The airport is in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 12 miles (19 km) north-northwest of Midtown Manhattan, making it popular for private and corporate aircraft.

Walter C. Teter (1863–1929) acquired the property in 1917, [7] and North American Aviation operated a manufacturing plant on the site during World War I.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey purchased it on April 1, 1949, from Fred L. Wehran, a private owner, and later leased it to Pan American World Airways (and its successor organization Johnson Controls) for 30 years until December 1, 2000, when the Port Authority assumed full responsibility for the operation of Teterboro.

Congressman Steve Rothman helped authorize a federal bill codifying the ban, citing excessive noise in the surrounding residential areas.

[citation needed] Two large office buildings are centrally located, one at 90 Moonachie Avenue, and the other on Fred Wehran Drive, which houses the Department of Homeland Security.

[citation needed] In 2017, the airport had 178,369 aircraft operations, averaging 488 per day: 65.6% general aviation, 34% air taxi, 0.3% military, and <1% airline.

The museum offers visitors an opportunity to view historic air and space equipment and artifacts, photographs, fine art and an extensive model collection.

In 1956 and again in 1958, Thomas Fitzpatrick flew stolen aircraft from Teterboro and landed them along city streets in the Hudson Heights, Manhattan neighborhood.

In June 1966, in Hasbrouck Heights, a two-engine Piper Aztec going to Teterboro Airport crashed, striking a tree and narrowly missing homes on Burton Avenue near U.S. Route 46 (US 46).

On September 23, 1981, a Ronson Aviation Bell 206B helicopter and a Seminole Air Charier Piper PA-34 airplane collided in flight over East Rutherford, about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) south of Teterboro Airport.

The airplane, with about 8 feet (2.4 m) of its left wing and its right engine missing, made a gear-up landing in a marsh about 0.7 nautical miles (1.3 km; 0.81 mi) east of the collision point.

[14] On March 9, 2002 a single-engine Cessna 210 with a flight plan to Montauk, NY, crashed shortly after takeoff about 2 p.m. killing the only occupant and pilot.

[15] On September 9, 2002, a Piper Saratoga carrying a Canadian family took off from Teterboro Airport and crashed into a housing development in Hunterdon County 10 minutes later.

On February 2, 2005 at 7:18 a.m., a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V, hurtled off a runway at Teterboro Airport, skidded across US 46 and slammed into a warehouse during the morning rush, injuring 20 people, 11 of them on the plane.

The aircraft was owned and piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who died in the accident along with his flight instructor.

The plane was believed to have originated at Reading, PA, and was carrying blood samples for Quest Diagnostics, which has a lab on property adjacent to Teterboro Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) safety recommendations from this accident included a requirement for "operators to establish programs for flight crewmembers who have demonstrated performance deficiencies or experienced failures during training and administer additional oversight and training to address and correct performance deficiencies.

"[23] In January 1954, Arthur Godfrey buzzed the Teterboro control tower with his Douglas DC-3, resulting in a six-month suspension of his license.

[24] Godfrey claimed that windy conditions forced him to turn immediately after takeoff when, in fact, he was angry with the tower due to him not getting clearance on the runway that he requested.

On July 24, 1973, Bob Gruen photographed Led Zeppelin in front of The Starship, the band's private Boeing 720 passenger jet, before it departed for a live performance at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

In the first season finale of the 2021 television series Chucky, the airport is mentioned as the destination for a truckload of Good Guy dolls.

[34] In the debut issue of New Fantastic Four, published by Marvel Comics in June 2022, Wolverine informs Spider-Man that he has a cab waiting to bring them to Teterboro Airport.