Week of December 24 - December 31, 2007
2007 - THE AIRPORT
YEAR IN REVIEW
2007 saw little
progress towards meeting the future air travel demand that most
government agencies predict. While several airports have “improvements”
underway, no major capacity building projects are even in their initial
environmental review stages, other than at
These are a few of the stories that made the El Toro Info Site headlines this year.
January –
LA City
Councilman Bill Rosendahl is named chair of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority SCRAA and
pledges to revive the moribund
organization
in hopes of “regionalizing” air traffic. The organization has
difficulty getting a quorum for meetings and its future is in doubt.
February – Ground breaks on the renovation of LAX’s international terminal, the airport’s first major upgrade since 1984.
March – An Airbus A380 jumbo makes a test visit to LAX.
April - LAX’s relocated south runway reopens.
ExpressJet
begins nonstop service to 14 destinations from
Long Beach City Council approves adding 33,000 square feet and three gates to the city’s airport - but no change in flight limits. The school district sues.
May – Gina Marie Lindsay is hired to replace Lydia Kennard as Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports.
June – LA/Palmdale airport reopens (again) with $4.6 million of mostly public subsidies to support air service.
July – Cost estimates for
August – FAA Administrator Marion Blakey says it is “imperative” that LAX move its north runway to reduce ground dangers.
September -
October - A Los Angeles World
Airports passenger survey
shows that
December – Air travel in the
A congressional report on runway incursions increases pressure on LAX to move the north runway. The incursion issue surfaces in several forms, including discussion of air traffic controller staffing.
Click
for last
year’s review and predictions for 2007. They
were pretty much on target. Happy
New Year.
Two airports heading in different directions - LA Times
While Santa Monica seeks to banish fast corporate jets from its much-contested airport, Hawthorne has rolled out a new asphalt carpet for them and other private planes.
Hawthorne Municipal Airport, a.k.a. Jack Northrop Field, has just completed a $5.5-million resurfacing of its runway, part of a $25-million renovation intended to entice new air traffic and add momentum to the revitalization of the east side of the 90,000-population municipality.
"The Hawthorne community is very supportive of the airport, and Santa Monica isn't. Hawthorne is encouraging new aviation, not trying to kick it out."
The Santa Monica and Hawthorne airports are among the six designated "reliever" airports that take the pressure of private air traffic off Los Angeles International. The others are L.A. County-owned Whiteman Airport in Pacoima and Brackett Field in El Monte, and municipal airports Torrance/Zamperini Field and Compton/Woodley Airport.
Website Editor: In Orange County, Newport Beach policy seeks to maintain the level of general aviation at John Wayne where it blocks expansion of commercial air traffic. Fullerton Airport has no growth plans.
California air-travel congestion will worsen - The Sacramento Bee
If you think commercial flying during this holiday season is a hassle, you haven't seen anything yet. As California's population and the demand for air travel continue to expand, the state's airports are feeling the pinch, but their expansion plans have run into increasingly stiff resistance.
Environmentalists, nearby residents, voters and risk-averse politicians have stymied plans to expand runways and terminals and/or build entirely new airports from San Diego to San Francisco.
Traffic through California's commercial airports reached a peak of nearly 179 million passengers in 2000, then dipped to 159 million in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Since then, however, traffic has rebounded to near-record levels of just under 178 million in 2005 and 2006.
One factor in the looming airport crisis, certainly, is that the airports are owned by local governments and managed, directly or indirectly, by elected officials who tend, like all politicians, to view issues on short-range bases.
At the very least, it would seem, the Legislature should hold some hearings to shine the light of publicity on what could become a real crisis in the decades ahead.
Changes for better on horizon for fliers in 2008 - USA Today
2008 promises improvements on several fronts for air travelers.
After more than a decade of expansive promises and hot sales, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner should actually fly. Airfield improvements at Chicago O'Hare should cut down the average time of delays. And better X-ray machines may help airport screeners move the lines a bit faster.
The USA TODAY travel staff looks ahead to innovations that road warriors will see in 2008.
Transportation grant - OC Register
A consultant for the city of Newport Beach is finalizing a grant proposal to acquire Orange County Transportation Authority funds for a study of transportation measures that could encourage local air travelers to use airports other than John Wayne Airport, where departing jets create noise that has long rankled city residents. The City Council will review the grant proposal next month.
Airport "regionalization" group drifts - El Toro Info Site report
In writing the review of 2007, I checked on how well the Southern California Regional Airport Authority is progressing. SCRAA was reactivated by LA Mayor Villaraigosa with the goal of regionalizing air traffic to more airports. See January entry above.
The organization has cancelled most of its scheduled meetings. At the September meeting – only the third and last one this year – the authority voted to spend up to $47,000 on a sole source contract with RRM Design, a consulting group, to "design and facilitate a workshop" in October and “recommend a Mission Statement, Purpose and Organization for the future of SCRAA.” The October meeting was not held and SCRAA is scheduled to try again to find its purpose in January.
O.C. Supervisor John Moorlach expressed his view - presumably the official Orange County position as well as that of residents near several other southland airports:
Unfortunately, it appears
that Mayor Villaraigosa’s office isn’t interested in relationships, so
to speak, and is only interested in moving flights out of LAX.
I’m happy to assist in his efforts, as long as we’re shifting the flights to Palmdale and Ontario.
I’m happy to assist in his efforts, as long as we’re shifting the flights to Palmdale and Ontario.
If this "not in my back yard" view prevails in the communities near most other southland airports and former military bases like El Toro - and we pick up news bits confirming that it does - there is little need for SCRAA in the regionalization process. Los Angeles owns LAX, Palmdale and Ontario and can do that type of regionalizing pretty much on its own.
Overseas travel returns to Lindbergh with Zoom Airlines' London flights - Signonsandiego.com
Four years after Lindbergh Field lost its only overseas service, no-frills flier Zoom Airlines announced yesterday that it will begin nonstop flights next summer from San Diego to London.
Airport officials wooed the Canadian-based economy-fare airline with a mix of financial incentives, beating out San Francisco and Seattle for the service.
Among other things, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority offered $200,000 in marketing incentives to promote the new overseas flights here and in London, and $100,000 in temporary landing fee and terminal space rent waivers.
Zoom, which already offers daily flights between New York and London, said it will launch its new twice-weekly San Diego-London route June 20.
Week of December 17, 2007 - December 23, 2007
The government and major airlines struck a deal Wednesday that will cap the number of peak-hour flights at two of New York City's busiest airports in a move aimed at reducing chronic air travel delays across the nation.
Record delays choked John F. Kennedy International and other New York City airports last summer, causing slowdowns to ripple throughout the aviation system. This year has been the worst ever for delays.
The caps begin March 15 at JFK and at nearby Newark Liberty International, which has more late flights than any other airport in the country.
Santa better book his flight early - LA Times
Despite higher fares and the hassles of flying at busy times, millions of travelers are expected to queue up in the region's airports over the Christmas holiday period.
"We're going to be busy," said Sharon Diggs-Jackson, a spokeswoman for Long Beach Airport. "We're making plans to have alternative parking options, so we don't run out of parking."
At Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, many of Southwest Airlines' Saturday departures, including seven out of nine flights to Phoenix and all 11 flights to Las Vegas, are sold out. The airline, the airport's largest, expects twice as many travelers that day as normal, prompting officials to advise passengers to plan ahead.
In Orange County, John Wayne Airport expects about the same numbers as last Christmas.
At LAX, 2 million passengers are expected from Friday through Jan. 2, up about 3% from a similar period last year. Unlike at many airports nationwide, airlines at LAX added flights this month, as the battle intensified for passengers on certain routes.
About 225,000 people are expected to use LA/Ontario International Airport this holiday season, up 5% over last year.
Some March neighbors hope air freight won’t fly – El Toro Info Site
We received this from Community Alliance for Riverside's Economy & Environment (CAREE) expressing hope that night flights by air freight carrier DHL might end at the former March Air Force Base:
December
6, 2007 analysis of air cargo carrier DHL's parent company Deutsche
Post by Bear Stearns suggests that the 2003 acquisition of Airborne
Express in financial terms “has been- and still is- a disaster.” Bear
Stearns analysts conclude that the most prudent strategy would be for
DHL to close all of its North American air and ground express freight
operations.
Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster said "DHL is a losing proposition for everyone. The JPC needs to look at a plan for the complete withdrawal of DHL from March Air Reserve Base and the JPC now needs to do what it failed to do in 2004 when it approved the DHL facility. We need to see what is realistic from an economical perspective and see what type of use will best fit with the surrounding community. This should be the end of non-military commercial night flights at March."
March, Ontario and San Bernardino airports all competed for the DHL business and March won – proof of the adage about being careful of what you wish for.
The CAREE spokesperson notes: If DHL does pack up and leave this could be our best holiday gift ever as peace and quiet are restored to our bedroom communities.
LAX controllers to seek city panel's help - LA Times
For years, LAX air traffic controllers and the federal agency that manages them have argued about how many controllers are necessary to safely choreograph the 2,000 flights that ply the world's fifth-busiest airfield each day.
The Los Angeles City Council's Trade, Commerce & Tourism Committee will enter the debate today, when controllers testify that they believe that a staffing shortage in the LAX tower has contributed to a record number of close calls between planes on the ground since 2001.
The council has no jurisdiction in the matter -- controllers are hired and regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
LAX scraps baggage-screening plans - Daily Breeze
Despite five years of study and $25 million in design costs, airport commissioners on Monday scrapped most of the plans for an LAX baggage-screening system in the face of soaring construction costs.
Commissioners said the system planned for five terminals had become too technologically complicated and was part of an overall project budget that mushroomed from $341 million four years ago to more than $900 million.
Instead, members of the airport commission decided to turn the project over to the airlines to pursue after construction bids came in higher than expected.
LAX Commission says safety can't wait - Daily Breeze
In the wake of a congressional report that blasted Los Angeles International Airport for its high rate of runway incursions, airport commissioners Monday called for immediate measures to heighten safety on the north airfield.
In the meantime, the commission signaled that it intends on Jan. 14 to ask for a speedy environmental study examining how LAX's parallel northern runways should be reconfigured.
The commission's call for a speedy runway review comes less than two weeks after the Government Accountability Office found a "high risk" of close calls between aircraft maneuvering on the ground at the nation's airports, including LAX.
The FAA has long warned LAX to reconfigure the northern runways, arguing that improving airfield geometry would heighten safety.
High costs squeezing travel - LA Times
The AAA estimates there will be only a slight rise in the number of people flying and driving this season.
The number of people who will fly or drive 50 or more miles from their homes will grow a modest 0.7% this year from 2006, compared with a 2.2% hike last year over 2005, the American Automobile Assn. said.
And they'll be paying 16% more for airfares and 30% more -- or 70 cents -- for a gallon of gasoline.
Nationwide, the AAA forecast is for air travel to slip by 0.3% and for car travel to go up 0.9% Dec. 20 to Jan. 2.
Southland airports expect a smooth holiday season with no drastic increases in passengers from last year. Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Los Angeles International and Ontario International airports, will release its estimates Wednesday.
What other major world airports are doing to meet air demand – El Toro Info Site report
The Associated Press reports Heathrow eager for a redo; London airport will open Terminal 5, start revamp in '08
Outdated and overcrowded, Heathrow Airport begins a long-awaited makeover next year that will radically transform the busy hub.
Serving many millions more passengers than it was designed to, often leads to long lines and other problems at London's Heathrow Airport. Airport executives are hoping to usher in a new era with the opening of Terminal 5 in March - the first plank in a proposed lengthy revamp. The government is also due to rule on controversial plans to build a third runway and a sixth terminal at the airport amid warnings from users and lawmakers alike that it is in danger of losing its premier European status.
Heathrow, designed to serve about 45 million passengers a year, now handles around 68 million.
Reuters reports Frankfurt airport aims for 60 pct more traffic
Passenger numbers at Frankfurt airport, Germany's main civil aviation hub, could increase 60 percent by 2020 thanks to a new runway, the chief executive of airport operator Fraport was quoted as saying.
"We expect that we will be able to raise the (annual) passenger count in Frankfurt to more than 88 million in 2020," CEO Wilhelm Bender said.
In January-November this year, Franfurt airport handled 50.2 million passengers.
Bender reiterated that Fraport expected approval from authorities for the new fourth runway, long in the planning, so that construction work could begin in spring 2009.
Fraport plans to invest more than $5.8 billion in expanding Frankfurt airport. In addition to the new runway, it will build a new terminal and other infrastructure.
Website Editor: Heathrow sits on 2,965 acres. Frankfurt has 4,942 acres. For comparison, Los Angeles International has 3,425 acres and will serve approximately 62 million passengers this year.
LAX runway review is urged - LA Times
A push to improve safety on the north side of the airport takes on greater urgency after a report on close calls.
Alarmed by a recent report about the high number of close calls between planes on the ground at LAX, some airport commissioners are urging officials to speed up a controversial review of how to make the facility's north runways safer.
Commissioners said the federal report provides the latest evidence that the runway safety issue must be addressed as soon as possible. They plan to bring up the matter at today's Board of Airport Commissioners meeting.
"Enough is enough," commission President Alan Rothenberg said in an interview late last week. "We're going to really push hard with staff and our lawyers to find some way to make things move faster."
Week of December 10, 2007 - December 16, 2007
Airport panel to OK deal with city - Daily Breeze
The city of Inglewood may soon get to see the fruits of a settlement reached with Los Angeles International Airport more than two years ago.
The Los Angeles airport commission is poised to approve on Monday the opening of a job recruitment center and a $12.25 million grant to soundproof 1,085 homes that lie beneath LAX's flight path.
The improvements are outlined in a settlement that the city of Los Angeles announced in December 2005, shortly after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa scrapped most of his predecessor's plans to modernize LAX.
The settlement called for capping the airport at 78.9 million passengers annually, seeking ways to regionalize air traffic and providing noise mitigation and job opportunities to those living in communities surrounding LAX.
Business `leaders' bar safe alternative to LAX - LA Daily News Opinion
Ruth Galanter, former member and president of the Los Angeles City Council, on which she served for 16 years, writes:
Is there anyone who truly likes flying in and out of Los Angeles International Airport? Recent growth at other local airports - Burbank and Long Beach in particular - certainly suggests that people would rather go elsewhere as long as flights are available.
Besides, is it safe to fly at LAX today?
Airlines expect 47M holiday passengers - Associated Press
U.S. airlines expect essentially flat passenger traffic during the holidays, a rather meek forecast for an industry nearing the end of a year marred by record delays and rising fuel costs.
Domestic airlines are expected to carry 47.2 million passengers globally during the three weeks that started Thursday and end Jan. 2, compared with 47 million last year and 46.8 million in 2005, according to the Air Transport Association of America.
Analysts said the flat forecast shows demand has eased a bit prompting airlines to cut the number of flights offered.
The Air Transport Association (ATA), in releasing the forecast, didn't echo that sentiment. "Despite signs of slowing in the economy and sky-high energy prices, we expect to see another strong season of holiday air travel," ATA President and Chief Executive James May said in a release.
LAX controllers expected to discuss on-the-job fatigue - Daily Breeze
At least two air traffic controllers working at Los Angeles International Airport will likely speak to a City Council committee about a series of safety concerns addressed in a scathing congressional report, officials said Thursday.
Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl asked his council colleagues earlier this week to invite air traffic controllers to discuss alleged understaffing and fatigued workers at the LAX air control tower
JWA shows
first sign of leveling off - El Toro Info Site report
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in November 2007 as compared to November 2006. In November 2007, the Airport served 782,059 passengers, a decrease of 1.8% when compared to the November 2006 passenger traffic count of 796,199.
Year-to-date, JWA
traffic still exceeds its 2006 rate by 5.0%. Our projections indicate
that the airport will complete its calendar year 2007 serving 10.1
million annual passengers (MAP) and its March 31, 2008 Access Control
"plan year" at 10.2 MAP. The passenger service limit for the plan year
was set in 2003 at 10.3 MAP by agreement between the county and Newport
Beach and it is strictly enforced.
The November
downturn, was observed over the
Thanksgiving holiday. As reported here previously, airport
management requested all air carriers to review and report on the
number of passengers they expect to serve during the remainder of
the plan year. Southwest Airlines, JWA's principal airline, was
notified that it may become necessary to withdraw part of its seat
allocation to remain under the MAP cap.
The airport
has yet to respond to our most recent California Public Records Act
request for documents relevant to a possible airport imposed cutback in
service.
Nine-Month 2007 System Traffic Up 3.6 Percent From 2006 - Bureau of Transportation Statistics
U.S. airlines carried 582.0 million scheduled domestic and international passengers on their systems during the first nine months of 2007, 3.6 percent or 20 million more passengers than they did during the same period in 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today in a release of preliminary data .
U.S. airlines carried 3.5 percent more domestic passengers and 4.4 percent more international passengers during the first nine months of 2007 than during the same period in 2006.
Among the nation's busiest airports, LAX droped to 5th place from 4th last year, behind Denver International Airport. BTS data includes only passengers on U.S. air carriers.
Website Editor: Data collected by this website for all air carriers shows the Southern California region up 2.5 percent for the 9 months ending September.
China eases travel to U.S. - Daily Breeze
Southern California is expected to reap a bulk of the economic benefits of an agreement reached Tuesday allowing Chinese tourists to visit the United States on leisure travel visas beginning next spring.
About 110,000 Chinese tourists traveled to Los Angeles last year, but that number could increase by 50 to 75 percent after the agreement goes into effect, according to the city's convention and visitor's bureau.
No U.S.-based carriers offer direct flights from LAX to China, but airport officials said they hope that will change under the terms of the new agreement. Federal officials rejected a plan earlier this year that would have allowed United Airlines to offer nonstop service between China and Los Angeles, according to airport officials.
Palmdale airport backers see the plane as half full - Daily Breeze
The 50-seat jets out of L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport have been only about one-third full since the service launched six months ago. In all, the airport has served about 10,000 passengers.
The slow start to the service highlights the continuing challenges for officials trying to regionalize air travel and ease a growing strain on LAX.
LAWA forecasts that Palmdale's passenger traffic will continue to climb and hopes to have 50 percent of the airline seats filled by June.
The goal then will be to have airline operations break even at the 18-month mark.
The service debuted June 7 with much fanfare and is supported by a $4.6 million incentive package put together by LAWA, the city of Palmdale and others, with about $2 million for underwriting losses incurred providing the service.
United's current traffic out of Palmdale is a mix of business and leisure travel, with about 40 percent making San Francisco their final destination and about 60 percent going on to other locations, LAWA spokesman Haney said.
Who gets the noise? - El Toro Info Site report
We have never seen a compilation of the noise impacts at Southern California's commercial airports so we decided to produce one.
In a single table, we provide a general picture of how many residences near each airport are subjected to 65 dB CNEL noise - the standard of eligibility for government funded sound proofing.
The data is not exactly comparable because each airport reported for a different year. Some stated the number of persons impacted and others gave the number of dwelling units. Still, one can draw a general picture.
We previously commented on the sometimes overlooked noise situation at LA/Ontario where large numbers of residents are subjected to the noise from an airport that Los Angeles owns and operates. Orange County residents' concerns about the attempt by Los Angeles officials to takeover El Toro and run it as LAX-South were for good reasons.
Rankings of Priciest Airports Show Wide Fare Differences; Weighing the Southwest Effect - Wall Street Journal
If you fly out of Pittsburgh, you pay 77% less on average for a domestic airline ticket for trips of the same distance than if you fly out of Cincinnati. Memphis is 38% more expensive than Nashville. And Newark, N.J., is 18% more expensive than New York's LaGuardia Airport.
What's the reason for such wide disparities? It has little to do with airline costs and everything to do with competition. The presence of discount airlines -- such as Southwest Airlines or AirTran Airways -- makes all the difference.
Click for the WSJ table comparing the 100 leading airports. See our report comparing Los Angeles area airports on one popular route.
Slogan, logo planned to sell O.C. to tourists - OC Register
Local business and tourism leaders are embarking on a major marketing effort to cash in on the pop-culture phenomenon that is Orange County, developing a slogan, a logo and even pondering a name change that would add “Orange County” to the name of John Wayne Airport.
Supervisor Chris Norby, who has been briefed on the branding effort along with his fellow supervisors, said a fusion of place and name is possible. San Jose’s airport, he noted, is known as the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Website Editor: Anyone who has logged on to an airline website to make a reservation or searched an airport status board knows that the Orange County airport is listed several ways.
Delta, Southwest and Continental Airlines reservation systems list it as "Orange County, CA(SNA)" but not as John Wayne or Santa Ana. American Airlines' website will recognize Santa Ana, Orange County or John Wayne lookups as "Santa Ana John Wayne Airport." United's website goes all the way and calls the airport "John Wayne Airport Orange County/Santa Ana."
The Santa Ana city designation is sorely out of date. JWA's postal address is in Costa Mesa, most air and vehicle approaches are through Irvine, and operations are restricted by Newport Beach. The airport is situated on unincorporated Orange County land.
Van Nuys Airport's Home Soundproofing Process Continues - LAWA media release
Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is currently installing residential soundproofing insulation as part of its ongoing commitment to mitigate the effects of airport-related noise in neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the airport.
Approximately 20 dwellings, the vast majority of which are condominiums, are slated for the insulation of windows, doors and fireplaces.
The VNY soundproofing program officially began in April 2000 and covers residential buildings in areas of the city with a recorded Noise Equivalent Level of 65 decibels and higher. Nearly 1,100 residences in Van Nuys are eligible for the improvements. To date, 750 homeowners have signed up for the improvements, out of which 600 have already undergone construction.
Saving golf holes sends a message - Daily Pilot Editorial
There are lots of thanks to spread around regarding the decision this past week by county officials to nix the idea of paving a small slice of paradise in Newport Beach to put in a parking lot . . . neighboring the edge of John Wayne Airport.
We don’t need to point out that golf is extremely popular in these parts, and finding places to play comes at a premium.
But the bigger issue here is stopping John Wayne Airport’s expansion and sending a message to the county that it is unacceptable to disrupt the quality of life for Newport-Mesa residents in order to make things easier for airport travelers.
If county officials are in need of more parking for the airport, then we have a suggestion maybe they need to make to admit that John Wayne is at its capacity. Maybe the airport is done expanding.
If that’s not a position they are ready to take, then here’s a warning of sorts. Any future forays into Newport-Mesa community will continue to be met by fierce opposition from this community, bar none.
SoCal airports post varying October results - El Toro Info Site report
October results are in from all of Southern California's airports. Here is how many passengers the six airports in the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region, and San Diego's Lindberg Field which is in its own metropolitan planning region, served for the 10 months ending October 31, 2007. Data is compared to the same period last year.
As reported previously, LAX served 1.91% more domestic and 0.57% more international travelers in the first ten months of this year compared to last year.
| Airport |
10
months 2007 |
10
months 2006 |
Percent
change |
| LAX |
51,928,341 |
51,142,430 |
+1.5 |
| Orange County |
8,463,106 |
8,008,887 |
+5.6 |
| Ontario |
6,027,737 |
5,884,082 |
+2.4 |
| Burbank |
4,958,910 |
4,748,418 |
+4.4 |
| Long Beach |
2,458,357 |
2,318,606 |
+6.0 |
| Palm Springs |
1,305,035 |
1,233,241 |
+5.8 |
| Total (SCAG
region) |
75,140,428 |
73,339,315 |
+2.5 |
| San Diego |
15,120,691 |
14,424,099 |
+4.8 |
Note: Palmdale served 8,475 passengers in 2007 and none in 2006.
United to end JWA-to-LAX flights Jan. 6 - OC Register
United Airlines will discontinue flights between John Wayne Airport and Los Angeles International Airport after Jan. 6, said United spokesman Jeff Kovick.
There are seven daily round trips between Orange County and LAX Monday through Friday, and some on the weekend.
United Airlines will continue to offer services from John Wayne Airport to Denver, San Francisco and Chicago.
LAX seeks NASA's study of runways - Daily Breeze
Expansion critics complain federal agencies back growth and ignore safety.
An environmental study examining how to improve safety along the northern runways at Los Angeles International Airport could take off as soon as next month, the airport's executive director said [last] week.
The airport commission is expected to order up the review, which would provide a series of detailed options on how LAX's parallel northern runways should be reconfigured, said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that oversees LAX.
However, a separate $2 million "independent review" by NASA Ames Research Center hasn't even gotten off the ground, according to Lindsey. The Board of Airport Commissioners requested the study in August, asking NASA to list the best options for the northern runway.
Week of December 3, 2007 - December 9, 2007
$2-billion face-lift for LAX set to begin - LA Times
The wait is over for some hard-fought improvements at aging Los Angeles International Airport, the facility's executive director said Thursday, adding that passengers should brace for additional construction almost immediately.
Work will begin early next year on up to $2 billion in projects that will provide a face-lift for outdated terminals at the 79-year-old facility. Run-down escalators will be replaced and bathrooms refurbished at Terminals 1, 3 and parts of 6. The airport hopes to finish a massive project to reconfigure its south runway complex next fall.
"There will be parts of your experience at LAX that you won't be totally happy with when we get into the height of the program," said Gina Marie Lindsey, who marked her six-month anniversary at L.A. World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX and three other airports. "But we will be doing it in as passenger-friendly a way as possible."
Addressing a Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum luncheon, Lindsey also said officials hoped to finally build a new terminal in the next decade.
City leaders have spent 20 years, four mayoral administrations and $150 million trying to come up with a politically palatable plan to modernize a facility whose 1960s-era airfield is ill-prepared to handle new planes and whose cramped terminals are often the butt of jokes. Other major construction projects are underway, the first since the upper-level roadway and the Tom Bradley International Terminal were completed just before the 1984 Olympics.
LAX contractor finds $17.2 million in add-ons to project - Daily Breeze
Airport commissioners agreed Monday to spend $17.2 million to clear up a series of "unforeseen" problems discovered by construction crews working on the modernization of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
The commission voted 4-1 to use the funds to fix 41 separate problems, including fuel-contaminated soil, old underground storm drains and faulty utility lines.
Palmdale airport service can't seem to get off the ground - LA Times
As the L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport today marks six months of resumed passenger service, officials are facing some sobering numbers: On average, only one of every three seats is occupied.
The so-far lackluster response to United's 50-seat-jet service at Palmdale underscores challenges to further regionalizing air service.
"Some of these politicians think with regionalization that all they have to do is pronounce the word and the airlines and passengers are going to switch airports," said Jack Keady, an aviation consultant based in Playa del Rey. "It's not that easy."
Earlier this month, Los Angeles officials celebrated the 10,000th passenger on United's Palmdale flights. But LAX serves this many people in about 90 minutes.
Passengers like JWA
A survey of passengers at JWA and a companion telephone survey of OC residents conducted in July gave the airport high grades. John Wayne Airport (JWA) has conducted passenger surveys in 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, and now 2007.
Passengers' reasons for choosing JWA or an alternate airport were very similar to those given in 2005. Eighty-one percent of intercept survey respondents said that convenient location was the top reason they choose to fly through JWA, seven percent said it is because JWA is less busy or intimidating than other Southern California airports, and five percent cited a better flight schedule at JWA.
In five of the six surveys, a majority of users come from outside of the county for business or pleasure. While the data is limited, most of the growth in passenger traffic at JWA since 2000 appears to result from an increase in the number of visitors.
The information in this relatively small survey is consistent with a much more extensive Los Angeles finding that there has been a shift of a few hundred thousand OC passengers from LAX to JWA each year since 9-11 and the raising of the JWA MAP cap in 2003 to accommodate them.
Orange County residents using JWA continued to be approximately 2/3 from residences in North Orange County and 1/3 from South County.
.
LAX among worst offenders in runway close calls - LA Times
The rate of close calls between aircraft on the ground approached record highs in recent years at Los Angeles International and airports around the nation, according to a government report released this week. LAX also recorded one of the largest total numbers of serious runway incursions.
LAX has been plagued by a series of close calls over the last 18 months, including one Aug. 16 in which two jets carrying 296 people came within 37 feet of each other. Among the nation's most crowded airports, LAX is unusual because its layout requires that aircraft cross four parallel active runways. The crossings occur about 900 times a day.
The Government Accountability Office report is expected to heighten the debate about whether the airport should move apart two parallel runways on its north side. The FAA has long said such a shift would be the most logical solution to crowded conditions that contribute to close calls -- but neighboring residents fear it would bring air traffic dangerously close to their homes.
Ontario air cargo center OK'd - Daily Breeze
A $125 million air cargo center will be built at LA/Ontario International Airport under terms of a 40-year lease approved Monday by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.
The 1-million-square-foot facility will be built in five phases over 13 years. Construction is set to begin by mid-2008 on 94 acres of land northwest of the passenger terminal at Ontario airport, Forrer said.
Nationally, Ontario airport was the 14th-busiest cargo handler, with nearly 494,000 tons of goods passing through last year, an 18 percent increase from 1997, according to airport cargo consultant Michael Webber.
Tough rules enforce the JWA MAP cap – El Toro Info Site report
John Wayne Airport operates within a MAP (million annual passengers) cap negotiated between the county and Newport Beach in 2003. The airport management parcels out this MAP cap amongst the airlines according to rules spelled out in the county’s JWA Commercial Airline Access Plan.
An airline may be penalized for going over its allocation, even when other airlines operate below their allocations thereby leaving room for more passengers to be served.
This was illustrated during the “plan year” that ended March 31, 2007. The airport’s MAP cap was 10,300,000 passengers. The airport served only 9,765,238 passengers, leaving 534,762 passengers of allowed capacity unused.
On March 7, 2007, just weeks before the end of the plan year, American Eagle Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, wrote to the airport manager that it expected to exceed its year’s allocation by 1,000 to 1,675 passengers and requested an additional allocation of 1,675 passengers.
The airport did not grant the additional allocation, even though it was operating a half-million passengers below the total MAP cap allowed for all airlines. Instead, a penalty of $20,000 - later reduced on appeal to $12,000 - was imposed.
The carrier, in pleading its case, wrote “that not only did American Eagle cancel flights to reduce our capacity . . . we declined to sell all available seats on our remaining operations . . . [our] selling just 37 seats on aircraft designed to carry 44 demonstrates how seriously we take compliance. American Eagle managed to reduce its overage to 406 passengers.
The airline attributed running over its allocation in the final days of the plan year to five days of “operational disruptions due to weather” and that “where it was possible for American to get its Orange County customers to their eventual destination through San Francisco or San Jose, American Eagle was able to provide an outlet with its regional jet service to both Northern California airports. The only other alternative would have likely been to strand these customers at John Wayne Airport until a seat on an American Airlines flight was available.”
It is important for the county to enforce operating rules so that the airport does not exceed the allowed MAP cap. However, the airport should be run to serve the maximum number of passengers allowed by the county’s agreement with Newport Beach. To unneccesarily withhold available capacity forces Orange County residents, businesses and visitors to use other airports.
“787 is Compatible with Today’s Airports” – Boeing
A recent brochure from Boeing says the 787 “Dreamliner” is compatible with today’s runways. The first data we have seen shows the 787-3 able to takeoff and land fully loaded on all commercial runways in the Southern California region, even the short 5,700 foot runway at John Wayne. See Boeing’s Airport Compatibility Brochure pages 16 and 17.
The 296 seat (two class) short-range 787-3 is targeted at high-density flights, with a transcontinental range of 2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles when fully loaded. It is designed to replace the Airbus A300, Boeing 757-300, Boeing 767-200 and 300. The 787-3's intended entry into service is 2010.
That is not to say that the plane will be welcomed by all airport operators or that it will meet other airport operational constrains.
Desert Expressway Closer To Becoming A Reality - KHTS Santa Clarita
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich has announced that the High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Authority has approved a formal request for proposals regarding the High Desert Corridor. The corridor will connect State Route 14 in Palmdale to Interstate 15 in Victorville to accommodate the explosive growth in international trade that is pouring thousands of trucks onto the region’s already congested thoroughfares. Southern California ports handle 40 percent of the international freight that enters the United States.
“The High Desert Corridor is a vital component in our regional transportation network,” said Antonovich. “In conjunction with the proposed inland port complex and LA/Palmdale Airport, this corridor improves mobility, air quality, traffic safety and brings manufacturing and industrial jobs to the High Desert."
Rosendahl Reiterates Slow Growth for District - Pacific Palisades Post
{LA Councilmman Bill] Rosendahl, who chairs the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, wants to limit growth at LAX. He said he is working to promote Ontario Airport as a substitute for Orange County and San Bernardino residents, noting that more evenly distributing traffic among the two airports would also reduce traffic congestion.
'Fourteen percent of our traffic at LAX comes from Orange County,' he said. '[But these travelers] don't want to be on the 405.'
Rosendahl said that an $800-million renovation of LAX will modernize the Bradley Terminal and help pay for a people-mover to transport commuters to the light-rail Green Line, which now stops a mile-and-a-half away from the airport. He said the cost of this modernization will be 'passed off to the airlines.'
Website Editor: Data from Los Angeles World Airports shows Orange County producing under 14 percent of the local traffic at LAX and when connecting and transiting passengers are added the number drops to 8.6% of fliers.
LAX customs upgrade proposed - Long Beach Press-Telegram
Poor lighting, bad plumbing and a general feeling of gloom often greet airline passengers at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection screening area at Los Angeles International Airport.
Ceiling lights are so dim that customs officers sometimes find it difficult to read documents as they process passengers at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Toilets frequently flood, meaning international passengers often must endure a long wait before they get a chance to find another restroom.
"It's such a depressing place to work, it's almost like a dungeon," said Cristina Gamez, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Los Angeles.
That may soon change under a $1.4million improvement project scheduled for consideration Monday by the Los Angeles airport commission.
AWG fortunes recede – El Toro Info Site
A letter to the OC Register last week from Airport Working Group director Donald Nyre of Newport Beach reminded us that the fiercely pro-El Toro and anti-JWA expansion group largely had slipped from public view.
Nyre wrote in opposition to a proposed bus line from the Metrolink station in Tustin to John Wayne airport, arguing that "Access to this airport should not be improved because it is under strict growth limits that cannot be exacerbated by better access."
This led us to check whether the organization’s latest financial report for 2006 had been made public as yet. The 2006 Form 990 is now posted along with prior year’s. Other than $2000 to Barbara Lichman’s law firm and administrative costs, there was little in the way of fundraising or expenditures.
Airport issues on all sides have largely moved out of the hands of grass roots groups and are being dealt with by government agencies – if at all.
Sac International Airport expansion project challenged by airlines - Sacramento Bee
Sacramento International Airport's biggest expansion in its history is months away from beginning, but some its biggest clients are questioning its size and cost.
"We have heartburn at trying to build a facility for $1.3 billion," said Gregory Gillis, an executive with Southwest Airlines. "That's a very high price tag."
American and Alaska airlines officials also expressed similar concerns.
But county airports director Hardy Acree says Sacramento's facility needs a major expansion to keep pace with Northern California growth and that airlines benefitting from the increased ridership must pay their fair share.
Week of November 26, 2007 - December 2, 2007
LAX and ONT traffic ahead of 2006
Ontario/LA airport saw 607,200 passengers in October and 6,027,737 for the ten month period. Year-to-date traffic was 2.4% ahead of 2006's.
LAX saw 4,977,902 passengers in the month and 51,928,341 for the ten months. That put the airport 1.54% ahead of last year at this time.
The Los Angeles airport served 1.91% more domestic and 0.57% more international travelers in the first ten months of this year compared to last year.
JWA holiday passengers fewer in numbers - Daily Pilot
John Wayne Airport transported fewer passengers before and after Thanksgiving this year than it did the year before, but a spokeswoman said the drop-off mattered little because the airport was going through its busiest time in history.
Between Nov. 18 and Nov. 26, a total of 235,541 passengers arrived or departed from John Wayne Airport, according to spokeswoman Jenny Wedge. She said the number fell short of last year’s total, when 248,908 people passed through the airport during their holiday travel.
Wedge added that the airport had seen a record number of passengers so far this year, Thanksgiving notwithstanding.
“Whether or not people chose different ways to travel or more people stayed home, it’s kind of hard to say,” she said.
Golf course - OC Register
An idea to pave the back nine of the Newport Beach Golf Course for use as a rental car parking lot is officially dead, officials said Thursday. John Wayne Airport officials broached the concept in April, causing uproar among golfers. On Thursday, airport officials said they planned to negotiate a long-term lease with the golf course. Officials are looking at other airport-area properties for a parking lot, Supervisor John Moorlach said.
Santa Monica plans to limit some jets - LA Times
Citing safety as its paramount concern, the Santa Monica City Council has defied federal aviation officials by voting to ban the fastest jets now using the city's airport, including the Gulfstream IV, Challenger and Citation X aircraft popular with business executives.
By a 7-0 vote Tuesday, the council approved an ordinance that a city staff report states would protect public safety, particularly that of residents living immediately next to the ends of the airport runway and individuals using and working at the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration vowed to challenge the ban, which is set for a second and final vote in January.
Spending balloons to enhance park - LA Times
Irvine plans to spend $14 million on amenities at the Great Park and still give free rides, despite some objections.
In another small step toward the construction of the Orange County Great Park, Irvine will spend $14 million during the next year and a half to spruce up the area around the tethered orange balloon ride that opened this summer by surrounding it with five acres of grass, shade trees, benches and tables, the Great Park board decided Thursday.
"This is intended to make the experience more park-like, giving people something to do other than just ride the balloon," said park spokeswoman Marsha Burgess.
Although completion of the 1,347-acre park is decades away, Ken Smith, the landscape architect designing it, said the open space around the balloon would give a preview of what is to come.
The expansion of the popular attraction is leading some officials to question the city's fiscal stewardship as it continues offering free rides, even as expenses grow substantially.
The $14 million would come from funds that were going to be used to demolish buildings and reshape land on the former base, work that would not have been started for at least a year.
Operating the balloon and the surrounding park would cost the city $4.2 million a year, an increase from the current $1.7 million, putting a greater strain on a project officials have pledged to fund without raising taxes.
Once the balloon site goes through its expansion, the city would have about $87 million left in its parks fund.
Officials grounded for ride in Airbus A380 at LAX - LA Times
Hand-picked business leaders, journalists and residents will be among those experiencing what it's like to ride on the world's largest passenger jet during a demonstration flight [Thursday] out of Los Angeles International Airport.
Airbus had hoped to include on the flight's manifest L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council and elected officials from airport neighbors El Segundo and Inglewood, as a run-up to the first A380 commercial flight at LAX next fall and to persuade influential travel agents the airport is ready to handle the behemoth.
But Villaraigosa and council members had to turn down what well could be this week's hottest ticket in town because of an obscure state law that bars public officials from accepting free transportation.
Airbus, Qantas and Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates LAX, plan to use the 90-minute demonstration flight to prove that the agency's efforts to prepare the aging facility for the massive jet are paying off.
Airport officials plan to spend $121 million on upgrades at LAX for the A380, including two parking spots at Tom Bradley International Terminal that have double-decked bridges designed to help efficiently load and unload the aircraft.
See more about the A380 flight experience.
Shuttle plan OK'd for airport area - OCRegister.com
The Irvine Business Complex shuttle plan, which was approved 3-2 Tuesday night by the Irvine City Council, is expected to begin operating in the spring.
The service is intended to work with Orange County Transportation Authority bus service and provide traffic relief during peak hours, as well as serve customers, employees and residents of the area near John Wayne Airport. Shuttle routes will link the airport with the Tustin Metrolink Station.
Prolific letter writer Donald Nyre of Newport Beach wrote, in a letter published in the Register, "Access to this airport should not be improved because it is under strict growth limits that cannot be exacerbated by better access."
Website Editor: With one-way fares of $0.50 to $1.00, the bus may cause some economy minded air travelers, with time to spare, to seek free parking along the route and take the bus to the airport. The cheapest parking at JWA is at the remote Main Street lot for $12 a day and requires a bus connection to the terminals.
LA/Palmdale Regional Airport Serves 10,000th Passenger - LAWA media release
LA/Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) officials today welcomed PMD's 10,000th passenger, Ann Cottrell of Quartz Hill, Calif., on United Airlines Flight 6456 departing to San Francisco.
"I am pleased LA/Palmdale has reached the 10,000-passenger milestone in the first six months of the new jet service," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "As more travelers find the advantages of flying to and from the Antelope Valley, LA/Palmdale will account for an ever-increasing share of Southern California's air service market. This is important as we move toward a truly regional solution to meeting demand for air travel in the 21st century."
Website Editor: It is difficult to share the excitement. The on again, off again air service from Palmdale exceeded 20,000 passengers per year in the period 1991-95 and then went downhill from there.
Airbus Super Jumbo A380 to Revisit Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007 - LAWA media release
The Airbus A380 -- the world's largest airliner -- is scheduled to revisit the U.S. West Coast when it lands at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 11:45 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007. The visit is being conducted by Airbus, Qantas Airways and Los Angeles World Airports to test airport function and compatibility in anticipation of Qantas' A380 passenger service at LAX, which is scheduled to begin Fall 2008.
Holiday travelers see few delays - Long Beach Press-Telegram
Police and airport operations officials said larger-than-usual numbers of people were getting off holiday flights at the major terminals across the Southland.
Officials at the Long Beach Airport said they have never recorded the volume of travelers over just the holiday weekend, but the monthly figures for this month are expected be higher than those of November 2006 because of ExpressJet, which is offering new flights at the airport, said airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson.
But even with the increase, the airport did not see any significant flight delays or any other problems, Diggs-Jackson said.
