Van Nuys Airport Emerging as Jet Center

When Matt Jackson launched his aircraft maintenance and restoration business at Van Nuys Airport 21 years ago, he was carrying on a family tradition, setting down roots at “the little country airport” where he had hung out at his father’s business since 1965.

But Jackson is getting ready to take off. For good.

The 41-year-old Calabasas resident is moving his Airworks company to California City Municipal Airport in the Mojave Desert. He blames his decision on the emerging transformation of Van Nuys Airport from a recreational fliers’ paradise into a corporate and charter jet center.

“I’ve had it,” Jackson said from his Van Nuys hangar. “I should have pulled out of here two years ago. This airport is turning into nothing but a jet zone.”

Jackson’s move is the latest in the exodus of piston-driven aircraft from Van Nuys that are steadily being replaced by private jets.

The number of propeller planes based at Van Nuys has declined from 836 in 1986 to 538 in 1998, according to the most recent economic study at the airport. At the same time, jet aircraft, typically used by corporations and charter companies, have grown from 61 to 122 as of last month, according to the National Business Aviation Assn.

Because jet aircraft are extremely expensive--about $30 million for a new Gulfstream G-IV, for example--they bring in higher rents, greater tax revenue and more jobs at higher salaries.

All that adds up to an economic boom at Van Nuys Airport that is forcing out recreational fliers, small businesses and student pilots, Jackson and other veterans say.

It is a boom that contributes $1.2 billion a year and more than 10,000 jobs to the economic well-being of the San Fernando Valley, according to the most recent economic impact study released in September.

The latest figures, commissioned by Los Angeles World Airports, show nearly a 15% increase in employment and more than a 30% jump in economic activity at Van Nuys in just six years. Private air charter and corporate operations alone have increased 50% since 1992, mirroring the phenomenal growth in business aviation across the nation.

With an average of 1,500 landings and takeoffs every day, the airport last year brought in 312,700 visitors who spent $96 million, according to the study by airport economic specialists Wilbur Smith Associates of South Carolina.

From the numbers emerges a new picture of the airport that goes beyond its long-held title as the world’s busiest general aviation airport--that is, exclusive of scheduled airlines and military traffic. It also is now home to the largest corporate jet fleet at a general aviation airport in the nation, said Daniel W. Burkhart, National Business Aviation Assn. regional representative.

The effect of all those jets includes not only a windfall for the city, but a rising tide of complaints from San Fernando Valley residents about noise, pollution and a deterioration in the quality of life.

“The planes used to be little puddle jumpers,” said Gerald Silver of Encino, president of Homeowners of Encino and head of Stop the Noise, a coalition of 28 homeowner associations. “Now we have noisy jets screaming out of the airport. It has changed over the years until we now have an airport in our midst that is totally different.”

Cathy Harder of Encino says she has to wipe jet fuel soot off oranges growing in her backyard. Her husband, Paul, misses outdoor dining without constant interruptions from the roar of turbine engines.

Anne Carver remembers Sherman Oaks as “a fairly quiet area.”

All three are veteran Valley dwellers. And all three are entrenched opponents of noise generated at the airport.

On the opposite side of the fence are entrenched airport supporters-- business leaders, jet aircraft mechanics and outfitters and corporate executives--who cringe at the thought of anything slowing the economic momentum of business aviation.

With millions of dollars at stake, all sides are growing increasingly vociferous over proposals to find solutions.

“Obviously, many people are affected and we have to find some medium ground,” said Jens Rivera, who took over management of the Los Angeles city-owned airport last spring. “It is a very difficult and contentious issue.”

Because the popularity of business aviation is soaring nationwide, the problems at Van Nuys are not unique. More than 655 airports across the United States are under threat of closure or severe curtailment because of opposition from community forces, according to the National Air Transportation Assn., a public policy group based in Alexandria, Va.

The association, which represents aviation businesses before Congress and federal agencies, last month commissioned a study, expected to be completed in February, to develop a “tool kit” of ideas to help aviation interests arm themselves for battle.

“Airport closings are a serious problem facing all of general aviation, and the situation seems to be getting worse,” said Jim Coyne, association president. “By conducting substantive research on the issue, we can address the problem head on.”

Silver and others contend that they are not trying to shut down Van Nuys Airport. In fact, no one can, because the transfer of title from private to public ownership restricts use of most of the 730-acre airfield for aviation purposes. Instead, opponents are urging the city to phase out older, noisier jets and to put a curfew on helicopters. Those issues have been discussed for years with no resolution.

Just how did Van Nuys emerge as a jet center? The answer is not on the books, because the 71-year-old airport has never had a master plan. Rather, its new profile has emerged mostly as a result of the economy, as well as protective guidelines enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Van Nuys is designated as a “reliever airport” to Los Angeles International, allowing federal funds to be spent on improvements so that more noncommercial air traffic can be diverted to the Valley.

The influx of more expensive aircraft into Van Nuys has triggered higher rents, higher insurance premiums and other costs for owners of small, piston-driven aircraft and maintenance businesses, such as Jackson’s. Monthly tie-down fees at Van Nuys for a small airplane run about $100 to $125, compared with less than $80 at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima or under $60 at the Camarillo and Santa Paula airports, sources said.

“The only people who have the money to stay here are the big corporations,” said Jackson, whose monthly expenses will drop from $8,000 for his leased facility at Van Nuys to less than $3,000 for his newly purchased five-acre site in the desert with a 12,000-square-foot hangar that he now owns. Jackson said he will phase out his Van Nuys operation within six months and commute daily by air to his new facility--61 nautical miles and 23 minutes from Van Nuys.

“Paramount, Disney, Sony, the Air Group, General Electric, Fox Network. You name it, all the big guns are here,” Jackson said. “General aviation is just slowly being pushed out.”