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Week of January 26 - February 1, 2009

Dramatic redistribution of passengers at SoCal airports
- El Toro Info Site report

In Southern California, the years from 2000 to 2008 brought dramatic changes to the aviation industry. The continuously upward trend in air travel was broken by factors that could not be anticipated by government planning organizations like the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). 

While planners envisioned multi-billion dollar investments in Maglev trains and new airports to regionalize traffic away from LAX, travelers took matters into their own hands and simply avoided the Los Angeles airport.

Two other airports owned by Los Angeles World Airports, LA/Ontario and LA/Palmdale, were envisioned as key to regionalizing travel but neither took off during this period.

The reversal of fortunes in air travel is often blamed on the price of oil and the state of the economy but some airports have grown despite being faced with these same factors.

Nine years of data compiled by the El Toro Info Site tracks the dramatic redistribution of traffic between Southern California airports. LAX lost nearly 8 million passengers, 11.6 percent of its business. Most didn’t stop flying; they switched to other airports.

Over 2 million more travelers opted to fly from San Diego. Over 2 million shifted to nearby Long Beach Airport when JetBlue and other airlines filled the airport’s empty slots. More than a million of them switched to John Wayne airport after county supervisors relaxed the airport’s negotiated passenger cap. Burbank and Palm Springs airports also saw growth in 2000-2008.



This idea doesn’t fly with me - Daily Pilot, The Bell Curve

How many of you were shaken up Wednesday morning by reading a Pilot headline with a double whammy?

First, that Virgin America Airline will soon be flying five new daily departures out of John Wayne Airport. And, second, that the earliest is scheduled to depart at 6:45. In the morning, that is.

So I called Ayres Boyd who heads up the Airport Working Group, which has been in the trenches fighting off the expansionists for many years, to find out if they were on top of this one.

I asked Boyd what kind of response the Working Group got to a Forum piece in the Pilot — co-signed by AirFare and Stop Polluting Our Newport — that laid out a specific, rational regional transportation plan to resolve the problem of over-burdened airports, particularly JWA.

“Very little,” he said, “and none from Newport Beach where the noise problem is greatest. And no response, either, from the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa partnership to address JWA problems and plans.

“It doesn’t seem to be a top level issue in either city, nor does our effort to seek a means to buy the adjacent golf course property to prevent its use for a runway extension to accommodate larger planes.”

All of this is being played off against an ongoing $650-million construction project that has turned into a semantic game between the various factions.

Airport officials refer to the construction as “improvement,” while the Working Group calls it ”expansion” and is keeping a jaundiced eye on it while strongly questioning the timing of allowing a project of this size and dubious need to go forward in the economic crisis we all face today.

Meanwhile, what would Boyd suggest as marching orders for the people most affected by possible growth at JWA?

“Taking action,” he said emphatically. “There’s no strategy in place to prevent that growth. We need somebody to drive it. To act like they mean it.”



Will JWA become an international airport?
- OC Register

With Air Canada planning service at John Wayne Airport by summer, will Orange County finally get designated as an international airport?

Not quite yet, says airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.  Here’s her response:

“Good question. No, John Wayne Airport will not be designated international at this point. For Air Canada, passengers will clear screening in Canada. Sometimes known as pre-clearance. When our new Terminal opens in 2011, we are planning to construct Federal Inspection Services and at that point, it could change our airport designation. We continue to work with Customs and Border Patrol to coordinate this.“



JetBlue Airways to begin flying out of LAX
- LA Times

JetBlue Airways Corp. was expected to announce that it would begin flying out of Los Angeles International Airport, with daily nonstop service to Boston and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The service, which is expected to begin in late spring, could help ignite a transcontinental fare war at LAX, especially for flights to Boston.

Two carriers -- American and United -- now offer four daily flights from LAX to Boston's Logan International Airport. A third airline, Virgin America, plans to begin Boston service next month, with fares starting at $149 one-way.

JetBlue, which has drawn a loyal following at Long Beach Airport with lower fares and newer jets than many other airlines, had hoped to start the LAX service last May. But the carrier grounded the idea after fuel costs got so high that it could not operate the flights without incurring losses. Fuel prices are now at less than half of what they were in May.



Grant to pay for sound insulation of homes near Bob Hope Airport - LA Daily News

Hundreds of homes will be insulated from the buzz of airplane noise under a $7 million federal grant awarded to Bob Hope Airport on Tuesday.

The money will pay to soundproof 207 homes by replacing doors and windows, insulating attics and improving weather stripping and ventilation.

This grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation and is combined with a local match.

With this latest grant, Bob Hope Airport has received $83.6 million in federal money through the years for noise mitigation. There have been 1,500 homes in the Burbank area insulated from aircraft noise.



From the O.C. to San Francisco for $49?
- LA Times

A new skirmish in the West Coast air fare wars has erupted in Orange County, where upstart Virgin America and low-cost behemoth Southwest Airlines are battling for travelers with some of the lowest priced tickets in recent memory.

Virgin America, the airline that has shaken up the industry since it was started by British billionaire Richard Branson a little more than a year ago, announced Tuesday that it would begin flying between John Wayne Airport and San Francisco International Airport in late April and offered an introductory one-way fare of $59.

Southwest, which had announced two weeks ago that it would start service to San Francisco from John Wayne, immediately responded by slashing its own promotional fare to $59, and then to $49 late Tuesday on flights that matched Virgin America's departure times.


Small print: Fares do not include Passenger Facility Charges of up to $9 each way, September 11th Security Fees of up to $5 each way and a Federal Segment Tax of $3.60 per domestic segment.


The tit-for-tat battle is expected to benefit Orange County air travelers, who have been paying higher average fares than travelers using other regional airports in Southern California.


Air Canada may offer first JWA international service - OC Register

“Air Canada has been given passenger capacity to begin operations in the new (JWA) plan year, starting April 1,” says JWA spokeswoman Jenny Wedge. “At this point, we continue to work with them on the logistics of customs/immigration, as well as their lease agreement with the Airport.”

She says airport officials are anticipating Air Canada service will start closer to the summer time. Destinations have not been announced.

The airport has been hampered in offering international flights because it doesn't have customs facilities. Air Canada, however, provides U.S. customs clearance at its airports removing the need for customs at JWA.

Website Editor:  
Adding a customs area was part of the justification for building a third terminal at the Orange County airport. Air Canada has been on the JWA waiting list for seven years. Too bad no one took advantage of the carrier's customs clearance capacity before now.



Virgin starts flying at JWA April 30
  - OC Register


Virgin America announced it will start service at John Wayne Airport April 30. The airline will fly five flights a day from JWA to its hub in San Francisco.

Virgin will launch its Orange County service with a special introductory one-way fare of $59 for its main cabin. Other fares will be $145 in the new Main Cabin Select premium service and from $209 in the First Class cabin. For the introductory fares, tickets must be purchased by April 14 and your trip must begin on or after April 30 and be completed by June 10.

Website Editor:  Orbitz currently shows $386 for one-way tickets on US Airways, American and United in April and May.


Commercial operations to close at Palmdale Regional Airport - LA Times

More than seven weeks after United Airlines canceled its flights out of Palmdale, Los Angeles World Airports announced Monday that it plans to surrender its federal certification to operate Palmdale Regional Airport as a commercial facility.

Mike Molina, an L.A. World Airports spokesman, said that maintaining the certificate no longer makes sense given the economic recession and the difficulty developing air service in the high-desert city, where eight airlines have come and gone since 1971.

Should the opportunity arise to provide air service in the future, Molina said, Los Angeles World Airports can easily reapply to the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to operate at Palmdale. The FAA requires that certain conditions be met before a certificate is granted, such as runway inspections, adequate staffing and emergency preparedness plans.

Because a substantial effort has been made to develop Palmdale airport, L.A. World Airports officials contend that pulling out of the airport for now will not violate a 2005 court settlement that requires the agency to pursue a policy of regionalism -- spreading the growth in air travel to airports across Southern California to relieve congestion at LAX.

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said the loss of certification should not interfere with the city’s plans to take over the agency's leases with the U.S. Air Force and assume responsibility for attracting carriers to the airport.



Week of January 19 - January 25, 2009

Airbus A380 is a mixed blessing for LAX
- LA Times
The immense plane causes problems at L.A.'s airport, but in the world of aviation, bigger is considered better, so LAX copes.

Every time Qantas lands one of its giant Airbus A380s at LAX, parts of the nation's fourth-busiest airport come to a halt.

Service roads, taxiways and runways must be closed to airfield trucks, cars and other commercial aircraft as the world's largest passenger plane arrives, departs and taxis with an official escort of operations vehicles.

The plane is so immense that air traffic controllers give it priority so it doesn't have to wait for takeoff at the end of the airport's southern runways in cloudy or foggy weather because it can disrupt radio signals from the airport's instrument landing system.

More than any other airliner, LAX officials say, the A380 requires special procedures because Los Angeles International Airport was not built to accommodate a plane of its size.

Despite occasional griping from airlines, LAX, Qantas, and Federal Aviation Administration officials say that A380 operations have gone fairly well since October, when the Australian carrier began service to Los Angeles from Melbourne and Sydney.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, says the A380 underscores the need to proceed with key elements of the LAX modernization plan or risk losing flights to other airports. The projects include new gates at the Bradley terminal, a wider cross-field taxiway and a mid-field concourse that would eliminate the need to bus international travelers from remote gates to the main customs and immigration facility.



SoCal commercial airports lost 6 million passengers in 2008
- El Toro Info Site report

As final data trickles in, this website estimates that Southern California airports, including San Diego, served over 103 million passengers in 2008. Collectively, the airports lost almost 6 million passengers when compared to 2007's record of 109 million.

The 2008 total
is fewer passengers than in 2000, the last complete calendar year before the 9-11 attacks.

See more below on LAX and Ontario and John Wayne Airport.

A full reporting by airport will follow when all seven airports have posted their results.



Virgin moves forward at JWA

According to a spokesperson for John Wayne Airport, Virgin American has scheduled the airport's mandatory noise tests of it aircraft for next Tuesday.

However, there has been no further announcement on Virgin's destination or start dates.

Supervisors allocated 5 daily departures to the carrier after advancing it from the airport's waiting list of airlines seeking to serve Orange County.

 



Region's airports reflect decline in economy - LA Times
LAX suffered a 4.7% drop in passenger levels last year, including a 16.34% plunge in December, report finds.

Hit hard by a deepening recession and persistent declines in air travel, the number of passengers at Los Angeles International Airport dropped by almost 3 million in 2008, reversing the airport's slow recovery from 9/11 and the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak of 2003, new figures show.

Year-end statistics from Los Angeles World Airports show that passenger levels at the nation's fourth-largest airport decreased from 62,438,583 in 2007 to 59,497,539 last year, a drop of 4.71%. Air freight handled at LAX declined from about 2 million tons in 2007 to about 1.8 million tons last year.

Most of the passenger and cargo losses occurred in the last four months of the year, including December, a traditionally heavy travel month, which recorded a 16.34% decline in passengers.

The downturn has affected other airports in the region as well. Passenger levels at John Wayne Airport in Orange County declined from slightly less than 10 million in 2007 to about 9 million last year.

Airport statistics released Tuesday show that Ontario handled 6,232,761 passengers last year, about a million less than in 2007.

Palmdale handled 21,805 passengers before United Airlines canceled its operations in December, leaving the High Desert city without commercial air service.



Long Beach Airport traffic held up in 2008


Long Beach Airport served 240,676  passengers in  December.  The total for calendar year 2008 was 2,913,926, a small gain of 0.3 percent over 2007.

The airport held up better than others in the region because LGB offered travelers more flights. The number of air carrier landings increased by 9.4 percent for the year.



Week of January 12 - January 18, 2009

Pat Bates elected Chair of Board of Supervisors

Pat BatesThis week, the OC Board of Supervisors selected Supervisor Pat Bates of Laguna Niguel to be its chairperson.

Pat has been a long time friend of the anti-airport movement. She worked tirelessly, in the state legislature, to monitor attempts in Sacramento to cram El Toro airport onto Orange County.

While some Newport  Beach activists did not love Pat for her El Toro stance, she also stated in an October 1999 press release that "We categorically do not support any [physical] expansion of John Wayne." Her position has consistently been to advocate for greater utilization of airports like Ontario in the Inland Empire.

 As a fiscal conservative, Pat introduced Assembly Bill 1248 that would have empowered Orange County voters to decide whether revenue bonds could be sold to finance airport expansions, either at El Toro or at John Wayne. Orange County has a special exemption from this requirement of the State Revenue Bond Act, dating back to the days of its bankruptcy. As a Republican, she had difficulty winning sufficient support for the measure. The current expansion of John Wayne Airport  will  require a projected $91 million of General Airport Revenue Bonds for a portion of its financing.


Southwest Adds John Wayne, San Francisco Flights - OC Business Journal

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. plans to add five nonstop flights between John Wayne Airport and San Francisco International Airport in May.

Southwest is already the busiest carrier at John Wayne Airport with 46 daily nonstop departures. It now offers flights from Orange County to Oakland.

American Eagle, a part of Texas’s AMR Corp., United Airlines, a part of Chicago’s UAL Corp., and Utah’s SkyWest Inc. already offer a similar route between the OC and San Francisco.  Website Editor: See article below. American Eagle and Skywest cut back JWA service in 2008.

Southwest plans to start the service by offering a $69 one-way fare between the two cities for customers who buy their tickets 21 days in advance.



JWA numbers down
- Daily Pilot

Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport was down nearly 10% in 2008 from the previous year, numbers released Wednesday show. About 8.9 million passengers passed through John Wayne in 2008, compared with about 9.9 million in 2007, the statistics show.

“The market has a way of taking care of some problems,” said Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach.

Concerned about airport growth and the noisy passenger jets, residents who live around John Wayne have long lobbied to keep passenger levels at or below 10.8 million.

Aloha Airlines ended service from John Wayne on March 31 after the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The carrier flew six flights a day out of John Wayne, which accounted for about 5% of John Wayne’s daily operations, Wedge said.

“We never filled those slots, so that accounts for about half of the decrease,” she said.

John Wayne allocates passenger seating to air carriers on an annual basis and a few airlines gave seats back last year. American Eagle Airlines returned 30,000 seats from its annual seating allotment at John Wayne last fall and SkyWest Airlines returned 12,000 seats, Wedge said.

American Airlines ended nonstop service between Orange County and Austin, Texas, earlier this year, and Alaska Airlines dropped flights between John Wayne and Oakland in April.



JWA completes 2008 below 9 million passengers

Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport was 6.1 percent below the same month last year. It was the slowest December at the airport since the aftermath of the 9-11 terror attacks in 2001.

For calendar year 2008, the airport served 8,989,603 passengers, a loss of 9.9 percent and about 1 million passengers from its 2007 level.  Air carrier operations fell by 8.0 percent.

We predicted utilization of below 9 million last year and the likelihood that the airport will see even fewer passengers in 2009.

The county has approved two airlines on the JWA waiting list to commence service and discussions are underway to implement this action.


Southern California officials draw up wish lists for federal stimulus money - LA Times
Billions of dollars are sought for road and transportation projects, among others, to help jump-start the local economy. It is unclear how many jobs could be created.

Los Angeles County supervisors urgently scrimmaged for federal stimulus money Tuesday, proposing $2.7 billion in projects they say would help jump-start the local economy.

The push by the county to get a share of the more than $800-billion stimulus package that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Congress to approve came as concern mounts about potentially massive losses in state funding.

County officials are particularly worried about an expected shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars for social services at a time when such programs are strapped by the rising demands of the unemployed and underemployed.

Los Angeles County's wish list will be in competition with hundreds, if not thousands, of others being drawn up around the nation.

In Orange County, officials have compiled $2.2 billion in projects, including $335 million for the expansion of John Wayne Airport. San Bernardino County officials said they have about $1.4 billion in highway projects in mind, but would not draft a list until they have eligibility requirements. Riverside County officials have said they will ask for at least $154 million, mostly for transportation
.


FAA delays Midway privatization approval - Aviation Watch

The Federal Aviation Administration's approval of the privatization of Midway Airport has been delayed because the new operator still is negotiating some financial agreements.

The FAA had expected to sign off on the $2.5-billion transaction by now, ut the consortium led by Vancouver-based YVR Airport Services Ltd., told the federal agency it was still working on some financial agreements. That work isn’t expected to be complete until April, the consortium said.

The FAA said Monday, however, it expects to complete its review of the consortium before April, but didn’t specify a time frame. Before taking over an airport, a private operator must show the FAA it has the experience and resources to handle the job. YVR operates Vancouver International Airport and 17 others, and it won a 99-year lease to operate Midway in September.

YVR is a joint venture between the Vancouver Airport Authority and CitiGroup’s Citi Infrastructure Investors in New York. Other partners in the Midway deal include John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of Boston.


Disney visitors key to shifting JWA passenger mix  - El Toro Info  Site

Consultant team leader Peggy Ducey shared with website editor Len Kranser her view on the conclusions of an OCTA funded study of John Wayne airport passengers.

A Metrolink connection to JWA is impractical. The Orange County airport is so readily accessible to its local and business users – most by car - that transit would be unacceptably slow and inconvenient.

However, out-of-town visitor to the Disneyland resort area may be more budget conscious. The study found that 97 percent of these travelers are already using some form of transit. The consultant team thinks that many of these passengers would consider transit connections between Anaheim and Ontario Airport – in lieu of JWA – if Ontario had the flights and prices they wanted, offered good bus connections and they were given an incentive to use ONT.

The consultants hope to return to the Newport Beach City Council in several weeks with proposals for a study of how to induce visitors to the Magic Kingdom to route through Ontario.

For Orange County residents and business people, diverting these vacationers could open up capacity at JWA for direct flights to other popular but currently underserved destinations.


Week of January 5 - January 11, 2009

'Mystery airport' site is proposed on S.D. Bay - San Diego Union-Tribune

After several years of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, a private business group believes it has landed on the ideal solution to the vexing question of where to build a new international airport – the shallow southern waters of San Diego Bay.

In patent documents filed with the federal government, the group said the multilevel project would cover three square miles between Chula Vista and Coronado, have three runways and sit partially on an island of material dredged from the bay floor.

Passengers would reach the aquatic airport via an underwater tunnel.

La Jolla lawyer Leon Campbell, part of the trust touting the idea, considers it the only viable replacement for the single-runway Lindbergh Field.

Reaction ranged yesterday from cautiously positive to incredulous.

The federal government issued Campbell a patent Dec. 30, opening the door to a public unveiling of what has became known as the “mystery airport.”



"Go Local" final report on NPB Council agenda

Tuesday, the Newport Beach City Council will receive the final report on a $200,000 study funded by the Orange County Transportation Authority.  Newport and Costa Mesa pooled grant requests to get the funds under
Phase 1 of OCTA's "Go Local" program.

According to the OCTA's website:

OCTA has developed the innovative Go Local program to enhance connections between the Metrolink stations and surrounding communities. Since the inception of the Go Local program, Orange County cities have worked to develop concepts either individually or in partnership with adjacent cities . . . to study possible extensions linking major activity and employment centers with a Metrolink station.

The city manager and consultant team recommend that the council "Receive and file the report with OCTA. There is no desire to prepare an application for a Phase 2 study [for further planning]."

Last February, when the city council voted to seek the OCTA money, City Manager Herman Bludau said, "Ultimately, we want to get passengers from outside of the county to other airports."  The study did not appear to further either that goal or OCTA's, significantly.

The study report concludes:

The financial feasibility of a light rail connection from any nearby Metrolink station to the airport would be difficult to justify.  With the estimated cost in the billions of dollars and the relatively small passenger base out of John Wayne Airport, the potential demand does not justify a large scale capital project. 

Public transit will not attract significant air passengers traveling to JWA . . . Focusing marketing efforts [on Disney area visitors], including competitive pricing on higher occupancy transport, could reduce traffic congestion at JWA . . . Consolidating hotel shuttle services into one system could reduce traffic congestion considerably. 



New Chicago politics - Press Telegram Editorial

Possibly nothing will come of it, but the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to put off the subject [of leasing or selling Long Beach airport] to its next meeting. Instead of taking up the issue in closed session, the council took the sound advice of City Attorney Bob Shannon to deal with it when interested parties could attend.

It sounds pretty extreme at first. Put the airport up for bid and see how much it would be worth to investors to lease for the next 50 years or so. But this is common practice at airports in Europe and Asia, and it could become so in this country if airports take advantage of the Federal Aviation Administration's relatively new Airport Privatization Pilot Program.

So far, Chicago's Midway International Airport is the only one to apply for one of four slots. Surprising to some, the bid came in at $2.5 billion despite the terrible environment for such deals in the nation's credit markets. The city of Chicago will get about a billion dollars after costs and retiring some debt. Under the new program, the money doesn't have to be limited to airport-related projects, although under Illinois law, the city will have to spend it either on infrastructure or on helping to bail out public pension plans (which makes it appealing to labor unions).

The thing to watch out for in the case of Long Beach Airport is protecting the city's court-won noise ordinance, which limits the number of flights.

Imagine what could happen to Long Beach's flight limits if the airport ever fell into the grip of a regional authority controlled by Sacramento politicians and an ambitious mayor of Los Angeles.




Air carriers plan to offer fewer seats at JWA

For the first time in several years, the OC Board of Supervisors is expected to allow air carriers serving John Wayne Airport to fly all of the passenger seats they requested. Past practice was to turn down part of the carriers' total requests so as to keep the airport operating with a cushion below its maximum allowed capacity.

The carriers now plan to offer fewer seats for 2009-10 than they requested a year ago for 2008-09, when the Board cut their requests. As a result of the shutdown of Aloha Airlines and the overall decrease in air carrier plans, the number of seats to be allocated will be less than the number allocated for 2008-09.


Plan year
Air carrier seats requested by airlines
Air carrier seats allocated by county
2008-09
13,472,860
12,872,800
2009-10
12,546,808
12,546,808

Of these, 507,524 seats, or approximately 4 percent of the total number allocated, are to new entrant airlines Air Canada and Virgin America. Virgin has yet to schedule the airport's required noise qualification tests. There are questions as to whether the carrier will use its full allocation for the plan year which commences on April 1.

John Wayne Airport is projected by this website to serve fewer than 9 million passengers this calendar year and approximately 8.7 million in the current 2008-09 plan year that ends March 31.  The airport is allowed by an agreement negotiated with Newport Beach to serve 10.3 million annual passengers.

With airlines seeking fewer seats next plan year, the number of passengers served is likely to drop further.



Land use near Inland airports a crucial safety issue
- The Press-Enterprise

When the Perris City Council allowed a 173,000-square-foot distribution center to be built inside the Air Force's "accident potential zone" just south of the March Air Reserve Base runway, it defied a request by two Riverside County supervisors who feared developing the buffer zone more than the recommended 20 percent.

Pilots, Inland municipal airport managers and owners, and state aeronautics and federal aviation officials are constantly assessing what types of development could chip away at airport safety zones.

The state makes recommendations, but cities and counties can overturn them, putting safety zones and development on a collision course.

The state sets guidelines for property owners and local jurisdictions to determine appropriate land development near airports, said Terry Barrie, a senior planning official with Caltrans' Division of Aeronautics.

Those land-use compatibility plans are meant not only to ensure safety, but also to reduce vulnerability to incompatible development and preserve the long-term use of general aviation airports, Barrie said.

Yet a two-thirds majority vote by a city council or board of supervisors can overrule the land-use plans.

Website Editor: Such city action is not uncommon. The Costa Mesa City Council overrode a determination by Orange County's Airport Land Use Commission regarding the compatibility of high rise development in North Costa Mesa near John Wayne Airport's flight paths.



Airport passenger numbers down
- Burbank Leader
 
Bob Hope Airport recorded 107,713 fewer passengers in November compared with the same period in 2007, a 22.09% drop. Overall holiday travel was down 13.8% from the previous year. The official tally isn’t in yet, but the airport authority says Bob Hope could have a 10% drop from 2007.

But officials with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority hope the worst is behind them as they look to study the effects of its passenger drop-off.




Airport's closed meeting doesn't fly -
Long Beach Press Telegram

A City Council discussion on leasing or possibly selling the Long Beach Airport will be heard in open session, not in closed session as had been planned Tuesday.

Pressured by community advocates, the council voted unanimously Tuesday to publicly discuss the matter that City Manager Pat West has said called "leasing opportunities" that have been presented to the city by several large finance companies.

Mayor Bob Foster tried to allay concerns before the council voted to hold the open session at a future meeting. A date to discuss the airport has not yet been set.

Councilwoman Rae Gabelich compared discussing the airport's future in private to the process that had brought in JetBlue as the airport's major airline.

"The turmoil and the division that happened because of the way that JetBlue's contract was negotiated, the way it was brought out to the community after it was all sealed behind closed doors, is something that I would not want to see happen in this city again."

See earlier report below.



Long Beach puts airport privatization on agenda
- LA Times

In a closed meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council is set to discuss whether to lease some, if not all, of the city's small commercial airport to private investors, a move that could generate millions of dollars in municipal revenue.

The idea has already sparked controversy over whether such an important policy matter should be considered in secret and whether relinquishing control of a valuable city asset to a private company would be in the best interest of the public.

Local governments that have tried to privatize airports in the past have found it to be a slow and frustrating process. Since 1997, a Federal Aviation Administration program to privatize airports has had six applications. Five have been terminated or withdrawn because of community opposition, inadequate business plans, a lack of financing or a repurchase by a government entity.

The only application awaiting FAA approval is from Chicago Midway Airport, which now serves about 17 million commercial passengers a year. Its proposed 99-year lease to a consortium of investors could provide Chicago with about $2.5 billion. Supporters say it could be a model for airport privatization.

More than 50 airports around the world have privatized their operations, management or ownership since 1987. The practice is common in Canada, Europe and Asia.

Last month, the L.A. controller's office suggested that Los Angeles World Airports should consider privatizing operations at Ontario International Airport, which has had a 30% decline in commercial flights this year.



Week of December 29, 2008 - January 4, 2009

Buzz over Long Beach Airport sale heats up - El Toro Info Site
Could Long Beach action reopen idea of selling JWA?

The LA Times muses: Is Long Beach Airport for sale? 
See more in the Contra Costa Times story below.

The  Long Beach Report weighs in with more information - some of it seemingly relevent to arguments presented when Supervisor Chuck Smith unsuccessfully proposed selling John Wayne Airport in 2004 to pay off O.C. bankruptcy debt. Smith's idea could have enabled Newport Beach to buy control over the airport.

In 2004, Orange County counsel said that proceeds from the sale could only be used for airport purposes and Smith's idea was shot down. However, the Long Beach Report provides the following excerpt from an FAA website that appears to contradict that position (our emphasis added):

Congress established the FAA's Airport Privatization Pilot Program to explore privatization as a means of generating access to various sources of private capital for airport improvement and development. Private companies may own, manage, lease and develop public airports.

The Act authorized the FAA to permit up to five public airport sponsors to sell or lease an airport and to exempt the sponsor from certain federal requirements that could otherwise make privatization impractical. The airport owner or lease holder would be exempt from repayment of federal grants, return of property acquired with federal assistance, and the use of proceeds from the airport's sale or lease to be used exclusively for airport purposes.

With limitations on the utilization of John Wayne Airport coming up for renegotiation as soon as 2011, we expect Newport Beach leaders to watch what happens in Long Beach for clues as to whether the city could increase its grip on the O.C. airport through financial means.



Will plans for selling Long Beach Airport take off?
- Contra Costa Times
City manager says that several notable investors are interested in striking up a deal.

Long Beach City Manager Pat West has called for a closed session of the City Council next week that one councilwoman fears could lead to the sale of Long Beach Airport.

The council is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall to discuss "terms of lease or acquisition" of the airport, according to the meeting agenda.

West said Friday that the city had been contacted by a slew of financial companies interested in an airport deal, including notable potential investors such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, according to the meeting agenda.

If investors were interested in buying the airport, it could be done through the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Privatization Pilot Program.

Several cities have shown an interest in that program, submitting applications in recent years. However, most were withdrawn or rejected.

Only Chicago's application to privatize Chicago Midway International Airport remains, leaving four slots available only for nonlarge hub and general aviation airports such as Long Beach's.



Slowdown catches up with Lindbergh Field

San Diego's Lindbergh Field was the one bright light in Southern California commercial aviation, with 2008 passenger volume through October running ahead of 2007.

The general slowdown caught up with San Diego in November when volume for the month dropped by 14.1 percent. That was enough of a hit to drop year-to-date passenger traffic 0.5 percent below the figure for the same eleven months last year.



Political Landscape
:
Glendale News Press

When the newest session for the U.S. House of Representatives begins Tuesday, a slew of bills could come forward from [local legislators] Reps. David Dreier, Adam Schiff and Brad Sherman, the representatives and their aides said this week.

Bob Hope Airport could get some attention from Congress this year. The proposed curfew on flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., part of the airport’s Part 161 application to the Federal Aviation Administration, stalled in 2008 after the federal government forced officials to beef up its submission with environmental impact reports.

Schiff, whose district covers the airport, has already signaled his support for the measure, but Sherman has not yet picked a side. Sherman’s 27th District includes Burbank’s airfield and the Van Nuys Airport, where a number of flights could be shifted if the FAA approves Bob Hope’s application.

“He should want his constituents protected at night as well because if it comes from Van Nuys or Burbank, his constituents are affected by [plane noise],” said Charlie Lombardo, a Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority commissioner. “It should be something we should all be working together on.”

Members of the airport authority met with federal officials in Washington, D.C. this year and expect to finalize its application in 2009, he said.



2008 – The SoCal Airport Year in Review

The El Toro Info Site has tracked Southern California Airport developments on a daily basis since 1996. Check the website’s 2007 Airport Year in Review to see how quickly air travel sentiment turned from bullish to skittish.   

This year, SoCal air travel slid to below pre-9-11 levels, upsetting government planning forecasts and raising questions about the reasonableness of growth assumptions.

If growth is coming, then little was done to increase airport capacity in the region to accommodate it. Any airport plans and construction in the works are officially labeled as “improvements” or “modernization” rather than “expansions”.

Efforts to coordinate airport operations, in order to regionalize travel away from LAX, backslid with the demise of the regional airport authority, failure of the heavily subsidized Palmdale operation and a major loss of service at Ontario.

Here were some of the year's top stories.

January Southern California air travel set a record in 2007 but starts to taper off.

The Southern California Regional Airport Authority gives up the ghost again due to pervasive unwillingness to expand airports - unless it is in someone else's back yard.

February – Free bus service is launched in an attempt to lure passengers to Palmdale.

Long Beach wins court approval to proceed with a terminal expansion but no increase in flights.

Newport Beach groups seek to cap John Wayne Airport forever at 10.8 million annual passengers when restrictions come up for renegotiation in 2011.

MarchBurbank officials complete an FAA application for a curfew that would move late night flights to another airport; L.A. objects.

April Santa Monica attempts to move noisy jets elsewhere; meets FAA resistance.

May – First quarter regional air travel dips below its 2007 level.

Construction of new third terminal and parking structures at John Wayne raises local concerns as to whether the “improvements” will bring more flights.

June – LAX’s south runway is relocated to improve safety, finally overcoming long opposition from Inglewood neighbors.

JulyLong Beach reacts to the economic slowdown by announcing a delay in its parking and terminal improvement project.

ExpressJet service – heralded in 2007 as a major step towards regionalization – will stop operating in September after less than a year of providing non-stop flights from Ontario and Long Beach to smaller cities.

AugustSan Diego loses Zoom Airlines service to Europe after a brief failed attempt to reestablish overseas flights.

The Palmdale Flyer free bus is revealed as a costly flop, carrying less than 1 passenger per day. Free vans will replace busses.

SeptemberNewport Beach and Costa Mesa city officials join forces in attempt to block greater utilization of JWA; study ways to move passengers elsewhere.

October – Regional air travel falls below 2001 levels. Ontario - the only viable airport with few restrictions on its growth - experiences the steepest decline. Only San Diego air traffic does not drop.

November – State voters support high speed rail measure on ballot.

DHL decides to quit March Inland Port where it began flights in 2005. March had beat out Ontario and San Bernardino to land the air cargo hub. Airport neighbors celebrate the end of night time noise.

LAX unveils $5-7 billion “modernization” plan.

December - United become the eight airline to abandon Palmdale airport when multi-million dollar subsidies run out.

Audit of Los Angeles World Airports says “agreements with local residents limiting passenger volumes or aircraft movements” and the failure of any agency “to take ownership of the problem” bodes ill for L.A.’s regionalization concept.




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