[6] In December 1914, the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Co. relocated to Ithaca and in 1915 established a flying school using the lake and a field near the inlet.

[12] In 1946, Cornell University and the city of Ithaca began planning for a new airport on East Hill on the university-owned land in Lansing, New York.

[14][15] On July 1, 1956, the 23 parcels of land that made up the airport were conveyed by Cornell University to Tompkins County for the sum of $324,500 (equivalent to $3,636,624 in 2023).

[16] The original municipal airport was the base for Aviation pioneer Cecil Robinson's aerial photography missions.

US Airways nonstops to Pittsburgh, a focus city, resumed on November 9, 2005, but ended on April 1, 2006, due to low yield.

[2] On October 6, 2008, Continental Connection resumed service between Ithaca and Newark Liberty International Airport with four daily flights.

Starting on March 24, 2012, US Airways Express ended all service between Ithaca and New York–LaGuardia as part of a slot-exchange deal with Delta.

The U.S. Department of Transportation restored the funding needed to support the continued operation of the Ithaca airport control tower.

[22] On September 12, 2017, the airport announced that it had been awarded $2.4 million in grants from the FAA to rehabilitate the general aviation tarmac, add new perimeter fencing and lighting and build a second passenger boarding bridge.

[24] On May 3, 2018, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced (at the airport) a new $22 million project to double the size of the 25-year-old airport terminal, adding six new gates, three new jet bridges and a customs facility to allow international air travel to Ithaca, as well as expanded office space for the Transportation Security Administration and the serving airlines.

[28] On July 12, 2018, the airport announced that American Airlines would start nonstop service to Charlotte, North Carolina, with one weekly flight on Saturdays beginning in December, 2018 (operating daily as of March 2022).

[1] In 2011 the airport had 41,286 aircraft operations, average 113 per day: 77% general aviation, 23% air taxi, <1% military, and <1% airline.