Long Beach International Airport deserves study - Gazettes.com Editorial
Long Beach’s City Council is going to educate itself on the Long Beach Airport Noise Ordinance next week.
We do have a problem with the motives of some in bringing this idea forward. Not necessarily the stated motives — get information before considering a potential push to open the airport to international flights — but the unstated agenda to kill the concept before it (pardon the pun) ever gets off the ground.
Let’s be clear about what the noise ordinance does. It says that there can only be so much noise each day from commercial take-offs and landings. That ceiling is translated into a certain number of flights using a formula that takes into account the noise generated by each type of airplane.
Currently, that formula allows 41 “commercial” flights and 25 commuter (smaller airplane) flights a day.
There is no mention in the ordinance about limiting the destination of those airplanes. For that matter, there is no mention of what the airplane carries — UPS and FedEx each has one of those daily commercial slots.
So the point is that it doesn’t matter whether an airplane is taking off for Anchorage or Los Cabos, at least in terms of the noise ordinance or the noise that residents hear. The idea that opening the airport to international flights by asking the U.S. Customs Service to establish a presence will somehow jeopardize the ordinance or the peace and quiet (relative, admittedly) of residents is simply untrue.
Burbank Council, Airport Authority at Odds - San Fernando Valley Business Journal
The Burbank City Council has rejected terms proposed by the joint powers authority that owns Burbank Bob Hope Airport for building a replacement terminal at the airfield.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority had sought to have the Council sign off on terms that would cap the terminal at 14 gates, restrict its size to no larger than 355,000 square feet and require the airport to continue a voluntary curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
It also wanted an environmental review to begin and the terms to be sent to voters in the form of a referendum.
In a special meeting on Sunday, the Council voted 5-0 to reject the terms, which had been submitted to the city in November. The issue also was raised again at the Council’s regular Tuesday night meeting when Mayor David Gordon discussed the matter and the Council’s vote on Sunday.
However, Burbank spokesman Drew Sugars said negotiations between the airport and authority over a new terminal would continue.
Many Burbank residents are wary of any plans for a new terminal, fearing it will lead to more flights and noise, while the authority is anxious to improve facilities at the airport. The existing terminal is 211,000 square feet and dates from the 1930s.
Proposals for a new terminal building have been raised off and on for decades. In the early 1990s, the authority board voted to build a new terminal with about 840,000 square feet. However, in 2000, Burbank residents approved Measure B, an initiative that requires public approval of expansion or relocation of the airport’s terminal. The measure remains in effect and applies to the current proposal.
January 26, 2015 - February 1, 2015
JWA Director to Step Down - OC Business Journal
The Orange County Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session to plan the search for a successor to John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy, who will step down from the post on Feb. 5.
Murphy has worked for Orange County for 32 years, including 28 years with the airport, the last 15 as its director.
It will be the second high-level vacancy at JWA. Former Assistant Airport Director Loan Leblow retired about a year ago and the position wasn’t filled, though a recruitment is underway, airport spokesperson Jenny Wedge said.
The airport spokesperson said said Murphy, 57, planned to pursue personal projects and “do a little traveling,” and doesn’t rule out a new job sometime in the future.
JWA finishes with an improved year
John Wayne Airport served 1.7% more passengers in 2014 than it did in the previous year. The 9,386,033 passengers fell 6% below the airports record volume of 9,979,699 set in calendar 2007. 2014 was the airport's fourth busiest year with the others all reached prior to the addition of the new third terminal.
In 2014 the airport saw the uptick in passengers despite a 5.2% year over year decrease in the number of commercial aircraft operations. Commuter flights were up by 70.8% but represent only a small fraction of JWA's paid passenger operations.
January 19 - January 25, 2015
San Diego International Airport Serves Record Number of Passengers in 2014
San Diego International Airport served a record 18.7 million passengers in 2014, the highest total since 2007. SAN also set new records for total passenger boarding and international passengers.
Last year's total of 18,756,997 passengers exceeded the previous record of 18,326,734 set in 2007 by 2.3 percent. For the year, passenger totals in 2014 increased by 5.9 percent over 2013.
SAN also served 672,972 international passengers in 2014, a 7.2 percent increase over 2013, and the third consecutive year SAN had a record-breaking increase in this category.
Bob Hope Airport sees increase in passengers - Burbank Leader
The number of passengers traveling through Bob Hope Airport rose in November, compared to the same period in 2013, continuing a trend that began in July, according to the latest statistics.
In November, the airfield handled 325,515 passengers, compared to 321,376 in November 2013, an increase of 1.3%.
However, the tally for the period that includes the busy holiday travel season fell below the nearly 330,000 passengers airport officials had anticipated.
Other airports in the region also reported increases in passenger tallies for November. The number of travelers at Los Angeles International Airport rose by 6.4%, while there was a 3.8% hike at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport. Total passenger traffic at Ontario International Airport rose 3.4%.
Long Beach Airport saw a decrease of 5.4% in November.
Ontario airport worth much less than LO.A. is asking for, audit says - LA Times
In Ontario's legal battle to gain control over LA/Ontario International Airport, a new audit contends that the sale price offered by Los Angeles is inflated by at least $181 million..
If Ontario wants the airport back, Los Angeles officials have said, the Inland Empire city can buy it for about $400 million.
LA/Ontario is a valuable asset, they say, and Los Angeles World Airports, which has operated the airport since 1967 along with Los Angeles International and Van Nuys, must "be made whole" and recover its investments.
But an audit of airport financial records suggests that LAWA has invested dramatically less than what it has claimed.
The accounting firm Ernst & Young conducted the review for Ontario, which has sued Los Angeles to regain control of the struggling airport, where passenger volumes have plunged about 40% since 2007.
Talks about a possible sale broke off in mid-2014, setting the stage for further proceedings in Riverside County Superior Court. Decisions on several key motions are pending.
LAX warns of possible delays from runway project - USA Today
Officials at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) say required runway work may mean sporadic delays for passengers flying through the airport. The work is scheduled to begin in March and will run through June 2018.
The airport says the work will cause "rolling runway closures" during the project. In a statement, LAX adds "passengers may begin experiencing impacts as soon as this summer, such as delays or a slight increase in wait times aboard aircraft."
The project will allow LAX to meet a federal mandate that requires commercial airports to have buffer zones at the end of airport runways. The zones add are meant to provide an additional level of safety for aircraft that "overshoot, overrun or veer off a runway while landing or taking off."
LAX runways already have the buffer zones, but they require additional work to meet the federal guidelines.
A $25 million contract to begin the work was approved by the airport's board of commissioners on Thursday. LAX says runway closures will be timed to minimized disruptions, but says some delays will be tied to the project.
January 5 - January 11, 2015
Former FAA Regional Director explains Ontario Airport financing
William C. Withycombe, the FAA’s Regional Administrator for the Western-Pacific Region from 1996 until his retirement in 2012 explains the role of Ontario International Airport and its financial relationship with Los Angeles World Airports - excerpted below - in a Press-Enterprise article.
To be clear, when Los Angeles transfers control of ONT, Ontario International Airport Authority as the new airport sponsor, must take responsibility for all ONT debt and grant obligations, as well as for the development of air service and airport property. Ontario and OIAA must also release Los Angeles from liability arising out of certain airport operations and conditions, such as any future environmental claims.
The determination of the fitness of OIAA to manage, operate and control ONT is another responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration. It will issue a Part 139 Airport Certification after it is satisfied that the new airport sponsor is capable and ready to fulfill its responsibilities to operate the airport in the best interests of local communities, the Southern California region and the National Airspace System.
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