Another step toward JWA deal - Daily Pilot
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Newport Beach City Council took what Mayor Keith Curry called the "historic" step of approving a memorandum of understanding that the city hopes will set the terms of John Wayne's Airport operations far into the future.
While the proposed agreement still must be approved by the other three parties to the original 1985 legal settlement, which set the airport's passenger caps and strict curfews, city officials have said they are optimistic that the terms laid out in the memorandum will make it through a county-led environmental review process.
That is expected to take about a year, to be complete before the current agreement expires in 2015.
City Manger Dave Kiff explained that according to the FAA, the airport could see about 11.7 million passengers in 2026, which, under the proposed settlement, would trigger a higher passenger cap, to an upper limit of 12.5 million annually, as opposed to 12.2 million.
The increase is based on whether the airport's actual traffic hits a "trigger" level of 11.21 million annual passengers in any year from 2021 to 2025.
If traffic hits that level, the passenger cap would increase to 12.5 million annually between 2026 and 2030. If not, the cap would increase to 12.2 million annual passengers.
Website Editor: Whether JWA hits the "trigger level" is controlled, in large part, by the Airport Manager and Board of Supervisors who allocate seats that may be flown to the airlines each year. They frequently grant the carriers permission for fewer seats than the carriers request. The airport management also controls the recruitment of new carriers and parcels out loading gates and aircraft overnight parking spots, whose number will not be increased under the proposed agreement.
JWA saw improved February traffic
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport increased in February 2013 as compared to February 2012. In February 2013, the Airport served 653,118 passengers, an increase of 6.5% when compared to the 613,201 passenger traffic count of February 2012.
About 40 percent of the pickup came from international passengers.
Commercial aircraft operations increased 1.0%, while Commuter aircraft operations decreased 15.8% when compared to the levels recorded in February 2012.
Total aircraft operations decreased in February 2013 as compared to the same month in 2012. In February 2013, there were 19,436 total aircraft operations (take-offs and landings), a decrease of 4.8% when compared to 20,409 total aircraft operations in February 2012.
General aviation activity, which accounted for 67% of the total aircraft operations during February 2013, decreased 7.2% when compared to February 2012.
March 18 - March 24, 2013
Fullerton Airport control tower to close - OC Register
The control tower at the Fullerton Airport is among 149 that will close beginning April 7, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday. The FAA tower closures will save up to $50 million this year.
The closure will cost Fullerton $35,000 a year, the amount the FAA paid the city to lease the tower, said Don Hoppe, Fullerton's engineering director who oversees the airport. Officials could opt to keep the tower manned by paying controllers from the general fund, Hoppe said, but the cost would be about $375,000 annually.
JWA noise plan would add flights - OC Register
The number of passengers and flights at John Wayne Airport would gradually increase starting in seven years under a noise agreement proposed Thursday by the city of Newport Beach and local airport-noise groups. The early morning and late night curfew on operations would remain in effect until 2035. Thursday's announcement marked the beginning of a process to modify and extend the existing airport-noise agreement that is due to expire in 2015.
Passenger limits: The current cap of 10.8 million annual passengers would increase to 11.8 million from 2021-25. Up to 12.5 million passengers would be allowed beginning in 2026, depending on demand in the previous five years.
Flight limits: The current cap of 85 daily departures by the loudest commercial passenger jets will remain in effect through 2020. The cap would rise to 95 departures in 2021. Cargo flights would remain limited to four a day.
Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry said the proposal struck a balance between the needs of the communities surrounding the airport and federal law, which restricts the local limits that can be placed on airports.
Officials at the airport, which is owned by the county, did not take an official position since the agreement is subject to hearings and an environmental review.
The county Board of Supervisors will consider a memorandum of understanding on April 16. The memorandum is the first step before the county initiates an environmental review.
Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who represents Orange, North Tustin, Tustin and other foothill communities in the airport's landing pattern, said those residents will have a full opportunity to express any concerns and issues about the proposal during the environmental review process.
The Federal Aviation Administration must also sign off on the plan. Participants to the negotiations said the FAA had not raised any objections.
Not everyone fully supported the plan. AirFair, an airport-noise group that was not part of the talks, released a statement saying it was grateful for the work done to keep the noise settlement agreement in place but that the current 10.8 million cap on passengers should be retained.
Leonard Kranser, (Editor of this website) a South County resident who fought the El Toro Airport, said he was glad Newport Beach residents would not be subjected to late-night airport noise or jet pollution. But he questioned why flights and passengers needed to be so strictly limited when a new terminal opened in 2011.
"The number of (large-jet passenger) flights was set at 85 beginning Jan. 1, 2003, and now will be held at that number for 17 years through 2020 despite the construction of the new third terminal," he said.
Website Editor: The EIR process could bring changes to this proposal. In December 2002, 10 then current JWA airlines and 2 potential airlines commented on the Board of Supervisors' selected EIR 582 scenario and requested additional "opportunities". In exchange for an agreement that the airlines would not oppose the project before the FAA, the parties to the Settlement Agreement approved Final EIR 582, Addendum EIR 582-1. It increased the number of gates to 20 and maximum allowed passengers in two stages to 10.8 MAP. Following the approval of the airlines, the FAA approved the settlement as conforming to federal law including the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act
Newport Beach Announces John Wayne Airport Settlement Agreement Extension Proposal - City website
Key elements of the proposal, which must now go through an environmental impact report process and must be accepted by the FAA and airlines, are as follows:
- Protection
and extension of the noise-based curfew for another twenty-two (22)
years, through 2035 - no commercial departures before 7:00 a.m.
Monday-Saturday nor before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday and no arrivals after
11:00 p.m.
- Maintenance of the “million annual passenger” cap (MAP CAP) of 10.8 MAP for another eight (8) years through 2020, with an additional 1.0 MAP allowed in 2021-2025. During the period of 2026-2030, an additional 0.7 MAP may be allowed if JWA’s use shows at least 11.21 MAP in any calendar year during 2021-2025. If the 11.21 MAP trigger is not reached, then only an additional 0.4 MAP would be authorized between 2026 and 2030.
- Maintenance of the cap on Average Daily Departures (ADDs) of the Class A (loudest) commercial air carriers of 85 passenger flights plus four cargo flights per day for another eight (8) years, through 2020, with an additional 10 Class A passenger ADDs (no new cargo flights) for a total of 95 Class A passenger flights annually starting in 2021.
Bob Hope Airport noise program to be reduced in size - Burbank Leader
Residents living near Bob Hope Airport who have been waiting to take advantage of a federally funded residential soundproofing program shouldn't wait any longer.
After more than a decade and a half of installing new windows and doors in homes surrounding the airport, the eligible area for the soundproofing program is going to shrink, airport officials said during a Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority meeting on Monday.
Due to quieter aircraft and fewer flights in general, the airport is projecting a much smaller noise-impact zone over the next five years — and that projection is used by the Federal Aviation Administration to determine which homeowners qualify for soundproofing projects.
“[The program] is going to remain to the extent that the eligibility area is there, but that area is going to be much smaller,” Mark Hardyment, director of environmental programs at the airport, said after the meeting.“
March 11 - March 17, 2013
Ken Smith talks of his vision for the Great Park - OC Register
Ken Smith still occasionally visits the Great Park when he's in town, but it isn't for work. The Great Park's master designer, chosen in an international search in 2006, now visits to see how his vision is growing up and how park goers have taken to it.
"My heart and
soul is in that park. It is something I think about. But life moves
on," he said, when asked if he follows the park's development.
On the canyon
feature, Smith says: It's considered to be an extravagance. Which
I
think actually misses the point. You do need a strong organizing
element and that's actually fundamentally important. I think a lot of
folks think the facilities are the most important thing, and the stuff
that holds it all together is not so important. The canyon made a lot
of sense to me.
On not being involved in the most recent developments at the park, including the South Lawn: It was pretty clear that we weren't going to get that work. You know, there's a point, as we were finishing up the comprehensive plan that the leadership of the corporation changed, and they brought in their own people and basically the original team was one by one relieved of the project, and I guess I was the last one to be left standing.
Mayor: New JWA agreement could be days away - Daily Pilot
Negotiations drag on presumably toward settlement of new limits on airport.
Newport Beach Mayor Keith Curry had two speeches ready for the Airport Working Group's annual meeting Wednesday night.
One would have answered looming questions about the new terms of John Wayne Airport's settlement agreement, which sets JWA's passenger and operational caps. The current agreement is set to expire in 2015.
This week, Curry said, he was close to having something to tell them. But he couldn't give that speech. "We're not quite there," he told the audience at the annual meeting at the Balboa Yacht Club.
Still, he assured the group, an announcement about "an agreement that will continue the protection of our community" could be days away.
"I think we're very close, and I think you're going to be very proud," Curry said.
As for what exactly that deal will entail — whether JWA will be allowed to add flights or if someday more passengers could pass through its gates — that's been kept under wraps.
"Because it is litigation, it is very difficult to comment on the specifics," Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach said Thursday. "This has been one of these deals where we've been working, I think, as best as possible. But it's a tough deal. That's about all I can hint at until something's available."
Parties to the original 1985 federal court settlement have worked since early last year to negotiate a new deal that will be acceptable to local jurisdictions and residents, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration.
Long Beach Airport takes off - OC Register
Gone are the 45 trailers that for years served as the passenger waiting and security areas. In their place, a sleek new concourse with a palm-lined outdoor courtyard, sushi counter and an iPad bar greets travelers.
The 35,000-square-foot concourse is the capstone of a $139 million expansion and rehabilitation project at Long Beach Airport, which handled 3.2 million passengers last year.
Passengers can now check in, clear security and go directly to their planes without ever entering the historic terminal. A video projection called Ava (for Audio Visual Assistant) – the first outside New York and Boston – welcomes passengers in English and Spanish, instructing them about the security process. Coveted plug-ins for electronics, which travelers vie for at every airport, are now everywhere.
Security has been streamlined to the point that the average wait is four minutes – maybe seven minutes at peak periods.
The airport expansion faced opposition from people living in nearby homes before the city finally began construction of the new concourse in 2010, just as airlines were consolidating and cutting back flights.
All 41 one of the airport's slots for commercial flights are filled and there's a waiting list if any are relinquished.
Airport Director Mario Rodriguez would like to attract more business from the northeast. JetBlue now flies to New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. And what about Hawaii service? Rodriguez said none of the four airlines that serve the airport have discussed service to Hawaii and the jets they currently operate at Long Beach can't make it to the islands. "But JetBlue's new (A320)neos can," he said with a smile.
March 4 - March 10, 2013
Newport on the right path, Kiff says - Daily Pilot
City manager outlines good news about the city in wide-ranging discussion before Chamber of Commerce members.
City Manager Dave Kiff spoke Thursday morning, to a meeting of the chamber's revamped Government Affairs Committee.
An ongoing issue that may see some resolution soon, Kiff said, is the John Wayne Airport settlement. The terms of the original 1982 settlement, which sets limits on the airport's operations, will expire in 2015.
Before that time, a new settlement must be agreed upon by several parties, including two local residents' groups, the city and the county.
A major project last year, Kiff said, was working on the new agreement, the terms of which were sent to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"We're hoping to get news in a matter of days," Kiff said.
Although many Newport residents enjoy the protection the airport's noise restrictions and curfew have afforded, Kiff cautioned that the settlement will "have to allow a little growth, otherwise things could blow up."
Los Angeles: A new hub for Delta Air Lines? - USA Today blog
Delta will add five destinations from LAX on a year-round basis. They are Nashville (begins April 8); Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (July 1); San Jose (July 1); Seattle (April 8); Spokane, Wash. (June 10).
Additionally, Delta will add service to three new destinations from LAX on a seasonal basis. They are Anchorage (three weekly flights from June 21 through Aug. 31); Boston (one daily flight from June 10-Aug. 12) and Bozeman, Mont. (Saturday-only service June 22-Aug. 24).
And on six of its existing LAX routes, Delta will add flights and upgrade some routes to bigger planes. The routes getting at least one of those two upgrades are New Orleans, Oakland, Phoenix, Sacramento, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Delta will discontinue the use of 50-seat regional jets on all flights at LAX.
Red ink flows at Bob Hope Airport - Burbank Leader
Halfway through its fiscal year, Bob Hope Airport's operating revenues are running more than $150,000 in the red due to declining numbers of passengers and weak parking revenues, according to a recent financial report.
Parking fees, which make up about 40% of the airport's revenues, were budgeted to bring in $9.5 million but only produced $8.9 million, according to the report released to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday.
Passenger levels for the first half of the fiscal year — July to December 2012 — declined almost 6.8% compared to the same period in the last fiscal year.
But those aren't the only challenges the airport faces.
In the past year or so, the airport also has seen the departure of American Airlines and it lost a pair of Jet Blue daytime flights.
Airport Authority Commissioner Terry Tornek, representing Pasadena, said that the airport should evaluate whether it is undercharging airlines for operating at the airport.
Passenger numbers at other airports were a mixed bag in January. Ontario Airport reported a 9% decrease and Long Beach Airport saw a 3.5% drop. Meanwhile, John Wayne Airport saw a 9.6% increase due to an increase in domestic flights and new international service to Mexico, according to Hatanaka.
Los Angeles International Airport saw a 3.3% jump in passengers.
February 25 - March 3, 2013
Nonstop Service Between San Diego and Miami to Begin This Summer
American Airlines announced today that it will launch new service between San Diego International Airport and Miami International Airport this summer.
It has been more than 20 years since there has been nonstop service between San Diego and Miami; American Airlines served this route briefly from 1992 - 1993.
"We are so pleased that American Airlines will create a bridge between San Diego and Miami," said Thella F. Bowens, President/CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. "Until today, Miami was San Diego's largest market without direct service from San Diego, and it's great to know that San Diegans will once again have direct access to one of Florida's key cities."
This flight will be operated with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 150 seats.
