 2015, the Airport Authority's Board of Directors voted to sue the State of Connecticut in Federal court.

Tim Larson, Executive Director and sitting Connecticut Senator for East Hartford described Tweed as "an airport at a critical juncture. Commercial carriers are interested in servicing the Southern Connecticut market but will not consider coming to Tweed until the runway is lengthened." He added that "American (formerly US Airways), may discontinue our existing service when in the next few years they replace the current Dash-8 aircraft with planes that require a longer runway." Activist residents responded with a new effort against the expansion and a reporting app for noise, health, and quality of life complaints. East Haven Mayor Maturo described the lawsuit as "foolish".

Facilities and Aircraft

Tweed-New Haven Airport covers 394 acres (159 ha) at an elevation of 12 feet (4 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt runways: 2/20 is 5,600 by 150 feet (1,707 x 46 m) and 14/32 is 3,626 by 100 feet (1,105 x 30 m).

Between 02/28/2014-02/28/2015, the airport served 33,346 aircraft operations, averaging 91 per day: 81.9% general aviation, 8.2% scheduled commercial, 8.4% air taxi, and 1.5% military. 65 aircraft were then based at this airport: 87.6% single-engine, 6.2% multi-engine, and 6.2% jet.

According to the FAA Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS) database, for calendar year 2015, Tweed hosted some 39,681 aircraft operations. Each takeoff and landing counts as an aircraft operation.

General aviation operations at the airport are handled by the Fixed-Base Operator, Robinson Aviation, Inc, which has been providing FBO services at the airport since 1989. Services offered include on-site maintenance, flight training via American Flight Academy, and aircraft rental in addition to normal ground handling, fueling and concierge services. General aviation accounts for the majority of traffic at the airport, catering to corporate, charter, and private use aircraft of all sizes.

The Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol 073rd Minuteman Squadron (NER-CT-073) operates out of the airport.

Incidents