East Hampton Airport makeover is ready for takeoff. But will changes fly with critics?

East Hampton Town officials said new rules at the soon-to-be-private airport in Wainscott could reduce traffic there by 40% this summer under a plan the supervisor called an exercise in “good government” that he hopes will balance aviator interests with a community tired of airplane noise.

The summer will act as a study enabling the town to gather data on whether the restrictions will bring traffic and noise at the new East Hampton Town Airport down to acceptable levels. If not, town officials have said, they could tweak the restrictions and, if that doesn't work, close the facility entirely.

The town was legally able to shutter the airport after mandates tied to federal grants expired in September, an outcome sought for years by anti-airport activists. Instead, East Hampton earlier this year announced it would transition the public airport, a 35-minute air ride from Manhattan, to a private facility as a means of reducing traffic and noise.

The airport is open year-round but sees the bulk of its traffic between May and September, when visitors and summer residents vacation and spend time out east. Last year, 32,298 flights operated at the airport, according to town statistics. 

More than half of them — 16,306 — were in June, July and August.

The plan has drawn critiques — and lawsuits — from aviators who have questioned its legality and said any traffic reduction will just be absorbed at other East End airports. Those who want the facility closed are skeptical the summer will bring meaningful change.

“I think overall that the community will be satisfied with the approach that we’ve taken and the results that it will bear,” East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said in a recent interview at his Town Hall office.

Change on tap this coming week

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the town’s plan to transition the airport from public to private use by closing the facility, whose airport code is HTO, for 33 hours beginning at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. The town plans to open the new airport, which will use the airport code JPX and operate under a “prior permission required” framework, at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Operators who meet that criteria do not need individual permission to land or take off. Those using special flight procedures, which are essentially detailed steps to land and take off during inclement weather, will need prior authorization from the FAA.

Operations at JPX will be limited to weekdays from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m., Van Scoyoc said. No jets larger than 50,000 pounds will be allowed, which the town said generally excludes planes designed to carry 12 passengers or more. The noisiest aircraft would be limited to one takeoff and one landing per day, a designation that will apply to most jets, helicopters and seaplanes. 

The plan does not call for any infrastructure changes, and the town in a previous news release has said “all safety and operational capabilities” will be available on reopening.

Federal law previously prohibited East Hampton from enacting any curfews or other restrictions. First-time offenders of the new rules face a fine between $1,000 and $5,000.

The town expects the regulations to reduce traffic by 40% and complaints by as much as 70%.

“We’re actually able to put in place reasonable restrictions at our town-owned airport, which we haven’t been able to do in over two decades,” Van Scoyoc said.

The supervisor said the town board has taken a thoughtful and methodical approach, responding in a way he said “represents good government.”

The public engagement process over the past year has included multiple workshops and studies on the environmental and economic impact of the airport as well as what would happen at neighboring facilities should East Hampton Airport close.

“I'm encouraged and optimistic that we will see meaningful change as promised,” Van Scoyoc said. “That was something that we heard very strongly from the public. They wanted meaningful change in the status quo.”

Criticism from both sides

The town has been served with four lawsuits from aviation interests, including one from the helicopter ride-share service Blade, seeking to stop the plan.

East End Hangars and Hampton Hangars, companies that sublease space at the airport, and a group of Montauk residents who said they will be impacted by increased traffic at Montauk Airport are plaintiffs in one lawsuit. 

“It will further rob me of the simplest joys, such as quiet conversations with my wife, time spent relaxing in my yard, and uninterrupted sleep,” Montauk resident Tom Bogdan said in an affidavit filed in that lawsuit.

Blade founder and CEO Rob Wiesenthal said the company will raise its prices to travel from Manhattan to East Hampton from about $795 per person to $1,025 for a one-way ticket. Blade traffic to other area airports will increase, with a projected threefold rise in trips to Montauk Airport, where tickets start at $395, he said.

“Flight volumes that were previously to East Hampton Airport will now be diverted to Westhampton, Sag Harbor and Montauk because of the drastic limitations on flight volume,” Wiesenthal said. “What we will see here is the law of unintended consequences.”

But Barry Raebeck, director of the Coalition to Transform East Hampton Airport, which supports closing the facility, said the aviation industry’s fears are “beyond overblown.” He questioned how well the restrictions would be enforced and criticized the continual sale of leaded fuel at the airport, among other things.

“If I were an airporter I would be delighted with this, and they are screaming like hell,” Raebeck said.

It was clear to the town board that there was no solution to make everyone happy, Van Scoyoc said.

 “Aviation interests that don’t want any restrictions will be unhappy, and those who want nothing but the airport to close will not be happy,” he said. “We think that a majority of people are looking for an airport that will fit into the community.”

Measuring the town’s approach

Town officials have said they will study the impacts of the new rules on the environment and the effects at other area airports. They will prepare a final environmental impact statement under the framework of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, likely in the following fall or winter. 

The initial flight regulations could be changed in the future, but Van Scoyoc expects they will remain as is through the 2022 summer season.

“The only real way to understand the impacts is to have real-life data,” he said.

If the restrictions don’t work, the supervisor has said the town could still choose to close the facility.

Longtime airport director Jim Brundige has said he believes the town’s plan may be the best hope for aviators.

“I am keenly aware that the airport may be closed for good if a balance cannot be struck between the community and airport users,” Brundige said in an affidavit. “But I am optimistic that local control will enable an airport to remain viable in East Hampton for years to come.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.