Westchester County Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Westchester County Airport


IATA = HPN
ICAO = KHPN
FAA = HPN
type = Public
owner-oper = County of Westchester
city-served = White Plains, New York
location = Harrison, New York
elevation-f = 439
elevation-m = 134
coordinates = coord|41|4|1|N|73|42|27|W|type:airport_region:US
website = [http://www.whiteplainsairport.com www.whiteplainsairport.com]
r1-number = 16/34
r1-length-f = 6,548
r1-length-m = 1,996
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 11/29
r2-length-f = 4,451
r2-length-m = 1,357
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year = 2006
stat1-header = Passenger boardings
stat1-data = 511,559
stat2-header = Aircraft operations
stat2-data = 168,418
stat3-header = Based aircraft
stat3-data = 389
footnotes = Source: Federal Aviation AdministrationFAA-airport|ID=HPN|use=PU|own=PU|site=16433.*A, effective 2007-12-20]

Westchester County Airport Airport codes|HPN|KHPN|HPN is a public airport located in the towns of Harrison, North Castle and Rye, New York in Westchester County. It is approximately 9 miles (14.5 km) east of the central business district of White Plains, New York. It serves the areas of Westchester, a suburban county of New York City, as well as Fairfield County, Connecticut. It also serves, to a lesser extent, the New York metropolitan area, as it is located approximately 33 miles (53 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. It is often used by those who wish to avoid the congestion of the other New York City-area airports. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 511,559 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2006, up from 462,256 enplanements in 2005. [ [http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/planning_capacity/passenger_allcargo_stats/passenger/ FAA Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data: 2006] ]

History

Westchester County Airport was originally built during World War II in 1942 as a home to an Air National Guard unit to protect New York City. In May 1983, with the quick growth of the suburban area in Westchester, the Guard unit was moved to Stewart International Airport further to the north near Newburgh.

In 1947, passenger service began, and before the passing of the Airline Deregulation Act the airport was served by several regional airlines, including: Allegheny Airlines, Command Airways and Empire Airlines. On January 5 2006, the airport was the point of departure for the last flight of Independence Air; a flight to Washington, DC at 7:26pm.Cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10729047/|title=Last Run for Independence Air|accessdate=2008-02-20|publisher=msnbc.com|year=2006-01-05] In 2007, JetBlue Airways became the latest airline to serve Westchester County Airport, with service to four destinations, all in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, and Fort Myers. Service to a fifth Florida destination will commence in November 2008: Tampa.

Local concerns

After several renovations, as well as discussions about the airport's viability, [cite news | first=Lisa | last=Foderaro | coauthors= | title= The Talk of Westchester County Airport; Airport Plan: A Travelers' Oasis or a Threat to Neighbors? | date=1989-12-07 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE0D81730F934A35751C1A96F948260 | work =New York Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-15 | language = ] the airport today is served by 8 airlines to a range of destinations in the United States and Canada. Although there has always been some controversy about the airport and proposed expansions, [cite journal|title=Opponents Assail Airport Terminal Expansion Plans (Westchester County Airport)|journal=Westchester County Business Journal|date=1990-09|first=Don|last=Dzikowski|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=|have to duformat=|accessdate=2008-01-15 ] more have occurred recently due to travelers seeking to avoid delays at the other New York Airports. The most recent concerns have to do with flight paths [cite news | first=Neil | last=Vigdor | coauthors= | title=Town Rethinks FAA Lawsuit | date=2008-01-08 | publisher= | url =http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-a1faa1.8jan08,0,2617984.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines | work =Greenwich Time | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-15 | language = ] and traffic congestion, the latter of which Westchester County is addressing via increased Bee-Line bus service and the county encouraging travelers not to drive. [cite web|url=http://www.westchestergov.com/transportation/recent_press_releases.htm#holiday |title=Holiday Travelers Urged to Get Rides to the County Airport |accessdate=2007-11-09 ]

Due to its location in a neighborhood, Westchester County Airport instituted a Voluntary Restraint from Flying Program, sometimes referred to as a voluntary curfew, [cite web|url=http://www.westchestergov.com/airport/noise_abatement/FLYER.pdf |title=It's Not Just an Airport, it's a Neighborhood |accessdate=2008-01-15 |last=Government |first=Westchester County |format=PDF ] which has helped to ease some of the local worry over the airport's expansion. In an effort to alleviate concerns over expansion and noise, studies have been done [cite web|url=http://www.westchestergov.com/airport/pdf_docs/wc_airport_Aircraft_noise_study/Executive%20Summary%20Wetchester%20County%20Airport%20Noise%20Contour%20Study%202002.pdf |title=Westchester County Airport Aircraft Noise Study |accessdate=2008-01-15 |first=TAMS Consultants, Inc. |coauthors=Harris Miller Miller & Hanson, Inc. |date=2002-08 |format=PDF ] and will continue to be done as issues arise.

Other possibly more important concerns stem from the fact that it is located in the watershed for 85 % of the residents of New York City & Westchester (Approx. 1/2 of the population of New York State). [cite web|url=http://www.stopairportexpansion.com/index.htm |title=Stop Airport Expansion |accessdate=2008-03-13 ] . Construction of an airport today in this location would be illegal.

IATA code

The IATA Code for Westchester County Airport is HPN. There is a small debate in the origins of this IATA Code. Many believe that it is derived from the name of the city White Plains (since IATA Codes normally do not begin with W because those are reserved for radio signals). Others, however, believe that the IATA Code represents the first letter of the three neighboring communities that the airport is located within (Harrison, Purchase, and North Castle). [cite web|url=http://articles.directorym.com/Westchester_County_Airport-a853975.html |title=Westchester County Airport's Call Letters Dispute ]

Facilities and aircraft

Westchester County Airport covers an area of 702 acres (284 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 16/34 measuring 6,548 x 150 ft (1,996 x 46 m) and 11/29 measuring 4,451 x 150 ft (1,357 x 46 m).

Westchester County Airport in the home of several fixed base operators (FBOs), including Avitat, Signature Flight Support, Landmark, NetJets, Panorama, and Million Air. Panorama and Million Air also support their own flight schools.

Although varied in the services offered, the FBOs at Westchester County Airport provide Jet A and 100LL fueling services, repairs and maintenance, aircraft tiedowns, de-icing, United States Customs, and other aircraft services. Some of the FBOs are particularly luxurious, providing limousine transportation services and deluxe surroundings.

Westchester County Airport is also the current home of the New York Wing of the United States Civil Air Patrol, as well as the Southeastern Group of the New York Wing. Both are housed in the same building as the Airport Precinct of the Westchester County Police. These facilities are currently undergoing remodeling to accommodate the recent arrival of the New York Wing.

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 168,418 aircraft operations, an average of 461 per day: 75% general aviation, 25% scheduled commercial and <1% military. There are 389 aircraft based at this airport: 62% single-engine (240), 22% jet, 13% multi-engine and 3% helicopter.

Terminal

Westchester County Airport has one relatively small three-level terminal with six gate spaces of which only four may be used at one time. Two of these gates have jetways. The terminal also has one luggage carousel, one baggage reclaim office and 2 or 3 TSA screening lanes. JetBlue avoids delays at White Plains by using their own stairs and ramps to board the aircraft from the front and back simultaneously. The stairs and ramps are property of JetBlue and are not used by any other airline in White Plains. On the second level of the terminal there is a coffee shop, bar and restaurant with tarmac and runway views and an eatery called Skytop Restaurant. On the third floor there is an outside observation deck with views of the runway and tarmac. Also, a number of ATMs are located in the terminal along with a little candy bodega on the first floor. The coffee shop, bar, and restaurant are all before the TSA checkpoint.

Airlines and destinations

*Air Canada
**Air Canada operated by Air Georgian (Toronto-Pearson)
*AirTran Airways (Atlanta, Orlando, West Palm Beach)
*American Airlines
**American Eagle (Chicago-O'Hare)
*Delta Air Lines
**Delta Connection operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Atlanta)
**Delta Connection operated by Chautauqua Airlines (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky)
**Delta Connection operated by Shuttle America (Atlanta)
*JetBlue Airways (Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa [begins November 2] , West Palm Beach)
*Northwest Airlines
**Northwest Airlink operated by Mesaba Aviation (Detroit)
**Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Detroit)
*United Airlines
**United Express operated by Colgan Air (Washington-Dulles)
**United Express operated by Shuttle America (Chicago-O'Hare)
**United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare)
*US Airways
**US Airways Express operated by Air Wisconsin (Charlotte, Washington-Reagan)
**US Airways Express operated by Piedmont Airlines (Philadelphia)
**US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines (Charlotte, Philadelphia)

Popular culture

* Westchester County Airport was used in the film "Meet the Parents" to represent Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and New York's LaGuardia Airport. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212338/trivia Trivia for "Meet the Parents"] , IMDb.com]
* The airport was also a filming location for The Best Man and Random Hearts. [ [http://www.westchesterfilm.homestead.com/westfilms.html Movies Made in Westchester County] ]
* The 1986 film "SpaceCamp" mentions White Plains as a possible landing site for the space shuttle; the characters soon realize that the landing site they're thinking of is the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and not the airport (which couldn't possibly handle a shuttle landing). [ [http://www.angelfire.com/tx3/80schild/SpaceCamp.html SpaceCamp film script] ]
* Westchester County Airport was used in a Law & Order episode called "All In The Family".Fact|date=September 2007
* In The West Wing episode "Celestial Navigation" Leo tells Toby and Sam to "Fly to Westchester County Airport and rent a car" in order to get their United States Supreme Court nominee, Roberto Mendoza, out of jail in Connecticut. [ [http://www.twiztv.com/cgi-bin/thewestwing.cgi?episode=http://dmca.free.fr/scripts/thewestwing/season1/thewestwing-115.txt West Wing transcript] ]
* The airport is featured in the remake of the Thomas Crowne Affair as a double for New York Kennedy. A character is told to "go up the escalator and make a left" to reach the International gates. Doing so would actually put her in the parking garage.Fact|date=December 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.whiteplainsairport.com/ Westchester County Airport] , official site
*FAA-diagram|00651|Westchester County Airport
*PDFlink| [https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/divisions/operating/opdm/aviation/repository/air_dir/hpn.pdf New York State DOT Airport Diagram]
*US-airport|HPN