Eastern returned briefly from 1972 to 1974 with Boeing 727 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 "Whisperjet" service nonstop to Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Washington-National (DCA) and Boston.

[10][11] Competing was Pilgrim Airlines based at Groton–New London, to New York–JFK and LaGuardia, Boston, Washington (DCA) on de Havilland Canada Twin Otters and Fokker F27 turboprops.

[13] USAir Express (operated by commuter air carriers PSA, Piedmont, Allegheny) flew to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC area airports, utilizing Shorts 360, Dash-8 100/300, Dornier 328 and Beechcraft 1900 turboprop aircraft.

Tweed was also served by Atlantic Coast Airlines operating code sharing service as United Express flying Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops to Washington Dulles Airport.

[11][13][14] Comair (Delta Connection) began service to HVN in 2004 with three daily flights to Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport using CRJ-200 aircraft.

[19] On June 14, 2019, Southern Airways Express, a Florida-based-Part 135 commuter carrier, began seasonal nonstop service between Tweed and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

[20] On May 6, 2021, Houston-based low-cost startup Avelo Airlines announced that it would be opening its first East Coast base at Tweed New Haven.

On August 7, 2024, Breeze Airways announced it will be launching 10 flights in direct competition with Avelo Airlines current routes from New Haven.

New Haven has advocated airport runway expansion, which would be required to attract more commercial air service and larger planes.

[30][31] In 2002, the FAA and the State of Connecticut had approved the airport's layout plan which specified the installation of safety overruns and extending the length of Tweed's main runway 02–20.

In 2015, Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven and Rep. Rosa DeLauro wrote a joint letter to residents pledging their support for runway expansion.

[36] Opposition to the airport runway expansion was strong among some local residents, resulting in the formation of a small grassroots campaign.

[45][46] Tim Larson, former executive director and State Senator for East Hartford, described Tweed as "an airport at a critical juncture.

He added that "American (formerly US Airways), may discontinue our existing service when in the next few years they replace the current Dash-8 aircraft with planes that require a longer runway.

In a unanimous opinion, the court ruled that the state statute limiting the length of the runway is preempted by federal law, and is therefore invalid.

[51] In December 2019, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States seeking a challenge to the runway expansion.

[52] On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear Connecticut's appeal to the proposed runway expansion.

[53] On May 6, 2021, Avelo Airlines announced that their new East Coast hub would be located at Tweed and would hire 100 new employees to be based in New Haven.

It was also announced that AFCO AvPORTS would build a new terminal on the East Haven side of the airport in addition to expanding the length of the runway.

The growth in passenger totals further highlighted the need for the expansion, with the existing terminal experiencing overcrowding issues and no longer being able to efficiently handle the airport's needs.

For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2021, the airport served 36,029 aircraft operations, averaging 99 per day: 92% general aviation, 6% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial, and <1% military.

[70] CT Transit bus route 206 provides regular daily service between the passenger terminal (upon request) and East Chapel Street in Downtown New Haven.