Ontario opens arms to homeless - LA Times
At an enclave near the airport, people can get shelter, food and some social services. Many churches are helping.
Over the last six months, more than 250 homeless people have pitched tents near the Ontario airport, creating a burgeoning shantytown that sprawls across vacant lots and spills into side streets. Jets landing at the airport thunder just a few hundred feet above.
They call it Tent City, and for many it's a welcome refuge from the cars, bridges and offramps they usually inhabit.
Ontario officials don't call the place Tent City or Camp Hope as some do. They prefer "rest area." They set it up on city property just west of LA/Ontario International Airport last June to lure the local homeless away from dangerous sites.
"They were living along the railroad tracks, along the 10 Freeway at the major intersections," said Brent Schultz, director of the city's office of housing and neighborhood revitalization.
Regional airport panel disbands - Daily Breeze
The Southern California Regional Airport Authority, created more than two decades ago to find a regional solution to air traffic demands, was unceremoniously disbanded for the second time Thursday.
Three remaining members of the panel agreed to dissolve the group due to a lack of participation from [Orange and Riverside], two counties that were seen as key players in diverting air traffic from Los Angeles International Airport.
The decision was reached in the wake of an online survey that suggested the regional airport panel should either shape up or ship out.
"At this particular point, I just think SCRAA needs to be disbanded," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe. "As long as the conversation revolves around the fact that we're looking out for our own backyards then I think this agency needs to go away."
Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster has said he stopped attending the meetings because he felt too much pressure to convert March Air Field into a commercial airport.
Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach refused to attend meetings because he feared SCRAA would have used its power of eminent domain to take control of John Wayne Airport, which is limited to 10.3 million annual passengers.
"We are pleasantly surprised," Moorlach's chief of staff, Mario Mainero, said of SCRAA's decision to disband. "Supervisor Moorlach remains interested in working productively and cooperatively with others in the region, particularly with ground transportation issues," Mainero said.
Levitation train system for L.A. gets initial OK - Daily Breeze
A massive plan to accelerate transportation in the region with a $26 billion high-speed train system received initial approval from the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday as it created a joint-powers agreement [with West Covina and Ontario.]
The move marked the first step in negotiations to solidify an Atlanta-based firm's proposal to construct a magnetic-levitation train system that would start at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, run through downtown and eventually reach Ontario Airport.
Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith said American Maglev Technology would foot the bill for the system and has been working with the Southern California Association of Governments on its proposal.
Meanwhile, a $9.95 billion bond measure is set to be on the November ballot to fund initial work on a 700-mile high-speed rail system from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
The first phase of that project would begin in Orange County and run through Los Angeles. The measure requires a simple majority vote, a California High Speed Rail authority spokesman said.
The Mayor’s Silence is Deafening - CityWatch Guestwords
Contributor David Coffin is a a member of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester-Playa del Rey.
Not since the announcement of the settlement in January of 2005 have we heard a word from Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa on the wayward LAX expansion plans.
However, before Antonio Villaraigosa became mayor, he was not so quiet about his, or his predecessors, plans as he campaigned as the candidate who would protect the community from airport expansion and work towards a regional solution where surrounding counties would contribute towards the region’s airport transportation needs when he became mayor. More . . .
Japanese delegation speaks on benefits of high-speed trains - OC Register
Shinkansen network is discussed as local officials ponder feasibility of such a system in California.
In a country about the size of the state of California, a high-speed rail system has for decades whisked millions of passengers to and from destinations.
A delegation of Japanese transportation officials attended a seminar Wednesday in Anaheim to talk about the Shinkansen and how its success could be applied to a proposed 700-mile highspeed route that would stretch from the Bay Area to Southern California.
“I have no doubt in my mind that California will have high-speed rail, but I can’t tell you exactly when,” said Mehdi Morshed, executive director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is leading the effort to bring such a service to the state.
The authority has completed environmental studies for the Bay Area and is nearly halfway done with studies for an Anaheim-to-Los Angeles segment, stopping at Union Station.
Website Editor: Inter-city high speed rail is seen by many as the alternative to forecasted airport expansion which is opposed by communities surrounding most of Southern California's airports. The newspaper reports that the Japanese rail system serves 390,000 passengers per day which equals 140,000,000 per year. By comparison, all of the LA region's airports serve about 90 million annual passengers, roughly one third of whom travel less than 500 miles.
Airport, airlines settle fee dispute - Daily Breeze
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners announced a short-term settlement Tuesday that resolves a year-long fee dispute with five airlines.
As part of the settlement, United, American, Continental, Northwest and Delta agreed to pay a combined $33 million worth of annual increases for terminal maintenance and operating costs dating back to 2006. Additionally, the airlines agreed to help pay for a new $218 million central utility plant at the airport.
In return, Los Angeles World Airports - the city agency that operates LAX - will credit the airlines $20 million for expenses the carriers had paid in protest during the dispute.
Combined
air travel at the Southern California Association
of Governments (SCAG) region's six major commercial airports set a
record in
2007. A total of 89,521,763
passengers were served, finally topping the pre 9-11 record of
88,482,980 set
in 2000. (Data does not include minor airports such as Palmdale and
Oxnard.)
As
previously reported,
With
the exception of LAX, all
With
the exception of John Wayne, all airports finished
2007 on an upswing, handling more passengers than during the final
months of
2006. JWA’s
November and December passenger downturn - at a time of higher
overall Southern
California demand - may be related to county efforts to keep its
service
level below
the MAP cap agreement with
|
Airport |
2000 |
2006 |
2007 |
|
Los Angles Intl. |
67,303,182 |
61,041,066 |
|
|
|
7,778,201 |
9,613,480 |
9,979,699 |
|
LA/Ontario |
6,739,329 |
7,049,904 |
|
|
|
4,748,742 |
5,689,291 |
|
|
|
637,865 |
2,758,362 |
2,906,556 |
|
|
1,281,073 |
1,529,005 |
1,610,943 |
|
SCAG Region Total |
88,482,980 |
87,681,108 |
|
|
|
15,820,342 |
17,207,913 |
18,326,761 |
SCAG region air travel took 7 years to finally reach and exceed its 2000 level. Absence of increased air travel demand, during a period when population grew, raises questions about SCAG's series of optimistic growth forecasts. The forecasts project that per capita air travel will increase but, since 2000, the opposite has occurred.
SCRAA meets Thursday to consider its future - El Toro Info Site report
The Southern California Regional Airport Authority meets on Thursday to hear the results of a consultant's report and to make a possible decision on the organization's future.
Click here for the meeting agenda. The report is included as the item "Interviews - Survey results. The consultant notes, as a weakness in its survey, that most of the respondents to the survey were members of the public rather than SCRAA members and "only one member of the SCRAA Voting Board responded to it."
"SCRAA is currently viewed as an ineffective body that as presently constituted is incapable of advancing regionalization and decentralization outside of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties."
"SCRAA should focus on working with the airports that want to expand (i.e. So Cal Logistics, Ontario, San Bernardino, Palmdale) rather than working with those who don’t (i.e. Long Beach, John Wayne, Burbank, etc.)" LAX is not mentioned in either category.
LAX, Ontario, Palmdale post results for 2007
Los Angeles International Airport finished 2007 serving 61,896,075 passengers, an increase of 1.4 % over 2006. Both domestic and international travel saw increases over the previous year.
LA/Ontario Airport finished the year with traffic of 7,207,154 travelers, up by 2.2 % over 2006.
It was not a record year for either airport. LAX's best year was in 2000 and Ontario had its biggest year in 2005 before hitting a dip in 2006.
Palmdale served 12,022 passengers in 2007. It's best year was 1991.
Burbank airport has record December and year
Bob Hope Airport saw a record number of passengers for a December and completed 2007 serving 5,921,336 passengers.
It was the airport's busiest year, during which it posted a 4.08 % passenger increase over 2006. The number of commercial air carrier operations rose by 4.8 % for the year.
Should airports board disband? - Daily Breeze
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe has long been an advocate of diverting air traffic from Los Angeles International Airport to other local airfields, even before "regionalization" became a popular catchphrase.
So Knabe and representatives from the city of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties banded together in 1984 to draw up some solutions.
But the Southern California Regional Airport Authority they formed at the time quietly disbanded nearly 20 years later due to a lack of interest.
The panel resurfaced at the end of 2006 but the comeback has been shaky at best, marred by a series of canceled meetings and a lack of participation by two key members from Orange and Riverside counties.
History may repeat itself as SCRAA members decide Thursday whether to completely disband, or use the results of a recent survey to redefine and strengthen itself.
"I had high hopes back in the '80s, and again last year, but I just don't see SCRAA going anywhere now," said Knabe, whose Fourth District includes LAX.
Website Editor: Click this link for the website's library of reports on the several births and deaths of SCRAA.
Week of January 21, 2008 - January 27, 2008
Number of
passengers and flights at San Diego International Airport reach
all-time annual high - SD Airport Authority
San Diego International Airport (SDIA) had its busiest year ever in
2007, with all-time highs reached in the number of passengers and
flights served. The numbers make 2007 the fourth consecutive
record-breaking year in passenger growth for SDIA.
The airport served 18,326,761 passengers in 2007, a 4.8% increase over
the 17,481,942 passengers it served in 2006 – and the first time in its
history that passenger numbers have exceeded 18 million.
The number of flights (operations) reported by the airport in 2007 also
grew to an all-time high of 227,329 – a 2.9% increase over the 220,839
operations reported in 2006.
The
airport experienced a busy holiday season with November up 8.0 % and
December up 2.9 % over the same months in 2006.
Long Beach Airport
finishes 2007 on up note
Long
Beach Daugherty Field posted a 1.7 % increase in December traffic,
finishing 2007 up 5.4 % over 2006's volume.
It’s cheaper to build casinos than airports – El Toro Info Site comment
Californians
will be asked to vote on four ballot measures
to allow expanded Indian gambling casinos and produce more Indian funds
to run
the state government. We are told that the principal opposition to the
measures
comes from
Will we avoid future airport problems by expanding gambling opportunities closer to home? High-speed rail is proposed to reduce the future demand for runways. Local casinos would have a similar effect and cost the taxpayers nothing.
JWA traffic rose in 2007 - OC Register Business
Record year at JWA
Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport dropped 9.5 percent in December, but was up 3.8 percent overall in 2007, setting a record for travelers, the airport reports. For the year, the airport handled 9,979,699 passengers, topping its previous annual high in 2005 of 9,627,032.
Private jet and small airplane traffic dipped slightly in December, down 0.3 percent. General aviation operations dropped 7 percent for the year.
Air cargo tonnage, which is only a small part of JWA’s business, was down 3 percent in December. It dropped 7.3 percent for the year.
Website Editor: See below for another view of the results.
Five die in midair plane crash over Corona - OC Register
Two private planes flying about a mile from the airport here collided Sunday, killing at least five people as debris rained down on car dealerships below, authorities said.
The planes, both small Cessnas, slammed into each other at 3:35 p.m. about a mile from the Corona Municipal Airport and just north of the 91, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Wayne Pollack said one of the victims was inside a Chevrolet dealership and was struck by parts of a Cessna 150.
Week of January 14, 2008 - January 20, 2008
Fee for peak-hour landings at LAX proposed - Daily Breeze
Airlines would be charged more for landing planes during peak hours at Los Angeles International Airport under a plan that has tentative support from City Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
The plan would allow flights to be spaced out more evenly, while the funds generated from increased landing fees could be used for runway and airport improvements, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who announced support earlier this week for a similar proposal in New York City.
The Transportation Department currently determines landing fees based on a plane's weight. The fees are then collected by airport agencies.
Under Peters' plan, airlines would be charged a higher fee for landing planes during the busiest hours of operation at an airport. "As a result, airports will be able to use the power of pricing to encourage aircraft operators to spread their schedules more evenly throughout the day," Peters said in New York earlier this week.
Landing fees collected at LAX could be used for improvements at LA/Ontario International and LA/Palmdale airports, which play an integral role in Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to divert commercial air traffic to other regional airfields.
LAX officials declined to comment on the plan, saying only that it requires more study.
Officials with the Air Transport Association, the trade group representing U.S. airlines, said the proposal would likely drive up airline ticket prices.
Finalist named to run Denver International Airport - Denver Business Journal
Kim Day was named Thursday as the finalist to take over running Denver International Airport for the city.
Day, an aviation consultant and former executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, would succeed Turner West as Denver's manager of aviation. West announced his retirement last year, but intends to remain on the job through March 31 to help with the transition.
The final stage of the selection process involves bringing Day to Denver later this month to meet employees of DIA.
Daily Pilot corrects JWA story
After this website called attention to the newspaper's misleading report, the Pilot posted this correction:
JWA gets OK on booking 12.9 million passenger seats a year
This corrects an earlier version of the story.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy permission to allow air carriers to book about 12 million passenger seats total over the next year beginning in April.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement, John Wayne Airport can allow only 10.3 million passengers a year through its gates, but the number of passenger seats allowed is calculated differently.
JWA traffic drops in December; 2007 finishes below 10 MAP
John Wayne airport experienced its slowest December in five years. Passenger traffic for the month dropped 9.5 percent from last December.
Passenger volume - projected to hit the airport's 10.3 million annual cap during the busy summer - unexpectedly slumped to under 10 MAP. The final figure for the calendar year was 9,979,699 passengers served.
It is unknown as to what role the airport's efforts to restrain traffic to less than the MAP cap played in the sudden drop in utilization first noted in November. What is known is that John Wayne management and the Board of Supervisors, in order to maintain a cushion under the cap, denied Southwest Airlines requests to provide more service this year.
This week, the Board cut 300,000 seats in capacity allocations for the coming airport plan year.
Click chart at right to enlarge.
Air traffic controllers' labor tactics raise concern - LA Times
The air traffic controllers union and the FAA have been in a heated labor dispute since 2006 over how best to staff air traffic facilities that guide planes through increasingly congested airspace.
Safety experts worry that air controllers' statements in labor talks run the risk of scaring flying public.
It's "unsafe" at busy airports throughout the country. There's a "staffing emergency" in air traffic control facilities serving Southern California. A "dangerous situation" in the skies and on the ground is about to "get worse."
National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. President Patrick Forrey made those allegations last week in news releases and during a teleconference with reporters in the latest salvo in a long-standing labor dispute between the union and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The intensifying rhetoric concerns safety advocates, who say controllers have crossed the line by trying to scare passengers as a way to solve a contractual dispute.
"I think that anyone that is in a safety position has a responsibility to not obviously use inflammatory language and maintain their comments on a factual basis," said Jim Hall, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, who now runs a transportation consulting business.
JWA gets OK on 2 million more passengers a year - Daily Pilot
Website Editor: In a glaring example of how a careless headline (above) and an inaccurate article can mislead readers, the Newport Beach Daily Pilot published the following account of how the airport recommended - and the Board of Supervisors rubber stamped - a reduction in the number of seats allocated to airlines at JWA this coming year as compared to the number allocated a year ago.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy permission to allow air carriers to book about 12 million passenger seats total over the next year beginning in April.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement, John Wayne Airport can allow only 10.3 million passengers a year through its gates, but the number of passenger seats allowed is calculated differently.
Although the board agreed to give Murphy the power to give the airlines up to 12.9 million seats, the carriers typically use about 95% of that number due to factors such as passenger cancellations and missed flights, according to county documents. The supervisors also authorized Murphy on Tuesday to withdraw some of the seats if passenger levels threatened to bubble over 10.3 million.
“What we just need to do is eventually close the airport,” said Newport Beach resident Charles Griffin, who spoke at the meeting on behalf of the anti-airport expansion group AirFair.
Murphy said the seats would benefit local travelers. The air carriers at John Wayne initially requested 13.5 million seats, according to county documents.
“We feel this is needed by the traveling public in Orange County,” Murphy said.
See more below.
OC supervisors approve reduced seat allocations for JWA - El Toro Info Site report
On Tuesday morning, the three members of the Board of Supervisors who were in attendance unanimously approved, without discussion, a reduction is JWA seat allocations for next year.
This website previously had submitted its concerns to the supervisors regarding the action.
Newport Beach activist Charles Griffin was the sole speaker. He stated that it was "appropriate to reduce the number of seats" and that "eventually we have to close the airport and replace it with Maglev." Griffin also spoke against building the new third terminal and additional gates.
Environmental study OKd for LAX - LA Times
Citing safety concerns that they said overrode outrage from neighboring communities, members of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday approved a contract for an environmental study that will include a possible reconfiguring of the northern runways at LAX.
The unanimous approval of the $8.7-million contract, with Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., came after a standing-room-only crowd of Los Angeles International Airport neighbors urged commissioners to consider other options and to wait for a safety study.
See also the report below and an updated Daily Breeze article with additional details.
Study to focus on north runways at LAX - Daily Breeze
An environmental study looking at how to reconfigure the northern runways at Los Angeles International Airport - along with several other long-awaited projects - may finally begin under the terms of an $8.7 million contract set for consideration Monday by airport officials.
Along with the runway study, the pending three-year contract with Massachusetts-based consultant Camp, Dresser and McKee calls for taking another look at an automated people mover and a new ground transportation center that could provide the missing link to the Metro light-rail line.
Plans also call for reviewing whether Terminals 1, 2 and 3 should be refurbished or demolished - a fate that will be determined based on which runway reconfiguration plan is supported by airport and city officials.
The costly environmental study is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete, but allows the Board of Airport Commissioners to take a fresh look at options that were shelved two years ago.
The people mover, ground transportation system and terminal demolition were all part of former Mayor James Hahn's failed plan to modernize LAX. The City Council had signed off on the plan, but it was put on hold after the county, the cities of Inglewood and El Segundo, and a community group that opposes airport expansion filed suit.
San Diego Airport keeping up the pace
San Diego's Lindbergh Field saw an 8.0 % November increase in air traffic over last year. For the first eleven months of the year, the airport's use is 5.1 % ahead of 2006.
This puts it in the same growth range as John Wayne, Long Beach and Palm Springs - but notably ahead of LAX.
San Diego is headed for an 18 MAP year.
Week of January 7, 2008 - January 13, 2008
Update on proposal to reduce airline seats at JWA
Public records just obtained by this website show that airport management's proposal to reduce airline seat allocations at JWA for the coming year is based on eliminating 6 flights requested by Southwest Airlines.
The proposal submitted to the Board of Supervisors is projected to serve 10,028,984 passengers during the year. Two other proposals studied by airport staff result in projected service levels of 10,107,009 and 10,185,035 passengers.
The airport is permitted to serve 10,300,000 annual passengers under an agreement with Newport Beach. Based on airport staff calculations, the airport could allocate the same number of seats as it did a year ago and not exceed the agreed-upon passenger cap.
Who benefits from this reduction in service?
Southwest cuts south state flights - Sacramento Bee
Southwest Airlines will drop four round-trip flights in May from Sacramento International Airport to Southern California as the Dallas-based discount carrier looks to trim costs.
The cutback will affect service to Burbank Bob Hope Airport, Los Angeles, Ontario and San Diego International airports, officials announced Wednesday.
Oakland and San Jose will also lose flights to Southern California. In all, 40 round-trip flights nationwide will be eliminated from Southwest's flight schedule as of May 10.
Fly-Away Service Proposed For Palmdale Airport - KHTS
To help provide travelers with a convenient, reliable and inexpensive alternative to commuting to LAX, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has directed the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to investigate the feasibility of developing a dedicated bus service to connect LA/Palmdale Airport to the Santa Clarita Valley.
The mystery of the Green Line - Daily Breeze
Standing as a testament to government dysfunction, the Green Line light-rail line stops two miles short of LAX.
From the platform at the Aviation Station, passengers can see the track heading toward the planes in the foggy distance, but stopping abruptly in a nearby parking lot.
How could Los Angeles transportation officials have spent $700 million to build the Green Line, which runs 20 miles between Norwalk and Redondo Beach, while dodging the nation's third-busiest airport along the way?
In the dozen years since the Green Line opened, cities like San Francisco, New York and Portland have built rail lines directly to their airports.
Meanwhile, efforts to complete a two-mile spur to Los Angeles International Airport have stalled for lack of funding, making the original decision to avoid the airport all the more frustrating and baffling. More . . .
Palm Springs Airport has record year
Palm Springs airport is the first of the region's six airports to post its December and year end travel results. The airport served 1,610,943 passengers during 2007, a 5.4 % increase over the previous year.
Union says time is ripe for airport disaster - Daily Breeze
A shortage in certified air traffic controllers has resulted in a "staffing emergency" at airports in Southern California, New York, Atlanta and Chicago, the head of the controllers union said Thursday.
About 500 certified controllers are expected to retire from the nation's airports by Feb. 3, with an additional 2,200 more controllers set to step down by the end of the year, according to Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents some 14,800 controllers nationwide.
As a result, control towers are short-staffed, a situation that could lead to a series of mistakes by overworked or less-experienced air traffic controllers, Forrey said.
LAX and ONT post small year to date gains
November 2007 results show LAX traffic for the eleven months is 1.5 % ahead of last year.
Ontario/LA airport is 2.37 % ahead of the same period last year.
John Wayne Airport is up by 5.0 % and Long Beach is up by 5.7 % compared to 2006.
County to consider reduction in allocated seats at JWA - El Toro Info Site report
At the January 15 Board of Supervisors meeting, John Wayne Airport Manager Alan Murphy will recommend lower seat allocations to air carriers for the airport’s coming year.
The county’s agreement with Newport Beach limits the airport to serving 10.3 million annual passengers (MAP). To stay within the MAP cap, the county devised control procedures that allocate seats (whether full or empty) to airlines. Management must estimate, up to a year in advance, the percentage of these seats that will be filled with passengers.
In a hybrid allocation procedure, Murphy requests that 12,872,800 seats be allocated to air carriers and 453,950 passengers be allowed to use commuter airlines in the airport’s 2008-09 plan year beginning on April 1.
The proposal cuts more than 300,000 seats from what the supervisors approved for the current year. It is for 600,000 fewer seats than requested by air carriers.
This website has been anticipating a reduction in authorized service this year or next because the airport has come too close to its MAP cap for management comfort.
The airport manager has leeway to make supplemental seat allocations to airlines, or reductions, as the year progresses but the procedure has never resulted in full utilization of the airport’s negotiated passenger limits.
This website's report on Seat Allocations examines this procedure for the past five years and its outcomes. Each year, the county has restricted the airport to serving hundreds of thousands of passengers less than the Newport Beach agreement permits, even when airlines have asked to provide more service.
The deal between the county and Newport Beach is for 10.3 million passengers. So long as 10.3 million passengers want to fly from John Wayne and the airlines want to provide the service, they should not be denied. If the county makes the full MAP cap available, the airlines would benefit, the airport would generate more revenue and the flying public would enjoy better service.
Moorlach updates BOS on SCRAA
We post here, the text of Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach's report to the Board regarding the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, SCRAA. The SCRAA has made little progress towards addressing the concerns of Orange County and others since its resurrection by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in an attempt to regionalize air traffic to airports other than LAX.
Flight frequency at issue - Daily Pilot
Group says flights have gone up and contest JWA’s claim that the increase in 2007 could not be heard by the human ear.
A leading airport watchdog group says a recent report showing a small decrease in the noise level around John Wayne Airport ignores the fact that there have been more flights out of JWA.
“Residents who live under the arrival and departure paths are well aware of the increase in flights,” the AirFair group said in a statement. “It is not the 24-hour average decibels of the daily flights that residents notice.”
“There are 350 flights a day if you count the private jets, and that’s minimum,” AirFair board member Nancy Alston said, estimating an official increase that will be released by the airport sometime later this month.
JWA spokeswoman Jenny Wedge added that the airport is still committed to remaining within state sound regulations, adding they are the strictest in the United States. She downplayed Alston’s reference to flight increases, saying they “haven’t been significant.”
LAX controllers call airport unsafe - Daily Breeze
Air traffic controllers are overworked and understaffed to the point that serious mistakes could go unnoticed on the runways at Los Angeles International Airport, Michael Foote, local president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said on Wednesday.
"No one silver bullet is going to solve the complex issue of runway safety, but the biggest safety concern at the airport is the lack of experienced controllers working at LAX tower," Foote told the Los Angeles City Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee.
"Controller error is not the leading cause of runway incursions at LAX or anywhere else," said Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman.
"In airports where aircraft have to cross active runways, such as LAX, there is a higher chance of an incursion," Gregor said. "That means LAX needs to do something to fix its runways, not the control tower staffing issue."
Eighty percent of those incursions were caused by pilot error, and 17 percent were found be caused by air traffic controller errors, according to Gregor. Three percent of the incursions were blamed on runway-vehicle drivers.
Janet [Nguyen] Appointing Man Behind Hinky Hit Piece To Airport Commission - OC Blog
The political blog takes a swipe at the appointment of Nick Lecong, a political operative and ally of the supervisor, to the Orange County Airport Commission. The blog's concern appears to be with certain political activities of Supervisor Nguyen and Lecong and not with the operation of the Airport Commission.
Website Editor Len Kranser responds to the blog post that Orange County is not making objective studies about air travel. Decisions about our airport are primarily political. It should be no surprise if political operatives are appointed to the Airport Commission.
Update: Supervisor Nguyen withdrew her appointment of Lecong just prior to the Board of Supervisors meeting. Perhaps she can find someone in her district who has airport and air travel planning credentials.
Panel approves plan for [Long Beach] airport parking garage - Press-Telegram
The Planning Commission gave a thumbs-up Thursday to a revised plan for a more attractive Long Beach Airport parking garage that it had rejected last year.
The 4,000-space, four-story parking structure at Donald Douglas Drive and Lakewood Boulevard is to be part of a larger proposed airport terminal improvement project that would expand the terminal from 56,320 square feet to 89,995 square feet.
The new garage would replace some surface lots to increase the number of parking spaces serving the airport from 4,935 to 6,225, according to city staff.
The airport improvement plan has been embattled since its inception, meeting resistance from neighbors and community groups. Opponents fear an expansion will lead to more flights, and thus more air pollution and noise.
The Long Beach Unified School District has filed a lawsuit against the city, challenging an environmental report's findings on the potential impact of the proposed airport expansion. The district says the city should provide noise soundproofing for a number of campuses if the terminal improvements go forward.
That case is scheduled to be heard Feb. 13 in Orange County Superior Court.
Objection raised to [Burbank] airport security project - LA Daily News
The Bob Hope Airport plans to build a facility so screeners can check bags away from the Terminal B lobby, but some residents are forcing the City Council to take another look at the project.
Stan Hyman and David Piroli oppose the project, saying it violates a 2005 agreement between Burbank and the airport meant to temporarily block airport expansion. They have appealed the city's decision to approve the screening improvements.
Airport officials, however, say it's a matter of safety.
Week of January 1 - January 6, 2008
JWA: Noise boost minor - Daily Pilot
Airport served more passengers this year, but noticeable noise levels haven’t increased much, spokeswoman says.
Despite a record level of passengers at John Wayne Airport in 2007, a new report released by the airport’s Noise Abatement office shows that noise levels around the facility have increased by only one to two decibels — an amount too insignificant to be recognized by the human ear, according to airport officials.
Airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge attributed the stabilization to quieter and larger aircraft, which are able to handle more passengers without much ostensible change in air traffic.
“From 2003 to 2006, we compared annual data at all of our noise-monitoring stations, and the maximum fluctuation in decibels was no more than two over that period,” she said. “We remained in our noise contours, which are defined in our access plan, which airports are required to follow.”
Wedge further acknowledged that, while decibels levels have risen only slightly, the new limits permit more frequent takeoffs and landings.
The Pilot article followed this website's gathering and then publishing of the noise data on Tuesday.
Delta Air Lines departs Monterey Peninsula Airport - Salinas Californian
Delta Air Lines has cancelled its lone daily flight out of Monterey Peninsula Airport, effective Sunday. The flight was the airport's only commercial flight to Salt Lake City, and may herald future cuts in air service to Monterey County.
Monterey Peninsula Airport announced Delta is cutting routes that have 80 percent or fewer seats filled, partly due to rising fuel costs.
Website Editor: This may be a cautionary tale for Palmdale Airport boosters where planes are running one-third full.
Oil hits $100, sending airline shares down -
Associated Press
The price of oil hit $100 a barrel on Wednesday, and some observers say
soaring prices could start to significantly affect the economy. The
high price of oil sent shares of airlines to their lowest point in four
years. Fuel is the industry's highest expense, and it is unclear how
long carriers can continue to boost fares to offset higher fuel costs,
observers say.
FAA: Atlanta
Airport Is Nation's Busiest - Associated Press
LAX remains nation's 4th-busiest airport .
For the third year in a row, Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport has retained its title as the nation's
busiest airport in terms of flights, according to preliminary
government data released Wednesday.
The Atlanta airport logged 994,466 flights in 2007, up 1.8 percent from
976,447 flights in 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Flights include takeoffs and landings.
Its rival, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, was listed second
busiest, with 935,000 flights in 2007. That number was down 2.4 percent
from the 958,643 flights it had in 2006, the FAA said.
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was ranked third, with 686,711
flights in 2007, down 2.3 percent from 702,722 flights in 2006, the FAA
said.
Website Editor: FAA preliminary standings for 2007 were
published for only the top 3. Los
Angeles International ranked 4th in 2006.
The Daily Breeze reports
Los Angeles International Airport was the nation's fourth-busiest
airport [again] in 2007, logging 680,954 landings and takeoffs.
How much noise do a million airline passengers make? - El Toro Info Site report
Five years ago, the county, Newport Beach and the airlines serving John Wayne airport negotiated an increase in JWA's MAP cap.
The
increase went into effect in 2003, and by 2006, airport service
increased by a million annual passengers.
This
website’s review of airport data,
“How
much noise do a
million air passengers make?” shows that this
brought no increase in noise.
Before the caps were raised, Newport Beach City Attorney Bob Burnham assured his city that “the increased number of gates and passengers likely won't have much effect on Newport Beach residents . . . factors such as the number of seats filled on any given flight and current trends in air travel will buffer the effect of expanded caps. 'We're convinced it will not have any significant impact,' Burnham said."
Burnham
was correct. Our analysis suggests why.
When complete air travel and noise data becomes available for 2007, we forecast it will show that the number of passengers has increased from 2003 by a million and a half, and from 2002 by over 2 million - with still no measured increase in noise. That's good news for the neighbors and for the traveling public.
Each passenger served at John Wayne is one less round trip on the freeways to an out-of-county airport.
Long Beach Airport recovering
Long Beach Daugherty Airfield traffic through November was up by 5.7% over the same eleven months in 2006.
The airport is on target to hit 2.9 million annual passengers this year. It's best year was in 2005 when passenger numbers topped 3.0 million for the first and only time. The loss of American Airlines service adversely affected traffic but JetBlue has filled the void.
JWA expects to squeak in under the MAP cap - El Toro Info Site report
Documents from John Wayne Airport, in response to California Public Records Act requests, show airport managers expecting the airport to squeak in just under the 10.3 million annual passenger (MAP) cap that went into effect in 2003.
An airport calculation dated 11/29/2007 projects 10,315,570 passengers for the 2007-08 plan year ending March 31, 2008. Subsequent projections, taking into account November's flat traffic, range around 10.2 MAP.
What is apparent is that – if allowed to do so - the airport is physically capable of serving over 10 million passengers even before the current $600 million construction project that features the addition of a 300,000 square foot third terminal.
NASA info on air-travel safety called `gibberish' - Daily Breeze
NASA grudgingly released some results Monday from an $11.3 million federal air-safety study it previously withheld from the public over concerns it would upset travelers and hurt airline profits.
But it published the findings in a format that made it cumbersome for any thorough analysis by outsiders.
"Even a rocket scientist would be unable to decipher the redacted gibberish NASA chose to release," said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segundo, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport.
"Every day, millions of flying passengers are being placed at high risk of a catastrophic airline collision," Lieu said. "NASA must fulfill its moral duty by immediately releasing all the survey results in a manner understandable to the public."
Released on New Year's Eve, the unprecedented research conducted over nearly four years relates to safety problems identified by some 29,000 pilots interviewed by telephone.
"Releasing raw data without any assessments is like producing a recipe without instructions on how to mix the ingredients and how long to cook them," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, whose district includes a small portion of LAX.
"In this form, the NASA survey is close to useless for policymakers who want to make certain busy airports like LAX are safe," Harman said.
Flat growth at S.J. airport worries some - The San Jose (CA) Mercury News
In recent months, San Jose airport officials have watched in dismay as airline after airline - Cathay Pacific, Virgin America and Indian start-up Kingfisher - skipped over San Jose to launch flights elsewhere.
With risk-averse airlines flocking to larger airports such as San Francisco, some observers have raised questions about how exactly San Jose is going to achieve the kind of steady passenger growth it is counting on to pay back the $725 million it borrowed this summer for a massive expansion project.
The airport also has been counting on growth in order to keep airline fees low and to ensure that the $1.3 billion upgrade doesn't have to be scaled back so much that it disappoints passengers.
