NEWS BLOG - LATEST
HEADLINES
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.
Click here for previous news reports