FAA to East Hampton: Your airport closure plan not cleared for takeoff

East Hampton Town should reconsider its plan to temporarily close its Wainscott airport and reopen it as a private facility, as the process could bring unintended consequences and take much longer than local officials planned, a representative of the Federal Aviation Administration told town officials Wednesday.

Last month, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc announced a plan to close the airport on Feb. 28 and reopen it as a private facility on March 4, with new restrictions in place as a means of addressing years of noise, safety and environmental complaints from residents.

But during Thursday’s virtual town board meeting, Van Scoyoc criticized the FAA’s directive and maintained that the airport would be open for use on March 4 and that the town has no intention of changing course.

"Any delay by the FAA will be self-inflicted and unnecessary," he said. "The FAA acknowledges in the letter that it has the ability to repurpose procedures that are safely in effect now, for private-use airports, to avoid any disruption to service. We encourage them to do so."

East Hampton FAA airport letter by Newsday on Scribd

In a three-page letter to Van Scoyoc dated Feb. 2, the FAA outlined all the steps needed to complete the transition from a public to a private facility and said it could take up to two years to fully reopen the airport — much longer than the town’s proposed four-day timeline.

"In summary, once the airport is deactivated, it could not immediately return to its prior operating status," FAA Regional Administrator Marie T. Kennington-Gardiner wrote in the letter. "While FAA will endeavor to expedite its processes, you should be aware that, it may take approximately two (2) years to restore the current capability to the airport if it is deactivated depending on any potential environmental analyses."

What exactly would be allowed at the airport in those two years was not immediately clear from the letter. The FAA said if some procedure changes were required, the airport might have to operate as a Visual Flight Rules-only facility this summer, meaning pilots could not use instrumentation and could only fly in clear skies.

"We noted that this might not be the outcome you seek or desire and, if so, suggested that you reconsider the deactivation strategy," Kennington-Gardiner wrote.

Van Scoyoc said Thursday that East Hampton officials have been meeting with the FAA and were complying with the process recommended by the agency.

"To the extent that the airport is not authorized to open or any of its capabilities not approved, that is a direct result of the FAA turning its back on the town, deciding at the last hour that it cannot accomplish what it previously told the town was possible," Van Scoyoc said.

He said that the concerns outlined in the letter could all be addressed by the FAA and urged the agency to approve flight instrument operations and a control tower in a timely manner.

The FAA confirmed it has been meeting with the town, but did not respond to Van Scoyoc’s comments. In a statement Thursday, the agency said the actions outlined in its letter "are necessary because of the town’s decision to deactivate the airport for public-use on February 28, 2022."

The town, which was unsuccessful in previous attempts to regulate the airport, was legally permitted to shutter the facility after mandates tied to federal grants expired in September. A new facility with a "prior permission required" model for takeoffs and landings was presented as a compromise between those who want the airport closed permanently and pilots and their advocates who oppose that.

Community members and members of aviation groups expressed dismay Thursday over the disconnect between the town’s position and the FAA’s letter.

Russell Munson, a pilot and aerial photographer, called in to the meeting and urged the town to delay closing the facility until there is clarity on the issue.

"Most of us who are using the airport, if it does not reopen on March 4 we’re stuck," he said.

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.