Los Angeles Times

Bigger Role Urged for Palmdale Airport

Aviation: Mayor says more must be done to attract airlines and businesses. Master plan is being developed.

By PATRICK McGREEVY
TIMES STAFF WRITER

February 12 2002

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn called on the city Airport Commission on Monday to intensify efforts to develop Palmdale Airport into an important part of Southern California's air transportation system. Hahn delivered his message on the eve of a commission vote to seek competitive proposals from consultants to help develop a master plan to guide development of the Antelope Valley airport for the next 25 years.

The mayor supported the creation of a master plan to attract commercial aviation to the 17,000-acre Palmdale facility, where there is none now. He also called on the city airport department to market Palmdale to airlines. "It is clear we cannot wait for the airlines and the aviation industry to come to us," Hahn wrote in a letter to the commission. "We have to show them how they can profitably operate at [Palmdale] and we have to do everything possible to attract the necessary passenger and shipper traffic." The mayor also asked that any plan for Palmdale include commercial and industrial development around the airfield, which, he said, would "serve as a potent prerequisite for new and sustained commercial air service."

Hahn noted that it has been three decades since the city purchased the acreage in Palmdale, but the promise of it becoming a major airport has not materialized. There is one aviation tenant, SR Technics, which does airplane maintenance.

One commercial airline had shown interest in beginning service at Palmdale, but that proposal was tabled after national air traffic was reduced following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for the city airport department.

Development of air service at Palmdale is seen as a way to reduce the necessity for Los Angeles International Airport to expand beyond levels acceptable to neighbors.

Airport Panel Revisits Plans for Palmdale

Aviation: Interest in the shuttered High Desert airport has resurfaced, with commissioners voting to seek development proposals.

By RICHARD FAUSSET
TIMES STAFF WRITER

February 13 2002

Four years have passed since Palmdale Airport had a commercial flight. It now sits dormant alongside onion and pistachio farms, on land the city of Los Angeles bought in the 1960s, when there was talk of expanding the airport into a major hub. Such talk is in the air again.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to solicit proposals for a master plan to develop the airport, located within the boundaries of Air Force Plant 42 in north Los Angeles County's High Desert. The decision came at the urging of Mayor James K. Hahn, who wants the Palmdale facility to ease the passenger burden on Los Angeles International Airport. LAX and other Southern California airports face a projected 50% growth in annual passenger loads--from 102 million to 157 million--in the next two decades.

Hahn's office said the goal is to make Palmdale a "regional player" in air transportation, even though the airport never caught on with passengers. Los Angeles World Airports spokesman Paul Haney said a master plan will determine how much traffic a bigger Palmdale Airport could accommodate.

"Nobody in L.A. knows what the heck we've got up there," said Haney, whose agency oversees Palmdale Airport.

The 70-acre facility had the capacity to handle 300,000 passengers annually when flights there ended in 1998--the year United Express stopped its daily shuttles to LAX, saying it wasn't making money. Los Angeles World Airports officials and Antelope Valley boosters recently have tried to woo new carriers. They assembled an extensive marketing package that they were planning to pitch to five commuter airlines--on Sept. 11.

The promotional meetings were canceled, and the marketing plan remains on hold, said Jim Ritchie, Los Angeles World Airports deputy executive director for long-range planning. But Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said the master plan "will show the possibilities of [the airport] and the growth it can handle."

The plan will analyze the demand for passenger and cargo service, and examine what effect an expansion would have on the desert environment and freeway traffic. Ritchie said the plan should be completed within three years. Its cost has not been determined.

Hahn's office estimates that the airport could serve a market of 7 million in the next 20 years. Los Angeles World Airports estimates an annual passenger count of 1.5 million by then. Those numbers will be reevaluated for the master plan, Ritchie said.

LAX tallied 61 million passengers in 2001. Los Angeles World Airports' other full-service airport, Ontario International, serves 6.7 million passengers per year, but has the capacity to expand to 22 million, agency spokeswoman Maria Tesoro said.

The city owns more than 17,000 acres around the Palmdale site, plenty of room to build a major international airport, Haney said. But for now, Antelope Valley leaders say they would be content with a commuter airport that will meet local needs.

"There are very few places with 600,000 people not served by an airport," said David Myers, president of the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance. "Nobody is talking about turning Palmdale into LAX North right now."

A 2001 marketing study, Myers noted, found that 26 regional businesses generated 125,000 air passengers per year. Most of the businesses surveyed said they would trade low air fares at distant airports for the convenience of Palmdale flights. Myers said some commuter airlines still want to talk about reestablishing service.

But United Airlines spokesman Alan B. Wayne said there is not enough demand for the carrier to take another risk on Palmdale.