[7] The original airport opened in 1934; it had a hangar, commercial airline connections, air mail service, lighted fields, a weather bureau station, and was a pilot training facility .

With the United States entry into World War II Scottsbluff promoted its municipal airport for military/defense purposes.

A temporary railroad spur was constructed and some 600,000 cubic yards (460,000 m3) of concrete for three runways was poured in forty-five days.

The original mission was to train crews of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators bombers.

The airfield closed on December 31, 1945, and the War Department handed over control to the City of Scottsbluff in 1947.

Buildings and structures which were not part of the transfer were sold by the U.S. Government in separate agreements and most were removed.

[2] In the year ending May 31, 2022 the airport had 27,897 aircraft operations, average 76 per day: 91% general aviation, 5% airline, 2% air taxi, and 1% military.

[2] As of 2022, Western Nebraska Regional Airport is not served by fixed route public transit.