Van Nuys Airport Adds $ 1 Billion a Year to Economy

Just in time to counter a recent barrage of complaints about aircraft noise, a study released Friday by the Los Angeles Department of Airports said Van Nuys Airport contributes nearly $1 billion annually to the Southern California economy and generates more than 8,700 jobs.

The estimated 8,751 jobs are in both aviation and non-aviation industries, on and around the 725-acre facility, according to the study by Wilbur Smith Associates of Columbia, S.C. A similar economic study in 1986 estimated that the airport then generated 8,456 jobs.

The value of goods and services generated by businesses dependent on the airport is $940.5 million, according to the study based on 1991 statistics.

That amounts to a 20% increase over the $782 million the airport generated in 1986, it said, but when adjusted for inflation, the economic impact has actually decreased 3.3% since 1986.

Nonetheless, said airport officials and a representative of Wilbur Smith Associates, the study provides solid new evidence that the airport is a vital economic center for the San Fernando Valley and Southern California.

Robert J. Zuelsdorf, a senior vice president of Wilbur Smith Associates, told the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners on Friday that Van Nuys Airport is “perhaps the most valuable general aviation airport in the country.”

Airport Commissioner Johnnie L. Cochran suggested that Van Nuys Airport officials distribute the study to Valley homeowner groups and City Council members who have been critical of airport noise. “This is the other side of the argument,” he said.

The airport has come under intense criticism from its neighbors in the past few months, particularly during a recent series of meeting in which a citizens airport advisory panel endorsed two noise-control measures. Many also complained about nighttime helicopter flights for tourists.

Although airport officials say the release of the report was not timed to counter those complaints, spokeswoman Stacy Geere said airport officials have already planned to send out 40 to 50 brochures outlining the study to community leaders and valley-based City Council members.

Zuelsdorf said the study, which cost the Department of Airports about $42,000, was actually submitted in August but was not released until now because he was on vacation and could not present it in person.

“Sure, there is good and bad about everything,” Van Nuys Airport Manager Ron J. Kochevar said. “Today, we want to emphasize the good side of the airport.”

But airport critics called the study an attempt to obfuscate complaints about airport noise.

“This is a last-ditch attempt to use economic arguments to try to kill the noise problem,” said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino and longtime critic of the airport. He also questioned the validity of the study because it fails to consider the effect of airport noise on property values around the airport.

“The public has to factor in the noise impact on the surrounding area,” he said.

Don Schultz, president of Ban Airport Noise, a valleywide organization dedicated to reducing airport noise, acknowledges that the airport helps create jobs and commerce but said the problem of airport noise should not be overlooked.

“No one is questioning that it is a boon to the economy, but they have to continue to work to be a good neighbor,” he said.

According to the study, aviation-related business on or around the airport generates $134.8 million in business annually, and another $136.6 million is generated by non-aviation businesses, such as restaurants and taxi service, at the airport.

An additional $58.9 million is generated outside of the airport by sales and purchases related to the use of the airport. This would include, for example, the business activity done by a corporate executive who uses Van Nuys Airport to fly into Los Angeles.

Finally, $610.2 million is generated through the “multiplier effect” as money generated by the airport filters through the local economy, according to the study.

Of the estimated 8,751 jobs created by the airport, 1,249 are directly attributable to aviation-related businesses on or near the airport, the study said.

About 60% of the jobs are created within the San Fernando Valley, the report said.

The study was based on criteria devised by the Federal Aviation Administration to determine the economic value of an airport.

Van Nuys Airport Jobs Van Nuys Airport contributes $940.5 million annually to the local economy and creates 8,751 jobs on or around the 725-acre facility, according to an economic study released Friday by the Los Angeles Department of Airports. The study said the jobs are located throughout Southern California, but over half the economic effect is felt in the San Fernando Valley, distributed as follows:

COMMUNITY JOBS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Burbank 162 $15,500 Canoga Park 497 $47,900 Chatsworth 187 $18,300 Encino 65 $9,000 North Hollywood 450 $54,800 Northridge 510 $51,200 Pacoima 120 $12,900 Reseda 575 $58,800 San Fernando 455 $53,400 Sunland 46 $4,800 Sun Valley 118 $18,600 Tarzana 56 $8,100 Tujunga 98 $10,000 Van Nuys 1,604 $144,300 Woodland Hills 254 $22,300 Total Valley 5,197 $529,000 Elsewhere in region 3,554 $410,600 Total regional impact 8,751 $940,500