In 1940 Kearney had a population of 9,643. In the early 1940s, three Nebraska cities, Kearney, Grand Island and Hastings joined to form the Central Nebraska Defense Council when it was learned that the United States Army Air Forces was considering the site for a military airfield. The group attempted to convince Washington that central Nebraska was a suitable location. Kearney and Grand Island effectively competed as locations for defense airports which would serve to store aircraft made at Offutt Field and the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant near Omaha.

In early 1941, the City of Kearney approved a $60,000 bond to finance a new airport. Kearney Regional Airport began as Keens Municipal Airport. The cost was more than $360,000, with the balance funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Construction began at the site on Highway 30 on October 21, 1941, and was dedicated as Keens Airport on August 23, 1942. The facility boasted asphalt runways and one hangar. A handful of buildings from the military era remain at Kearney Airport, notably Hangar #385.

The first airline service was provided by Mid-West operating Cessna 190s in 1950–52; Frontier Airlines' DC-3s began serving the airport in 1959. Frontier's Convairs lasted until 1979.

In 2008, a newly constructed Armed Forces Reserve Center at the airport housing non-flying units of both the U.S. Army Reserve and the Nebraska Army National Guard was dedicated.

The Essential Air Service has supported scheduled passenger service to Denver since 1997. The FAA's contract for the route was with Denver Air Connection from 2022 to 2024 and is with regional operator SkyWest Airlines from 2024 to 2027.

Flights from Kearney to Chicago O'Hare started in late 2019, but were suspended because of COVID-19-related-pilot and staffing shortages in 2022; the Kearney City Council approved restoration of the service in 2025.

In December 2022, U.S. Sen. Deb Fisher (R) announced that Kearney Regional Airport had been earmarked as the recipient of a $6.28 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. According to Mike Morgan, the City Manager of Kearney, funds allocated by the grant will go toward a variety of facility renovation and expansion projects that should enable the airport to "meet the increased passenger demand for years to come." The federal grant comes on the heels of several years of record growth at the airport and a construction project, contracted out by the city of Kearney earlier that year, for a $4.77 million expansion to increase the terminal building's size by 64% and include an additional TSA screening checkpoint, a baggage scanner, greater secure holding space, and more baggage storage and family restrooms.