Westchester County Airport is referred to by the International Air
Transport Association as HPN or, more endearingly by its patrons, White
Plains Airport. The airport is unique in that it has the feel of a rural
or regional airport but is within the New York metro area. Today, the
airport bustles with traffic, accommodating commercial airlines,
business, and private aviation. The golden age of aviation gave way to a
major industry with the employment of modern airports featuring lighted
concrete runways and new technologies like radio. In Westchester County,
this all began with a seaplane operation at Rye-Cove in the early 1920s,
followed by the call for a county airport in 1928, but it did not come
to fruition until 1945. World War II generated a need for an airfield at
Rye Lake, and by 1945, diminished defense needs permitted the transition
from military airfield to county airport.