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Week of March 24 - March 30, 2008

Midsize airports see big growth
- USA Today

Midsize airports outside major cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, are the fastest-growing in the nation and have seen passenger and flight volumes soar by up to 400% in the past decade, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data shows.

The growth is primarily fueled by two factors: discount airlines flocking to cheaper secondary airports and population growth in regions located about an hour from New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, airport consultant Mike Boyd said.


When JetBlue Airways began service at Long Beach Airport, in the center of California's fifth-largest city, "there were some community concerns about our rapid growth," airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson said. Long Beach, which had flights only to Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth in the 1990s, now has 15 destinations. "We had to do a lot of outreach" to assure residents that the airport wouldn't exceed a limit of 66 flights a day set by a 1985 ordinance, Diggs-Jackson said.



Oropeza to seek LAX, Green Line link
- Daily Breeze
Proposed rail bill lacks MTA funding and faces stiff opposition.

State Sen. Jenny Oropeza plans to introduce legislation to extend the Green Line to LAX, but the bill faces daunting hurdles - including opposition from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a lack of funding.

Green Line trains run from Norwalk to Redondo Beach and pass within a mile of Los Angeles International Airport. Planners contemplated a connection to the airport when the rail line was built, in the early 1990s, but scrapped the idea over jurisdictional issues, technical challenges and financial constraints.




New concerns raised for Great Park balloon
- LA Times
 
Irvine's much-touted Great Park balloon ride, grounded nearly a month ago because of alleged safety violations, will probably be closed for several more weeks after a federal investigation raised new concerns.

A monthlong Federal Aviation Administration investigation could not determine whether the balloon had been flown in unsafe conditions, as a former employee alleged, because the balloon's operators weren't required to keep many records, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said Tuesday. But the investigation also uncovered other "administrative errors and procedural deficiencies," including insufficient measurement of clouds and visibility, inadequate documentation of employee training and the lack of an instruction manual.




Qantas jet blows four tires at LAX - LA Times

A Qantas jet headed for Sydney, Australia, blew four tires as it tried to take off at LAX late Monday night. None of the 232 passengers and crew members aboard were injured, and all were taken to area hotels. The jet remains stranded at the airport.



SBIA may soon be boarding - Daily Bulletin
Air passenger service in San Bernardino could start by year's end

It doesn't take an aviation expert to see that San Bernardino International Airport is replete with potential. The commercial jet-ready runway. The cavernous hangars sheltering 727s, 737s and larger aircraft as technicians work on their bodies and engines. The towering terminal.

Officials say at least some of that potential will be realized by the end of the year, when they expect the airport to have passenger service.

San Bernardino International Airport has for years been working to accommodate commercial passenger travel.

The airport completed a $34 million renovation to its 10,000-foot runway in 2005.

The current project is a $40 million-plus renovation to its 70,000-square-foot passenger terminal.

A 10,000-foot runway is impressive, but the up-and-coming airport may compete heavily in the future with L.A./Ontario International Airport, which sports a 12,200-foot runway, and intermodal Southern California Logistics Airport outside of Victorville, which has a 15,050-foot runway.

Officials from the Ontario and San Bernardino airports say they will never compete with each other because the region's growth will fuel enough demand.



Week of March 17 - March 23, 2008

Some folks won't let go on El Toro

The Newport - Costa Mesa Daily Pilot continues to provide the opportunity for El Toro advocates to express their undying hopes. 

First 
Tom Szulga writes that North and south counties should unite for AirPark,

The county needs more daily flights, but John Wayne cannot handle the expanded air traffic alone with its limited 500 acres of land. The key is the 500-acre El Toro airport will be the exact same size with the exact same restrictions as John Wayne. The hours of operation, number of gates, types of aircraft and yearly passenger count would be the same as John Wayne.

Then long-time El Toro advocate Bill Turner picks up the thread with County unity crucial to success in air travel.

We need leaders who can step forward and facilitate a process that can truly meet the needs of our county and ensure a better quality of life.

Both letter writers latch onto the fact that the Great Park in Irvine is having a hard time getting off the ground because of a mixture of management failings and the current real estate downturn.

Neither recognize that state law prevents the building of an airport in any city without its city council's approval. The former El Toro is now in Irvine. The devil is always in the details.

But bravo anyway to the call for leadership, cooperation and planning for the long range future which was so lacking in the heavy-handed bungled attempt to force an unnecessary huge airport onto an unwilling section of the county.




Palm Springs airport travel sets a February record

Palm Springs International airport posted record travel for a February, serving 3.6 percent more passengers last month than in the same month a year ago.



OC? LOL -
O.C. Register editorial

We understand the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ desire to include “Orange County” in the name of the county’s airport. That proposal is a nod to travelers who can easily be confused when they land at John Wayne Airport. But we don’t understand the board’s rush to put the “OC” in the names of county agencies.

Website Editor: We LOL 2.



Madrid Airport Joins World's 10 Busiest Hubs With 14% Growth -
Bloomberg Report
LAX is fifth busiest

Madrid airport was the world's fastest-growing major aviation hub last year, increasing passenger numbers 14 percent to outstrip gains in locations including Beijing and Singapore.

The passenger total at the airport rose to 52 million, preliminary figures published today by trade group Airports Council International show. Madrid climbed three places to displace Denver as the world's 10th-busiest airport. 

Growth in passenger numbers worldwide last year accelerated to 6.4 percent from 4.8 percent in 2006, pushing airport users to a record 4.5 billion.

The top-five rankings were unchanged, with Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, the main hub of Delta Air Lines Inc., busiest with 89 million people, a gain of 5.3 percent.

Chicago O'Hare ranked second with 76 million and London Heathrow third with 68 million. Tokyo and Los Angeles rank next, with Paris Charles de Gaulle jumping to No. 6, ahead of Dallas-Fort Worth.


Residents hopeful airport-curfew plan will fly
- LA Daily News

Local residents moved a step closer to a quiet night's sleep Monday when Bob Hope Airport commissioners completed an FAA-required study that could lead to mandatory nighttime curfews for flights.

Nearly eight years and more than $6 million in the making, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority voted 8-0 to move forward with the "Part 161 Study" for 45 days of public comment, which could lead to FAA approval of a curfew by summer 2009.

While that seems far off, for the commissioners Monday it was a huge step for what they believe will be one of the first mandatory curfews for an airport since a federal law went into effect in 1990 limiting such restrictions on modern, quieter aircraft.




'Ontario residents only' at Tent City
- LA Times

Officials begin thinning out the encampment [neart Ontario Airport], saying the city can provide space only for those who once lived there and can prove it.

Dozens of Ontario police and code enforcement officers descended upon the homeless encampment known as Tent City early Monday, separating those who could stay from those to be evicted.

Large, often confused, crowds formed ragged lines behind police barricades where officers handed out color-coded wristbands. Blue meant they were from Ontario and could remain.

Land that includes tents, toilets and water had been set aside near Ontario International Airport for the homeless.



The Los Angeles (CA) Times Opinion, Patt Morrison Travel columnist
 

LAX ranks near the bottom of almost every survey of travelers, except one nearly 15 years ago that commended its no-smoking policies, which is like congratulating a restaurant for stocking forks. 

LAX is aging faster than the "60 Minutes" audience. When is someone going to wake up this "Rip Van Winkle of American airports," as infrastructure wise-man Steve Erie refers to LAX.

Over 10 years, $147 million was spent just for consultants' advice. Three years ago, the feds OKd an $11-billion modernization plan. Last year, the city began a separate $723-million makeover at the Bradley terminal. Just 10 days ago, the airport commission greenlighted $25 million for a Florida company just to "manage preparations" to expand and modernize LAX.

For years we've been tantalized with promises of more, more, more; better, better, better -- but when, when, when? 

Every five years, Los Angeles pays a private company to survey the performance of one or another of the city's moneymaking departments.  This year, it's the airports' turn: LAX, Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys.

All this month, airport consultants are asking a chosen group of "stakeholders" -- residents, community groups, businesses and business groups, elected officials and government administrators and the traveling public -- to assess matters such as concessions, parking and safety.  The survey's 1-to-5 rating scale and space for comments (I fit most of the Declaration of Independence in one window, just to test) are useful but too limited.




Week of March 10 - March 16, 2008

U.S. Airlines Carry Record 769 Million Passengers in 2007
- Bureau of Transportation Statistics

U.S. airlines set an annual record by carrying 769.4 million scheduled domestic and international passengers on their systems in 2007, nearly 25 million more passengers or 3.3 percent more than they did in 2006 when the previous high was reached, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported in a release of preliminary data.

BTS ranked Los Angeles International as 4th among all airports in the nation for the total number of enplanements and 5th in the number of domestic enplanements on U.S. carriers. 

This website records passenger enplanements and deplanements on all airlines. Travel in the LA region set a record in 2007 and was up 2.1 percent over 2006.



Union seeks LAX flight reductions - Daily Breeze

The air traffic controllers union called on the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday to reduce the maximum number of jetliners allowed to land at Los Angeles International Airport.

Union officials also want to end the rarely used practice of allowing arriving airplanes to land on the same runway used by departing aircraft during peak operating periods.

The call for a change in landing procedures comes roughly two weeks after the FAA imposed a new rule requiring air traffic controllers at LAX Tower to receive a correct "read back" of flight instructions from pilots landing at the airport. Those who fail to comply with the new rule could face discipline.

Imposing the rule "adds another layer of safety" at LAX, which has reported the highest number of runway incursions at the nation's airports since 2001, [FAA's spokeman Ian] Gregor said.

"We made the instruction change to bring LAX's procedure into conformance with national procedures," Gregor said. "I'm surprised that the controllers union representative would complain about a safety enhancement."

Rather than implementing the new rule, [the union] suggested that the FAA decrease the maximum number of airlines arriving at LAX from 84 flights an hour to 72 flights an hour.

According to FAA's Gregor, LAX rarely ever reaches 65 to 70 arriving flights an hour.

Website Editor: We take this information as an indication that LAX has greater capacity than is generally recognized.




JWA has another off month; will end plan year well below allowed MAP cap

John Wayne Airport served 702,327 passengers in February. The number was 4.2 percent below that of February 2007. February was the fourth consecutive month during which the level of JWA passenger service fell below that of the prior year.

The airport operates on a plan year that ends each March 31st. This website projects that the airport will serve slightly less than 9.9 million annual passengers for the plan year ending this month.

Under an agreement between the county and Newport Beach, the airport is restricted to serving 10.3 MAP. However, airport management consistently recommends, and the Board of Supervisors approves, service levels that are several hundred thousand passengers less than the MAP cap. Airline requests to provide additional service are repeatedly denied out of concern over putting the MAP cap "in jeopardy."

For the plan year beginning on April 1, airport management recommended, and the Board approved an additional 300,000 cut in the number of passenger seats to be allocated.



Survey reconfirms value of LAX
- Daily Breeze

Travelers flying in and out of Los Angeles International Airport typically stay in town for 8.2 nights, spending an average of $929 during the trip, according to an airport report released Monday.

The report provides a glimpse into where passengers are coming from, how they travel to LAX and their reasons for using the airport. The survey, completed by the Los Angeles-based Applied Management and Planning Group, has a margin of error of 0.6 percent.

"The LAX Air Passenger Survey is a valuable tool that we use as part of our ongoing efforts to modernize and improve passenger facilities, ground access and customer service," said Paula McHargue, a Los Angeles Worlds Airports planner who managed the survey.

LAX passengers are likely to drive to the airport, according to the survey. About 55 percent of those surveyed either drove themselves to the airport or caught a ride from a friend. Eleven percent arrived in a rented car. On-call shuttles and hotel courtesy vans took 15 percent of the passengers to LAX, while taxis were used by another 9 percent.

About 3 percent of airport passengers used the FlyAway bus shuttle. Only 1 percent took the bus or the Metro Green Line to get to the airport, according to the survey.

About 13 percent of the LAX passengers surveyed came from Orange County, a decrease from the 15.4 percent of those surveyed in 2001.  See article below for more.




Los Angeles releases findings of 2006 passenger study at LAX

Los Angeles World Airports has finally released the full report of a 2006 LAX passenger study initially reported on this site in October.

The report shows, among many things, that Los Angeles County is now the originating or destination point for 81 percent of all travelers from the five county region. LA's proportion of this travel grew as Orange County's use of LAX decreased from 15.4 percent
of locally generated air travel in 2001 to 13.0 percent in 2006.

During the debate over El Toro reuse, erratic and overblown estimates of Orange County use of LAX were commonplace, even from the Southern California Association of Governments.  This new report demonstrates that after the OC Board of Supervisors raised John Wayne airport's MAP cap in 2003, fewer local residents and visitors journey to LAX for their flights. John Wayne airport has accommodated the post 9-11 recovery in air travel plus modest OC growth in demand.

      
Orange County residents, visitors and business passengers
2006
2001
OC travel at LAX (Million Annual Passengers)
5.2
5.4
Travel at John Wayne Airport (principally from OC)
9.6
7.3
Total of the above, MAP
14.8
12.7

Anaheim and the Disney area continues to be the only major generator of domestic and international air travel in Orange County.

The report attributes 15 percent of all LAX international travel originating in the LA region - or about 2.5 million passengers in 2006 - to the Anaheim area.  International travel from all of Orange County was 17.7 percent of the LAX total or 3.0 MAP. This proves a long held contention more than half of the Orange County use of LAX is associated with international travel.

Click for more information, previous report data, and a link to the Los Angeles report.




L.A. to seek feedback on its airports
- Daily Breeze

On a scale of one to five, how would you rate your satisfaction with the facilities, management, shops, noise levels and economic impacts of Los Angeles International Airport?

Those and a series of other questions by airport officials are being posed in a new online survey.

Information gleaned from the questionnaire will be included in a massive examination of operations at Los Angeles World Airports, the Los Angeles city agency that operates LAX and three other regional airports.

The city awarded a $680,000 contract to Los Angeles-based KH Consulting Group to oversee the survey, aimed at gauging the community's perception of LAWA's operations and services at LAX, LA/Ontario International, LA/Palmdale Regional and Van Nuys airports.

Website Editor: Click here to participate in the survey.


San Diego continues its winning ways

San Diego's Lindberg Field ws named, last month, by Airports Council International as one of the top 5 quality airports in North America.

In January, passenger traffic at Lindberg rose by 4.6 percent over 2007, making it the best performing airport in Southern California in a month when other regional airports posted mixed results. 



Airport planning on curfew
- The Burbank Leader

Capping off years of debate, the tri-cities' governing board of Bob Hope Airport announced it will present a plan to implement a mandatory curfew that would halt all late-night and early-morning flights at the airport, officials said.

But its passage could be in doubt if the Federal Aviation Administration grounds the plan.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority will present a draft of the Part 161 Study, which would impose a mandatory curfew on all flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., to the public at its March 17 meeting, and conduct an initial study session, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.

The curfew would affect an average of 36 flights every night and would force their aeronautical operations to shift to surrounding airports during the curfew, Gill said.

Van Nuys Airport could receive 16 flights, Ontario International Airport 13 flights, and Los Angeles International Airport might get three flights if the curfew is passed, he said.

Other airports, such as Orange County's John Wayne Airport, have mandatory curfews in that they impose a restriction on flying from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., but no airport has ever asked for a curfew after [passage of the Airport Noise and Capacity Act in] 1990 for quieter, stage 3 planes, Gill said.



Week of March 3 - March 9, 2008

Flight 617 to Santa Ana will leave on time

I checked the
Dallas-Ft. Worth airport's departure schedule online to see whether our family's flight today will be on time.  Flight 617 to John Wayne, nothing. Flight 617 to Orange County, nothing. Flight 617 to Santa Ana, on time. Ah, that's where they are headed. 

Apparently not everyone knows where John Wayne Airport is located.

BTW, the flights to New York are listed as going to New York - JFK or New York - LGA..



Long Beach Airport off to slow start in 2008

Long Beach Daugherty Field served 203,356 passengers in January, a drop of 3.6% from the same month in 2007.



The fate of the Great Park
- LA Times editorial
Mired in local politics and greed, Orange County's park overseers need a broader view.

Measure W was always more about keeping a giant airport out of south Orange County's groomed backyard than about public playgrounds. Even so, it proved an inspired political ploy, persuading Orange County voters six years ago today to bury airport plans for the shuttered El Toro Marine base and erect a 4,700-acre Great Park instead.

The Great Park belongs to a bigger constituency than Irvine, and bigger hands should guide its future. Its development should be taken away from municipal politicians and placed with a countywide body.

Many south Orange County residents probably don't much care. They have what they wanted -- empty skies overhead. Even the balloon has been grounded for now.




City against JWA growth
- Daily Pilot

The Costa Mesa City Council resolved to adopt an explicit policy opposing the potential expansion of John Wayne Airport on Tuesday night, though further deliberations on the city’s enforcement of the measure will be finalized during a study session next week.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who brought forth the proposal, said she thought the council should take a more decisive stance on the issue after reviewing an identical policy endorsed by the Newport Beach City Council.



JWA well regarded by users

The 2007 Passenger Survey for John Wayne Airport shows continued favorable ratings.

In 2007, sixty-two percent of survey respondents interviewed at the airport were visitors to Orange County and 38% were Orange County residents, while in 2005, 66% were visitors and 34% were residents.   The visitor percentage has fluctuated since 2000 in a range between 55% and 66%.

As was the case in previous surveys, North OC residents outnumbered those from South County by about 50%.



Airport panel OKs contract for LAX expansion plans - LA Times

The Los Angeles Airport Commission approved a one-year, $25-million contract Monday for a Florida aviation company to manage preparations for expansion and modernization plans at Los Angeles International Airport.

DMJM Aviation Inc. will focus its initial efforts on planning for new gates west of Tom Bradley International Terminal to accommodate such super-jumbo jets as the Airbus A380.

The firm, based in Tampa, will also concentrate on details of the Bradley terminal's ongoing renovation plans as well as other construction projects that are part of a decade-long airport improvement strategy anticipated to cost $5 billion to $8 billion. See more below:



City’s air fails quality check - Burbank Leader
Report shows Burbank to have the second-worst levels of toxicity in the Southland after Fontana.

A January South Coast Air Quality Management District report showed Burbank’s air quality is one of the worst in Southern California, mostly owing to its proximity to some of the busiest freeways in California.

The air quality district conducted its study over two years at 10 sites throughout Southern California, including a Burbank location, downtown Los Angeles, Wilmington and parts of Long Beach.

The study found that high levels of toxicity in Burbank from diesel engines, most likely from trucks rumbling through Burbank on the Golden State (5) Freeway are the culprit, but pollution from Bob Hope Airport also plays a part, air quality district spokesman Sam Atwood said.

Officials at Bob Hope Airport have taken steps to reduce emissions but are resigned to the fact that pollution from airplanes is out of their hands.




Billions for airport face lifts, zilch for more capacity - El Toro Info Site

Los Angeles plans to hire DMJM to serve as project manager "of a proposed $8 billion overhaul that would essentially change the face of LAX over the next decade. "

No increase in capacity is being discussed publicly.  The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and Los Angles continue to project LAX as capped at 78 million annual passengers through 2035.

Over $600 million also is being spent at Orange County's John Wayne Airport for a terminal and parking expansion euphonistically called an "improvement program".

"The chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors is intent on keeping John Wayne Airport at its current capacity" and Newport Beach groups are rallying behind the slogan "10.8 and lock the gate" - a call to maintain the current 10.8 MAP cap forever.  SCAG continues planning on that capacity limit.

The Long Beach city council approved the environmental impact report for a 73 percent expansion in the size of their city's airport with no change in the number of permitted commercial flights.

Bob Hope airport has not announced any spending plans. The airport has a 10 year moratorium on any expansion.


2008 air travel off to mixed start

Los Angeles International posted January 2008 traffic statistics that were 1.67 percent below January 2007.  International travel was up and domestic down.

Ontario Airport saw a 2.19 percent passenger increase over last January.


Week of February 25 - March 2, 2008

LAX in disrepair, physical decay and design inadequacy 
- Board of Airport Commissioners agenda
Steps are contemplated to fix it with largest public works project in the city's history

A request for up to $25,000,000 for program management services, Item 1 on the Los Angeles Airport Commission agenda for March 3 begins as follows:


ITEM 1. RESOLUTION NO. -Award of Contract: To DMJM AVIATION, INC. for
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT SERVICES for the CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM at LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, for an amount not-to exceed
$25,000,000

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
It has become an accepted fact that the infrastructure of Los

Angeles International Airport ("LAX") is in a state of disrepair. The design of the facility
serving the needs of today's aviation industry and its passengers is the product of
plans formed more than 30 years ago. Today, LAX suffers from the combined
afflictions of physical decay and design inadequacy. The negative impact of these
afflictions is difficult to overstate. Beyond the chronic inconvenience to the traveling
public, LAX'S design and construction failings now present a tangible risk to a regional
economy. The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation estimates this risk to
be $6.9 billion in additional regional economic output along with 34,300 direct and
indirect jobs and $1.7 billion in annual wages based upon market trends suggesting
LAX could capture 11 new transoceanic international flights by 2012.

There is no local precedent that matches the objective dimensions of the work

necessary to rebuild LAX. This work will exceed the scale and scope of every public
works project in our City's history. Our goal today is to launch the process of design
and construction that we can expect will take the better part of a decade to complete.
But there are components of the redevelopment process that cannot wait 10 years to
complete. By 2012, LAX must complete the architectural, engineering, planning,
design and construction of the Midfield Satellite Concourse as mandated by the Los
Angeles City Council in August 2007 and the realities of an aviation industry that is
migrating from old to newly designed aircraft.

Added to the realities of a failing infrastructure, enormous scale and a remarkably

ambitious schedule is the truth that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) today has no
defined set of projects framed within a cohesive Capital lmprovement Program (CIP).
It has no developed, and hence credible, cost estimates against which to assess the
progress of design and construction expenses. The organization has no institutional
memory and no internal structure equal to the task of framing and managing the
facility-wide redevelopment program.



Supervisor urges PR shift on airport
- OC Register
John Moorlach says that activists need to create publicity that makes airport expansion a county, not a local, issue.

Local residents need a solid public-relations campaign to keep a lid on roaring flights at John Wayne Airport, Supervisor John Moorlach said in a speech this week.
 
Gently suggesting that [Newport Beach] activists had botched a 2002 effort to build an airport at the old El Toro Marine Corps base – a project locals hoped would siphon air traffic away from JWA – Moorlach on Tuesday night implored members of the nonprofit Airport Working Group to give their message broader resonance.
 
“If you’re shooting at the wrong target, then they may bag you again,” Moorlach said, referring to South County residents – particularly a prominent airport activist named Len Kranser – who feel JWA can handle far more flights than those allowed under a legal settlement.

Instead of adopting a “NIMBYish” stance that isolates airport-area neighborhoods in the public debate, activists must convey that “our flight restraints … are good for the entire county,” Moorlach said.  Website Editor: This will be a tough sell after JWA neighbors argued long and hard - during the El Toro fight - that Orange County needs more airport capacity.
 
Talks to extend a legal settlement that limits flights and passengers at JWA can begin in 2011, five years before the deal expires, said Mario Mainero, Moorlach’s chief of staff.



Great Park balloon grounded for safety investigation
- OCRegister.com

The Great Park Balloon is grounded while the Federal Aviation Administration and independent experts review its operation and safety procedures, officials announced Thursday.

The Great Park Corp. and the city of Irvine made the joint decision to suspend flights so that the review could be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible, said Rod Cooper, operations manager for the Great Park.

“The decision was arrived at through an abundance of caution,” Cooper said. “We thought this was the most reasonable and responsible way to approach the issue.”

Website Editor: The controversial balloon - launched prematurely in the opinions of some - has taken 40,000 riders aloft during seven months of operation. The Times reported on June 23, 2006 that  similar balloon rides in developed entertainment areas charge $15-20; this one is operated free to the public at a cost of several million dollars a year to the Great Park.



Idea to toll motorists headed to LAX is called costly
- Daily Breeze

Charging a toll on motorists driving to Los Angeles International Airport might not be worth the effort, according to a study reviewed Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council's Transportation Committee.

A series of security cameras, signs and a "fast pay" system to electronically collect fees would be needed to make a so-called congestion pricing plan effective, but such equipment would cost $40 million to $80 million, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

City Councilman Bill Rosendahl proposed a congestion-pricing system last August as a measure to reduce traffic at LAX, but the plan would actually have the reverse effect if toll booths were built.

While Rosendahl's initial proposal called for charging a higher fee to residents from outside Los Angeles County, the councilman said Wednesday that such details should be determined at a later date.



Lead us, Moorlach - Daily Pilot, The Bell Curve

I’ve just returned from the annual meeting and dinner of the Airport Working Group, where the featured speaker was Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach. In my column last week, I . . .  suggested that Moorlach — who has consistently supported our efforts to check the expansion of John Wayne airport — would give us “marching orders” to that end.

Well, that isn’t exactly what happened. (See article below) In a speech that touched down periodically on airport issues amid funny and often insightful insider stories, Moorlach seemed to feel singled out unnecessarily for pressure, once asking: “Why are we whipping up issues when there aren’t any?”

* * * * *
A senior Great Park project manager told a Los Angeles Times reporter that only about 2% of the [El Toro] runway demolition was accomplished before Recycled Materials cut out. This translated into breaking up a few feet of runway in order to deliver commemorative chunks of concrete to park officials to illustrate progress for TV cameras.

It has occurred to me that these runways are being preserved by an act of God — or whatever force passes for God in dealings with the Great Parkers . . . Why not hire the mercenaries who put Measure B on the ballot in Newport Beach to perform the same service for a fifth vote on an El Toro airport? We won the first two. The runways are still there. Maybe we could win the fifth one.



Goal: Keep JWA at capacity
- Daily Pilot

The chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors is intent on keeping John Wayne Airport at its current capacity, officials said Tuesday night.

The Airport Working Group of Orange County, an activist group that has sought to limit past expansion efforts at John Wayne Airport, gathered for its annual meeting Tuesday.

John Moorlach, the chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, spoke on some of the concerns surrounding John Wayne Airport as the expiration of AWG settlement is in sight.

“South County is still your enemy,” Moorlach said, clarifying later he was speaking about Leonard Kranser, a Dana Point resident who opposed an airport in El Toro. “We get regular e-mails that tell us John Wayne Airport can handle a lot more flights.”

Moorlach, and his Chief of Staff Mario Mainero, outlined the goal at John Wayne was to extend the settlement after it expires in 2015, keeping, along with current capacity, noise levels and flight curfews the same.

“Let’s start planning a strategic plan to have a good marketing appeal,” Moorlach said. “If you’re shooting at the wrong target, they may bag you again.”

Law states a new extension can’t be negotiated until 2011, Moorlach said.

“Ontario [airport] is asking for more flights,” said Moorlach, who also pointed to Palmdale airport as an option. “We just have to figure out how to move people.”



NPB council votes for JWA-Metrolink study

Tuesday night,
with little discussion, the Newport Beach City Council unanimously agreed to seek $100K of OCTA "Go Local" funds for a study of ground transportation between the airport and Metrolink stations in Irvine and Tustin. Newport's $100K would be lumped with a similar amount requested by Costa Mesa.

City Manager Herman Bludau said that "Ultimately, we want to get passengers from outside of the county to other airports."  Council member Leslie Daigle said that the Airport Working Group and AirFair support the idea.

According to  Bludau, former Assistant City Manager Peggy Ducey would use the pooled $200K "by the middle of the summer" to examine existing airport survey data on passenger demographics.  (Sounds like nice work if you can get it.)

What is unclear is how a bus or tram link to JWA from the Metrolink will reduce the number of passengers at the Orange County airport and get out-of-county passengers to go away. A 2005 study found that very few passengers originating at JWA are from surrounding counties.

The staff report proposing the grant says nothing about connecting to other airports. Perhaps the final grant request will say one thing and the money will be used for something a little different as suggested by Bludau.

This website supports a serious effort by OCTA to offer transportation from Orange County to Ontario Airport. At present, the only ways to get from OC to Ontario on Metrolink require either 1) taking an infrequent train to Downtown Riverside and connecting there, after a long wait, to the westbound Riverside line, or 2) taking the train to LA Union Station and then riding the Riverside line east to its stop in East Ontario. You are still not at the airport.



Plan aims to gauge LAX's effect on area's air quality
- LA Times

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners unanimously agreed Monday to spend $2.2 million to look at the effect of airport pollution on communities around LAX.

The ambitious study, said to be the largest of its kind, will monitor Westchester, El Segundo, Inglewood and Lennox to identify the sources of pollution there and determine how much of it can be attributed to airport activities.



Green light for LAX runway safety plan -
Daily Breeze

A stoplight system that alerts pilots when it's safe to cross a runway will be installed at Los Angeles International Airport next year as part of a safety plan scheduled to be unveiled today by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The $6 million system will be switched on during the first quarter of 2009 and will be funded entirely by Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA.

Robert Sturgell, acting administrator of the FAA, is scheduled to hold a news conference at LAX this afternoon to announce the new runway status lights system.

Plans call for installing the red lights on the inner runway and four taxiway intersections on the north airfield, where airline safety has been called into question.

See earlier Times article below.



Runway system being tested could save lives
- LA Times
LAX officials would like to use technology under study to cut close calls.

As an American Airlines jet readied for takeoff on the runway at San Diego's airport recently, red lights embedded in the pavement at intersecting taxiways down the field blinked on, warning other aircraft to stay clear.

Air traffic controllers watched from the tower as the slender silver MD-80 started rolling down the runway, gaining speed on its way to Dallas. Once it was safe, the red lights clicked off.

The warning system, currently being tested at San Diego and Dallas/Fort Worth international airports, dramatically reduced the number of close calls between aircraft on a runway and taxiways where lights are embedded at the latter facility, federal auditors found.

But after almost two decades in development, the FAA has yet to decide whether to deploy the equipment at the nation's busiest airports, where close calls on the ground approached record levels last year. Officials at Los Angeles International Airport have been trying to get the system since 2006, even going so far as to offer to pay for it.



Long Beach to benefit from expected increase in tourism
- LB Press-Telegram

Weak dollar will bring in international visitors as Convention Center events

Like the normally sunny climes of Southern California, tourism in and around Long Beach will be a bright spot in the economy in the coming year - and you can thank the weak U.S. dollar for that, economists say.

"You have a positive outlook for tourism," said Jack Kyser, vice president and chief economist of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

It's one of the few bright spots Kyser sees in the U.S. and regional economies, and Kyser, considered "L.A.'s economic guru," believes Southern California will see a surge of international tourists in the coming year.



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