A CLOSER LOOK -- A potentially crowded airport debate awaits

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- As far as the airport’s settlement extension is

concerned, it may take more than two to tango.

As Orange County and Newport Beach hash out the final deal to extend

John Wayne’s flight restrictions, other affected groups will need to be

brought to the dance, officials say.

One of those groups, the 11 commercial airlines that use the airport,

have not tipped their hands in revealing their opinion on the issue,

leaving Newport Beach officials to worry that they could scuttle a

workable compromise.

The airlines, which have operated at John Wayne since 1985 with a

laundry list of restrictions that includes a mandatory curfew, could sue

or lobby federal aviation regulators to lift the limits on daily

departures and the cap of 8.4 million annual passengers.

The Federal Aviation Administration, pushing for more runways across

the nation to relieve an increasingly cluttered air transportation

system, may also weigh in on the deal.

In a Memorandum of Understanding approved May 22 by both parties,

Newport Beach and Orange County agreed to study three alternatives to the

current setup.

Under the city’s proposal, the passenger cap would jump from 8.4

million to 9.8 million, another 12 daily departures would be added and

the airport would convert four general aviation flight gates for

commercial use.

In exchange, the nighttime curfew would be extended until Jan. 1,

2026.

Two other alternatives offer greater expansion of the terminal. One

caps passengers at 10.8 million. The other removes the passenger cap

altogether and would allow four more gates immediately and another six in

2006.

Instead of taking Newport Beach’s proposed deal to the airlines, the

county should offer the industry a fistful of options, Airport

Commissioner David Markley said.

“Going to the airlines unilaterally seems dangerous,” said Markley, an

appointee of Supervisor Tom Wilson. “They could ask for more than

[Newport Beach has offered].”

Waiting for a response

John Wayne Director Alan Murphy has forwarded the proposals to each of

the airlines, as well as the Air Transport Assn., the industry’s trade

group.

In the next few months, Murphy said he will begin face-to-face

meetings with the airlines to hear their responses to the various

proposals. But that hasn’t happened yet.

“We’re not going to have much reaction to it,” said Roger Cohen, a

spokesman for the association. “We have not had a chance to review it.”

“The question hasn’t been asked and they certainly haven’t given us

their opinion either way,” Murphy said. “We need to make sure we bring

them into the loop.”

Several individual airlines were also not quick to offer reaction. The

airlines that use the airport include Alaska, Aloha, America West,

American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, TransWorld, United

and US Airways.

Alaska spokesman Jack Walsh summed up the airline’s seemingly lack of

a stance one way or another.

“We really aren’t in a position to say [what the airline’s position

is],” Walsh said. “We plan to review it.”

Lost in modernization

Another major player in any airport debate is the FAA, which regulates

the National Airspace System.

On Tuesday, the agency released its 10-year plan to address the

“growing gap between demand for air transportation and capacity to meet

that demand,” Administrator Jane Garvey said in a statement.

At the present time, 1.9 million passengers, 40,000 tons of cargo and

60,000 general aviation flights move through the nation’s airports each

day, according to FAA figures.

Congested airspace and complex scheduling has begun to cause increased

delays and cancellations for travelers, according to the plan.

To relieve the pressure, the report calls for new runways and

modernization of the FAA’s communication and navigation systems.

Given all that, the agency could be reluctant to bless an extension of

restrictions it didn’t grant, Markley said. Since the passage of the

Airport Noise and Capacity Act in 1990, only the FAA can grant a curfew

or passenger cap. To secure the restrictions, airports must apply to the

agency via an elaborate noise study supporting the request.

Such a study could be required at John Wayne, Markley said, although

the airport has enjoyed special status since the restrictions were in

place before the change in federal law.

It’s still an open question about what role the FAA will play, Murphy

said.

“It’s difficult for the FAA to look at the issue until we get a little

further along,” Murphy said. “We recognize they will [become involved].”

The agency was not a party to the settlement agreement in 1985. The

county, Newport Beach, the Airport Working Group and Stop Polluting Our

Newport all co-signed the deal. Any extension would require the approval

of those four groups.

At this point, Newport Beach officials aren’t clamoring to set up

meetings with the FAA.

“We don’t want to go to them and ask their opinion,” said Newport

Beach City Councilwoman Norma Glover. “We don’t really want to wake a

sleeping giant.”

QUESTION

TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY?

What do you think of the chances John Wayne Airport will have in

gaining a restriction extension?

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