NEWS BLOG - LATEST
HEADLINES
Week of April 27 - May 3, 2009
World's biggest Zeppelin to fly over O.C. -
OC Register
The Zeppelin Eureka — which is billed as the world’s largest commercial
airship at 246 feet in length — will fly over north Orange County and
other parts of Southern California in late May when the airship makes
its first visit to region.
Eureka’s owner, Airship Ventures of Mountain View in Northern
California, says in an advisory that it will land the Zeppelin at Long
Beach Airport on May 20 and will offer sightseeing flights May 22-25,
some of which will track over Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.
Airport expansion may be $100 million cheaper -
OC
Register
Skyrocketing costs for expanding John Wayne Airport are plummeting back
to earth because of a weak construction sector, potentially saving more
than $100 million, officials report.
The top source of savings comes from a contract to enlarge and
modernize the terminal. Originally estimated to cost $178 million, the
project attracted a low bid of less than $100 million.
"When they read the numbers to me over the phone … I had a difficult
time believing it," said Alan Murphy, airport director.
Airport projects, including a maintenance warehouse and commuter-flight
holding rooms, that once faced delays will be built sooner, and
officials will not need to finance as much of the nine-figure bill for
expanding Orange County's aviation hub, avoiding millions in
debt-service payments.
Work has been under way for more than two years, and future milestones
include a new parking structure in 2010 and an enlarged terminal in
2012.
Say
hello to Virgin - Daily
Pilot
Flashy runway party, including ‘Housewives’ stars and founder, is par
for the course, company spokesman says.
It must have been an odd sight for the airline passengers looking out
their oval windows Wednesday afternoon as they landed on the runway of
John Wayne Airport.
British billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson was standing in red
swim trunks and carrying a boogie board, flanked by the cast of “Real
Housewives of Orange County” dressed in short skirts and stilettos, and
Orange County Supervisors John Moorlach and Janet Nguyen wore business
suits, all sharing the same small makeshift stage set up on the tarmac.
Red carpets were taped to the pavement, guests (mostly people who
worked for the airline and its suppliers — who else can go to a party
at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday?) walked around with cocktails and champagne,
and loud bass pumped from the speakers.
John Wayne doesn’t get new airlines very often. The last time was in
2003, according to airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.
Virgin finally gets to serve Orange County
On Wednesday April 29
Virgin America launches its new service between San Francisco
International Airport and Irvine's John Wayne Airport (SNA). Fares
start at $49 each way.
Virgin has been
waiting to serve Orange County residents since early 2008.
FAA urged to do more to bolster
California air traffic
controller ranks - LA
Times
Though hiring is underway to offset a dramatic loss of air traffic
controllers to retirement, the Federal Aviation Administration must
concentrate on training new workers and retaining veteran controllers
at busy Los Angeles International Airport and two key radar facilities
in California that guide planes between airports, a new audit shows.
Released Monday, the 27-page report by the U.S. Department of
Transportation's inspector general recommended a variety of
improvements to bolster air traffic control staffing at the nation's
fourth-busiest airport and the Southern and Northern California
Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities. TRACON operations guide
aircraft through some of the most crowded and complex airspace in the
nation.
Long Beach Airport expansion debated in appeals court - Press-Telegram
Attorneys for
the city of Long Beach and the Long Beach Parent-Teacher Association
faced off in appeals court Monday in what could be the final legal
battle blocking proposed improvements at Long Beach Airport.
Since 2006, the
city's efforts to expand the airport terminal and build a new parking
garage have been stymied by legal challenges over the findings of a
required environmental impact report. City officials say the project
won't increase the number of flights - and legally can't because of
Long Beach's strict airport noise ordinance - but is simply necessary
to meet the needs of the current volume of flights and passengers.
The Long Beach
Unified School District, later joined by the PTA, sued the city,
claiming that the environmental report didn't take into account the
noise and pollution impacts of a possible increase in the number of
flights that they said could arise as a result of the airport
expansion. An Orange County judge ruled in favor of the city in
February 2008, but the PTA alone appealed the decision.
The delays have
also frustrated JetBlue, the largest airline at the airport, which
recently contemplated leaving Long Beach as a result.
A ruling is
expected within 90 days.
Week of April 20 - April 26, 2009
LA council to vote on jet-fuel pipeline
- Daily Breeze
The first phase of a proposed jet-fuel pipeline that backers hope will
eventually stretch from Wilmington to Los Angeles International Airport
is nearing approval.
The Los Angeles Transportation Committee last week approved a 62-mile
stretch of underground pipe from Wilmington storage tanks to Kinder
Morgan Watson Pump Station in Carson. Los Angeles City Council members,
some of whom sit on the committee, are set to vote on the matter on May
13.
But residents in Harbor Gateway and Gardena say the Smart Energy
Transport System pipeline is unnecessary and dangerous.
Residents are worried the pipe will be damaged in an earthquake and
leak hazardous jet fuel, said a member of the Harbor Gateway North
Neighborhood Council.
Website Editor: Jet fuel supply
was an issue during the El Toro reuse debate.
Report finds
hundreds of bird strikes at LAX
-
LA Times
Planes at Los Angeles International Airport have struck birds in more
than 900 instances from 1990 through the end of 2008, according to data
released this morning by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The incidents involved gulls, doves, pigeons and other birds striking
windshields, wings and stabilizer areas, the data shows. Many of the
941 strikes resulted in minor or no damage.
Long Beach Airport logged 148 incidents in the same period, and John
Wayne Airport in Orange Country reported 214 incidents, according to
the data. Bob Hope Airport in Burbank had 218 incidents.
Even though the data represents the most complete public view yet of
the problem, drawing comparisons or attempting to analyze trends is
difficult because the FAA does not require airports or airline carriers
to report bird strikes. Key fields in the database, for example, such
as damage incurred in each incident, are incomplete.
FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said this
morning that some airports, such as LAX, are more diligent than others
in reporting incidents.
Website
Editor: LAX flies more than twice as many passengers as all other
airports in the region combined.
JetBlue says it plans to stay in Long Beach -
Press-Telegram
New airport director meets with key JetBlue officials in New York
JetBlue Airways Corp. on Thursday said it plans to remain at Long Beach
Airport -- two days after the airport's director met with JetBlue
officials in New York and following weeks of speculation about whether
the airline would stay.
JetBlue Chief Executive officer Dave Barger responded to reports
earlier this month that JetBlue might pull out of Long Beach Airport
because of the lack of progress on long-awaited improvements there.
Barger said he is "disappointed" with the current facilities, but he is
encouraged by recent talks with airport officials.
Long Beach Airport's new director, Mario Rodriguez, flew to New York
this week and met with Barger and his top executives Tuesday, Rodriguez
said Thursday.
Rodriguez told the Press-Telegram that the group discussed improvements
to passenger waiting areas, security checkpoints, restrooms and
concession areas.
City officials have estimated that between $50 million and $65 million
in bonds would be needed to expand the terminal from the current 56,320
square feet to 89,995 square feet. Another $65 million in bonds are
needed to build a new parking garage.
SoCal air travel drops over 13 percent
in 1st quarter
Passenger traffic in the 1st quarter of
2008 dropped sharply at all seven of Southern California's major
commercial airports with the exception of
Long Beach. The total passenger count decreased by over 13 percent
from last year.
LAX, the region's major airport, set the pace with a 12.9 percent
decrease in January - March when compared to the same three months last
year.
San Diego International Airport saw a 13.3 percent drop in passengers.
John Wayne/Orange County was off by 15.3 percent for the quarter.
LA/Ontario took the worst beating of all with a 32 percent decline in
traffic.
Total passenger traffic fell to levels not seen since the first quarter
of 2002 in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks.
It
is tough being an aviation forecaster
Several years
ago, planners for the Southern California Association of Governments predicted that
annual regional air travel demand would soon hit 155 to 170 million
passengers. With 2009 on track to reach about half that level, previous
forecasts are looking increasingly implausible.
Palmdale Airport
received millions in subsidies but never approached viability.
Orange County's
plan for a multi-billion dollar mega-airport at El Toro would be a
financial disaster had voters not killed the project.
LAX project gets additional $51M - Daily Breeze
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Tuesday awarded an
additional $51.2 million to Denver-based Fentress Architects to provide
more designs for the ongoing modernization of Los Angeles International
Airport.
The revised contract, set to expire in May 2015, calls on Fentress to
draw up plans for the federal inspection and shopping areas within the
expanded Tom Bradley International Terminal. Earlier this year,
Fentress unveiled schematics for a new exterior of the Bradley terminal
and six new aircraft gates capable of handling super-jumbo jets.
The new facility, dubbed "Bradley West," is expected to be completed by
2014 at a cost of $1.5 billion.
Long Beach Airport continues positive trend
Long Beach
Airport, the only Southern California commercial air carrier airport to
report increased traffic in 2008, continues its positive trend in
2009. For the first quarter of 2009 the airport served 662,355
passengers, a 3.5 percent increase over the same period last year.
Week of April 13 - April 19, 2009
March Global Port debarred in dispute with EPA -
Press-Enterprise
The developer that built a massive home for global shipper DHL at March
Air Reserve Base in Riverside disputes a decision by the Environmental
Protection Agency to debar the company, a move that raises questions
about its ongoing business relationship with the agency overseeing the
base's reuse.
March Global Port won't be allowed to accept federal awards, contracts
or federally approved subcontracts, according to information posted on
the government's Excluded Parties List System.
So for three years, the March Joint Powers Authority will send all
agreements and amendments to agreements it makes with Global Port to
the Federal Aviation Administration first, the federal agency from
which the airport receives grants and funding, said Lori Stone,
executive director of the JPA.
March Global Port officials said the EPA's decision was an
administrative error that stemmed from a legal settlement in January
2008. The company paid more than $100,000 in fines settling criminal
claims against it for operating a hazardous jet-fuel operation at the
base and not reporting a fuel spill.
John Wayne finishes the quarter down
15.3 percent
Airline
passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in March 2009 as
compared to March 2008. In March 2009, the Airport served 713,196
passengers, a decrease of 13.0% when compared to the March 2008
passenger traffic count of 819,638.
Commercial Carrier
flight operations decreased 9.7%, while Commuter Carrier (air taxi)
operations increased 6.6% when compared to the same levels recorded in
March 2008.
For the calendar
year to date, passenger traffic was down by 15.3 percent from the same
period last year with 11.6 percent fewer air carrier operations.
Palm Springs Airport traffic off for first quarter
Passenger traffic at Palm Springs
airport fell by 11.9 percent for the first quarter of 2009 when
compared to the same three months of 2008.
Homeland Security chief visits Southland facilities -
LA Times
The nation's top domestic security official toured Southern
California's bustling ports and biggest airport Monday as local
officials plied her with requests for financial help to upgrade
potentially vulnerable facilities.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano took a flyover of the
ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and surveyed recent security
improvements at Los Angeles International Airport, including better
fencing, systems to screen passenger vehicles and concrete barriers to
prevent vehicles from crashing into airline terminals.
U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, who accompanied Napolitano on the tour, said she
and other local officials outlined other critical security upgrades in
need of federal financial aid, including $60 million to complete the
airport's border fence.
Week of April 6 - April 12, 2009
LAX 5th busiest or 3rd?
The
U.S. Department of transportation listed LAX as the nation's 5th
busiest airport in 2008. The DOT employs a curious, to us, approach
by counting only emplaned passengers on U.S. system airlines.
The DOT's top five in order are Atlanta, Chicago's O'Hare, Dallas-Fort
Worth, Denver International and Los Angeles.
We find that LAX ranks 3rd when total passengers on all airlines are
counted.
Denver
had a record year in 2008, with passenger traffic up by 2.8 percent to
51,245,334.
Dallas
was down 4.5 percent at 57,093,187.
LAX
was off by 4.2 percent but still served 59,815,646 passengers to come
in third.
The overlong JetBlue story -
Press-Telegram
Is a promise a promise? Only if an airport owner means it.
In the long-running saga of JetBlue Comes to Long Beach, see if you can
tell who's in the right.
The airline's CEO says nine years is too long to wait for Long Beach to
live up to its promises, and the company might move its flights to LAX.
Long Beach officials say the airline's CEO should have aired his recent
complaints at City Hall rather than in an online interview (with
blogger Cranky Flier), that
the city is moving as fast as possible, and anyway, those promises
weren't in writing.
No, the promises weren't in a contract, but they were promises. And
yes, the JetBlue CEO could have been more deferential toward Long
Beach, but why should he? And yes, JetBlue could move its flights to
LAX if there were a strong business reason, but no, that time isn't
now, because its Long Beach flights are heavily booked and its Long
Beach passengers, despite the jerry-rigged temporary facilities, love
flying out of Long Beach.
It's time to get past the excuses and get on with the project. Even the
most ardent foes of airport expansion prefer JetBlue and its relatively
new and quiet jets to the odd assortment of airlines that have come and
gone, including a fair number that are gone for good.
Enough verbiage. More action, please.
San Diego air traffic off 12.5 percent in 2009
Passenger volume at San Diego's
Lindbergh Field dropped by 13.9 percent in February compared to the
same month last year. For the first two months, the airport traffic was
off by 12.5 percent.
Long Beach Airport improvements may not pan out as envisioned -
Press-Telegram
Improvements at the Long Beach Airport could be scaled down or may be
just done in phases, but they aren't going to be exactly what has been
previously discussed, city officials said this week.
Following news that JetBlue isn't happy with
the lack of progress on the airport expansion, city officials
revealed the facility may not even grow as much as planned.
The City Council had certified an environmental impact report that
allows the airport terminal to grow from 56,320 square feet to 89,995
square feet, but airport officials said they've been discussing scaling
it down with the airlines. Efforts to improve the airport began in 2002
but have been stymied by public opposition, lawsuits and other
challenges.
Last year, airport officials reported that they would have to raise
passenger fees and parking rates at the airport to finance bonds to pay
for the improvements.
Between $50 million and $65 million in bonds would be needed to expand
the terminal to 89,995 square feet, while another $65 million in bonds
would be needed to build a new parking garage, officials said.
Week of March 30 - April 5, 2009
Regional summary: Air travel down 14 percent in 2009
For the first two months of 2009, the
six airports that comprise the Southern California Association of
Governments, SCAG region served 14 percent fewer passengers than in the
same period in 2008.
Of the six airports- LAX, John Wayne, Bob Hope, Ontario, Long Beach and
Palm Springs - Long Beach was the only one to post an increase.
LAX traffic was off by 13 percent. The other regional airports saw
larger drops in traffic as airlines tended to concentrate service at
their major hubs.
Palmdale City Council moves to develop shuttered airport -
LA Times
Asserting more control over the effort to attract airline service to
the Antelope Valley, the Palmdale City Council has authorized the
creation of an
aviation department and commission to oversee development of the
now-closed Palmdale Regional Airport.
The council's action Wednesday night will greatly reduce the role
played by Los Angeles World Airports, which shuttered the commercial
airport and
removed its staff in February after decades of frustration trying to
provide passenger service.
Eight airlines have come and gone from the facility since the early
1970s -- the latest being United, which canceled its four daily flights
to San
Francisco on Dec. 6 after almost 18 months of operation. The carrier's
planes were less than a third full, well below the anticipated level of
50%.
Los Angeles World Airports officials contend that it might take years,
if not decades, before the travel market is strong enough in the
Antelope
Valley to support an airline -- a position that Palmdale officials
dispute. They say that airfares were too high, the destinations too few
and that Los
Angeles officials failed to develop a large untapped market of
travelers in the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys.
Debt
Threatens Takeover of Midway Airport -
The Wall Street Journal
An investment group that contracted to take over Chicago's Midway
Airport is unlikely to meet a Monday deadline to pay the city $2.52
billion, people
familiar with the talks said, marking a new setback for airport
privatization efforts in the U.S.
Mayor Richard M. Daley must now decide whether to extend the
consortium's deadline to make the lump-sum payment or cancel the deal
and keep the
group's $126 million deposit.
The consortium, which includes a division of Citigroup Inc., John
Hancock Life Insurance Co. and a private consulting firm tied to
Canada's Vancouver Airport, won a privatization bid Sept. 30 for a
99-year lease. Midway is Chicago's second-largest airfield and the 25th
biggest U.S.airport by traffic.
The global credit crisis and the deal's rich valuation have made it
difficult to get financing for the deal, people familiar with the
transaction said.
Before Chicago launched the offering last year, it won support from
airlines that serve Midway.
Around the U.S., other local officials have been hoping the Midway deal
will blaze a new path for financing airports. In Toledo, Ohio,
Republican mayoral
candidate Jim Moody cited Midway when he proposed selling a share in
the local airport to investors.
The U.S. is the exception among developed countries in keeping its
airfields in the hands of cities and states. Britain, France, Mexico,
China and many
other countries have raised billions of dollars by selling stakes in
airports to private investors.
Website Editor: In 2004, Orange
County Supervisor Chuck Smith sought
to sell Orange County's John Wayne Airport but was told that there
were legal obstacles. Earlier this year, the Long Beach City Council
briefly looked at the possibility of selling or leasing that city's
airport.
Could JetBlue depart LB? Press-Telegram
Officials say the carrier is weary of airport improvements' slow pace.
Citing frustrations with the slow pace of improvements at Long Beach
Airport, a JetBlue executive said Wednesday that the airline cannot
rule out leaving or reducing services at the city-owned airport.
Company spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said the carrier is not formally
considering leaving the airport but that "everything is on the table,"
as it evaluates its Southern California strategy.
Dervin said the carrier has grown weary of the pace of improvements at
the city-owned airport. The company wants a new terminal to replace
temporary trailers and a new parking structure.
"Our expectations were that Long Beach would absolutely be a JetBlue
anchor for our West Coast operations, and all of the things that are
associated with that - first-class terminal, parking for our customers
and the ability to grow responsibly and have a great community
partner," Dervin said of when JetBlue began service at the airport in
2000. "What we have today is barely better than what we started with."
The economic recession has forced city officials to consider scaling
back their plan to expand the terminal from the current 56,320 square
feet to even smaller than the currently proposed 89,995 square feet,
said airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson.
The
terminal expansion has been whittled down since it was first proposed
seven years ago, from 133,000 square feet to 103,000 square feet, then
to 97,545 square feet before the City Council finally settled on 89,995
square feet.
FAA: U.S. passenger count to drop 9% - USA
Today
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that nearly 9% fewer
passengers will board major U.S. airlines for domestic flights this
year, and that traffic on international flights will also decline as
the bleak economy curbs business travel and vacation plans.
The FAA's 2009 projections, released in a report Tuesday, match
airlines' grim outlook. The major carriers have been cutting capacity
in the face of a travel slowdown blamed on the recession. But the
agency sees the downturn lasting only through 2009.
The FAA expects domestic boardings on major U.S. airlines to fall 8.8%,
and 2.4% internationally in 2009. Including smaller regional carriers,
enplanements on U.S. routes are expected to drop 7.8% this year — a
substantial decline compared with 2008's 1.5% year-over-year dip.
But the agency says that traffic will pick up again in 2010, with
domestic boardings growing 2.3% a year to reach 690.2 million by 2025.
International boardings on the big carriers and smaller regionals will
grow 4.3% a year from 2010 through 2025.
High Desert logistics hub pushes on - The
San Bernardino Sun
Dougall Agan faces an uphill battle. Agan's gargantuan Global Access
project in Victorville is fighting a recession that some economists say
will change consumer habits as we know them.
But Agan and his business partners are pressing onward, and he says
he's as optimistic as ever that the Southern
California Logistics Airport is poised for success when the economy
rebounds.
Conceptual designs show the airport as a logistics magnet where trucks,
planes and trains can meet and switch cargo, and where
multi-million-dollar aircraft are maintained and thousands of pallets
of consumer goods are stored every week before shipment.
Air cargo has dropped about 25 percent at the airport compared to one
year ago, estimated Jim Worsham, an aviation consultant for Southern
California Logistics Airport.
Recession or not, Agan still envisions 60 million square feet of
commercial building space for the airport - an infrastructure and
facilities investment worth $3 billion when finished and which could be
responsible for creating up to 43,000 jobs.
Nearly 3 million square feet have been constructed.
March Air Reserve Base, San Bernardino International Airport and
LA/Ontario International Airport are all competing for slices of the
massive tonnage in air cargo experts predict will need to enter and
leave the region over the coming decades.
Week of March 23 - March 29, 2009
Air travel slump catches up with San Diego
After weathering 2008 in fairly good shape, down only
1.1 percent in traffic for the year, San Diego's Lindbergh Field is off
to a slow start in 2009.
Passengers totaled 1,191,493 in February, 13.9 percent fewer than for
the same month last year.
For the first two months of 2009, SAN's total traffic is down 13.9
percent.
Long Beach Airport continues to buck regional downtrend
Long Beach airport served 200,237 passengers in
February, a 0.5 percent increase over February 2007.
Year-to-date, traffic at LGB is up by 4.4 percent.
Long Beach airport's performance is in dramatic contrast with the
severe slump observed at nearby airports including LAX, Ontario and Orange County's John Wayne Airport.
Cross-field taxiway OKd for LAX -
LA Times
The project is intended to help handle the new generation of large
airliners, including the Airbus A380.
Los Angeles airport officials Monday approved construction of a key
modernization project at LAX and took steps to shore up the finances of
Van Nuys Airport, which has been operating at a deficit for at least a
decade.
The Board of Airport Commissioners unanimously awarded an $82-million
contract to build a cross-field taxiway for Los Angeles International
Airport that would make it easier for aircraft to move between the
north and south runway complexes.
The wider taxiway, which will be located west of the Tom Bradley
International Terminal, is designed to handle the next generation of
large commercial aircraft, such as the Airbus A-380, the Boeing 747-8
and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The current cross-field route is so
narrow that no other aircraft can use it when an Airbus A380 occupies
the taxiway.
The cross-field taxiway, which is scheduled to begin construction in
May, is one of several projects in the first phase of the long-awaited
LAX modernization plan.
In other action Monday, commissioners unanimously increased the fuel
delivery fee from 3 cents to 11 cents a gallon for fuel companies that
deliver aviation gas and jet fuel to Van Nuys Airport.
Destination Lindbergh Draft Concept Plan now available on www.destinationlindbergh.com
The
Board of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has accepted
for public distribution the Destination Lindbergh Draft Concept Plan
for San Diego International Airport (SDIA). The Airport Authority Board
accepted the Draft Concept at its March 23rd public hearing and further
directed that an invitation be sent to all stakeholders for future
planning, and that the Concept Plan establish benchmarks for
operations, an economic turnaround and transit ridership. Six
Board members voted in favor, two Board members voted against, with one
Board member
absent.
Destination Lindbergh was a comprehensive process to determine how best
to achieve three goals: (1) optimize the airport, (2) improve transit
to the airport and region-wide and (3) reduce traffic congestion in the
vicinity of the airport.
The
Draft Concept Plan takes into account ground transportation, intermodal
facility, passenger terminal, airfield/airspace, environment, financial
feasibility and regional development.
LAX and ONT down in February
Los Angeles World Airports passenger
traffic for February lagged February 2008 by 14.8 percent. The drop was
14.2 percent for domestic traffic and 16.5 percent for international.
For the first two months of 2009, LAX total traffic was off by 13.0
percent.
Ontario airport passenger count was down 33.5 percent from last
February. Year to date, the total passenger volume fell by 32.35
percent from the same period in 2008.
Week of March 16 - March 22, 2009
JWA updates: Air traffic down, new flights
coming -
OC Register
February air traffic: Airline passenger traffic dropped 17 percent
compared in February compared to the same month in 2008. About four
percent of the drop was due to the loss of Aloha Airlines, which was
operating from JWA in February 2008 but went bankrupt and ceased
operations the following April.
Virgin America will start service to San Francisco on April 30,
followed on May 9 by matching service from Southwest Airlines. Airport
spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said negotiations are moving forward with Air
Canada to finalize plans for service by early to mid summer.
Analysts have said the most likely destination is Vancouver or other
cities in Western Canada.
The airport’s Improvement Program is proceeding. Bids for construction
of the new Terminal C are expected within two weeks. Construction is
slated to start this summer.
President won't be on view at airport, Long
Beach says - Press-Telegram
There will be no
public viewing opportunites of Obama or his jet, according to a city
advisory issued Tuesday night.
Both of the
outdoor balconies, located on the second floor of the terminal
building, will be closed to the public.
In preparation
for the president's arrival and departure, security measures will be
strictly enforced, according to the city. However, the airport
will be open to passengers and fully operational both days.
Passengers
traveling during the late afternoon today and Thursday may experience
short delays, according to Sharon Diggs-Jackson, the airport
spokeswoman.
Website Editor: Air Force One made past
Southern California visits at the military air bases at Los
Alamitos and El Toro.
As travel declines, aircraft 'boneyard' in Victorville fills up -
LA Times
With the economy in a tailspin, aircraft "boneyards" across the country
are filling up with Boeing 747s and other jetliners no longer needed to
ferry passengers. Call it airline limbo.
Southern
California Logistics Airport in Victorville, formerly George Air Force
Base, is now one of the nation's busiest boneyards.
The latest rush of airliners to Victorville began in October. Before
long 100 aircraft were on the tarmac, then 150, and by last week the
roster had swelled to nearly 200, making the outpost more crowded at
times than Los Angeles International Airport.
December 2008 Airline Traffic Data: System Traffic Down 5.7
Percent in December from 2007 and Down 3.7 Percent in 2008 -
U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S.
airlines in December 2008 declined by 5.7 percent from December
2007,the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation
Statistics (BTS) reported. December was the 10th consecutive
month with a decrease in passengers from 2007.
For the full year of 2008, the number of scheduled domestic and
international passengers on U.S. airlines declined by 3.7 percent from
2007, dropping to 741.4 million, 28.2 million fewer than a year
earlier. It was the first year-to-year decline since 2002 and the
fewest number of annual system passengers since 2005.
U.S. airlines carried 4.3 percent fewer domestic passengers and 1.2
percent more international passengers during 2008 than in 2007.
The combined domestic and international system load factor of 79.5
percent in 2008 was down 0.4 load factor points from last year’s record
for the year .
Los Angeles International Airport ranked fifth in the nation in the BTS
list of airport traffic on U.S. carriers. The BTS data does not
include foregn airlines.
Week of March 9 - March 15, 2009
El Toro and Great Park from the balloon
Editor and his family recently visited
the Great Park's "preview park" to enjoy the free seasonal ice skating
and a
balloon ride paid for, we assume, out of the funds available
for building the park. We went on a Saturday morning and there
was no wait for either the balloon ride or to get skates and hit the
ice. It was good fun.
For those who have not visited the park to enjoy the free amenities,
and have not seen the project seven years after the passage of Measure
W, here is a view taken from the great balloon's gondola with some
highlights labeled.
A. Boxed trees
B. Ample free parking
C. Hanger used for free ice skating
D. Picnic tables with shade umbrellas and enclosures
E. Historical timeline
F. RV storage area
Click photo for a larger view.
Palm Springs Airport traffic is down
Passenger traffic at Palm Springs
International Airport fell by 14.3 percent in February when compared
with the same month last year.
It was the airport's worst February since 2004.
John Wayne Airport continues multi-year slide
John Wayne February passenger volume
was 583,076 or 17.0 percent fewer travelers than in February 2008. The
number was 20.5 percent fewer than in February 2007.
It was the airport's slowest month since February 2002, shortly after
the 9-11 attacks.
Air carrier operations were off by 13.5 percent for the month and
general aviation was down 47.3 percent.
The Orange County airport has plenty of company from other airports in
the region with most showing sliding
passenger volume.
Fortunately, Orange County is not saddled with the multi-billion dollar
debt it would have incurred had county officials proceeded to build a
proposed huge second airport at El Toro.
LAX may not meet deadline for federal safety standards,
report
says -
LA Times
Los Angeles International Airport and 10 other major flight centers in
the United States might not be able to meet a 2015 deadline for federal
runway safety standards sought by Congress to reduce the risk of
aircraft accidents, according to a new government study.
The report released this month by the inspector general's office for
the U.S. Department of Transportation takes issue with the two northern
runways at LAX, which have safety zones -- buffer areas of open land --
that are smaller than what federal regulations have required for
airports since 1988.
Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports, said the
agency has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration to
address concerns about runway safety areas at LAX, including a current
study to evaluate options and develop recommendations.
Safety areas must support the weight of commercial aircraft and measure
1,000 feet long by 500 feet wide at each end of a runway. In addition,
a 250-foot buffer, measured from the runway's centerline, is required
for each side. The rectangular zones give landing and departing
aircraft a safety margin to reduce the risk of an accident from
undershooting, overrunning or veering off a runway.
The report also mentions Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where delays in
meeting safety zone standards had serious repercussions in March 2000,
when a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 overran the runway on landing,
crashed through a blast fence and ended up in a street. Forty-four
passengers and crew members were hurt.
Website Editor: John Wayne Airport
Safety Compatibility Zones are defined in an Airport Layout Plan
approved by the FAA in March 2005 for a "Medium General Aviation
Runway" (length 4,000 to 5,999 feet) and meet
the 1000 foot standard..
Carbon Plex H-25 Preservation Coating Installed at John Wayne
Airport - Asphalt
Contractor
John Wayne Airport (JWA) in Los Angeles recently completed
reconstruction of its primary runway.
Because the airport is in close proximity to a neighborhood, its
usually closed between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. This presented the challenge
of developing and installing a protective coating that could be placed
and achieve full cure within this time window, so heavy jet traffic
could resume operations.
Website Editor: The article details
how the 68,000 square yards of coating proceeded overnight under
pressure of a $10,000 per minute penalty.
Week of March 2 - March 8, 2009
FAA seeks analysis document from Burbank airport -
Associated Press
The Federal Aviation Administration says the Bob Hope Airport needs to
submit an environmental analysis before the agency can consider its
proposal to ban late-night flights in Burbank.
The FAA sent a letter Thursday informing the airport that the analysis
document was needed to complete its application. The
Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which voted last month to
seek the ban, has 30 days to submit the final document.
The airport has said a ban on most late-night flights would reduce
noise in surrounding Burbank neighborhoods. Airlines observe a
voluntary ban from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Other airports in the region—including nearby Van Nuys Airport—have
complained that the move would just shift the noise burden to them.
Parking
is Long Beach Airport priority -
Press-Enterprise
For the Long Beach Airport, providing parking for thousands of its
daily customers will be one of the most critical issues it will face in
2009.
Right now, roughly 45 percent of the airport's 4,935 parking spaces are
in a remote lot on Boeing property, which airport officials lease month
to month.
But recent plans by Long Beach Studios LLC to purchase the former
Boeing 717 manufacturing site and the parking lot the airport has been
leasing have prompted airport officials to expedite a multimillion
dollar parking garage expansion that had been experiencing delays.
Airport officials are keeping their fingers crossed on an $85 million
to $88 million stimulus package submission that could fund several
projects, including a new 3,200-space parking garage that would be
outfitted with solar panels and retrofitting the existing garage, which
would also have solar panels.
If stimulus money is not available, airport officials will look into
the bond market sometime approaching summer and, it is hoped, break
ground in mid-to-late summer.
One-woman bureaucracy keeps maglev hopes alive -
Las
Vegas Sun
Despite political hay over it, fast
train is far from reality.
The proposed $12 billion magnetic levitation train connecting Las Vegas
to Anaheim, Calf., conjures images of engineers, administrators and
environmental experts huddled over room-sized maps and computer
modeling.
In fact, headquarters for the California-Nevada Super Speed Train
Commission is in Richann Bender’s suburban tract home, a couple of
miles from U.S. 95 on the west side of town.
Bender, 60, is the commission’s executive director and only staffer —
and an unpaid one at that. She retired from her Las Vegas city job last
year and has headed the project for free since.
For the proposal to move forward now, the commission needs to find $7
million to complete an environmental study of the route. Next would
come persuading the federal government to fund much of the $12 billion
in construction costs. (Orange County jurisdictions and nearby agencies
are contributing $2 million toward the environmental study).
The Federal Railroad Administration held a competition for regional
maglev projects in 2001, but did not choose the Las Vegas application.
(In the end, no projects were funded.)
Bender pushes on. She expects to get a salary from the commission
someday, but that’s contingent on the project moving forward.
She believes that will happen and finds the current circumstances the
most promising in years. In her view, a maglev train is true to the
spirit of Obama’s stimulus bill: It would create construction jobs in
the short term and modernize the United States’ crumbling and obsolete
infrastructure.
Critics question why a train would connect Las Vegas to Anaheim, rather
than denser Los Angeles. But commission leaders say Anaheim is more
committed — the city’s mayor is a commission member — and arguably
needs it more. The maglev would stop in Ontario on the way to Las Vegas
from Anaheim, giving coastal residents quicker access to the less-crowded airport.
Bleak outlook for flights at Palmdale airport -
LA
Times
The resumption of passenger service at Palmdale Regional Airport might
take years, even decades, if the airline industry cannot recover
strongly from the current economic recession, a new report by the Los
Angeles airport authority predicts.
The grim prognosis for the struggling airport was presented Monday to
the Board of Airport Commissioners.
Palmdale airport was closed in February, two months after United
Airlines canceled its four daily flights to San Francisco. United was
the eighth airline to come and go from Palmdale since the early 1970s,
when the Los Angeles airport department began buying 17,500 acres of
vacant land for an intercontinental jet port that was never built.
The 36-page report blamed the airport's lack of success on four
factors: long drives for travelers who don't live in Palmdale and
Lancaster; a limited flight schedule compared with competing airports;
an inability to attract military and government travelers from Air
Force installations and aerospace firms in the region; and one of the
worst economic downturns in the history of the airline industry.
Bob Hope Airport part of January regional
slump
Passenger traffic at Burbank's Bob Hope
Airport fell 20.6 percent from its January 2008 level.
The airport served 348,274 passengers in January 2009. It was the worst
January posted since 2002 when 341,124 passengers used BUR in the
aftermath of 9-11.
For the six airports making up the SCAG region - LAX, Orange County,
Ontario, Burbank, Long Beach and Palm Springs - total passenger
traffic
in January dropped by 12.2 percent from the same month in 2008.
Fewer than 6 million travelers used the airports, a low overall
level which has not been seen since the months immediately following
the terror attacks.
SANDAG endorses overhaul of airport - The
San Diego Union-Tribune
A regional planning agency endorsed plans for a multibillion-dollar
overhaul of Lindbergh Field, with several officials calling it the only
plausible answer to San Diego's growing aviation needs.
Board members with the San Diego Association of Governments unanimously
voted in favor of shifting most passenger services to the north side of
the airport and closer to mass transit and Interstate 5.
At the SANDAG hearing, lawyer Leon Campbell of La Jolla touted a novel
proposal to build a three-runway airport in the southern waters of San
Diego Bay. The proposal was not pursued.
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority officials say improvements
in aircraft technology and design, along with other measures, will
stretch Lindbergh Field's life span past 2025.