Caps represent best possible deal

Though support for the latest version of the John Wayne Settlement

Agreement is far from unanimous, there should be no disagreement that

the intentions of leaders in Newport Beach’s City Hall are to aid

this community as best they can.

The disagreement appears to be about how those living under the

flight path of John Wayne Airport can be served best. Newport Beach

leaders, who see that a hoped-for airport at El Toro is not the route

to pursue, have rightly decided that the surest way to serve their

constituents is to do whatever it takes to keep John Wayne from

expanding unreasonably. And that means agreeing to raise the annual

passenger allowance from 9.8 million to 10.8 million and the number

of gates from 18 to 20.

Those numbers are striking fear into some, but make no mistake:

Without a settlement agreement palatable to the Federal Aviation

Administration and the airlines, flights will multiply over Newport

Beach and Santa Ana Heights. By giving what amounts to not too much,

Newport Beach has gotten a lot.

How can 1 million passengers be “not too much?” The simplest

answer is that officials hope and expect that a great part of those

additional passengers will sit in now-empty seats. Fuller planes

equal more passengers without more takeoffs.

Quieter planes also should reduce the pain of living near the

airport. It is pain that, surely, is not going to disappear

altogether. But, under this latest agreement -- which the airlines

have signed off on and the Federal Aviation Administration is

expected to OK by the end of the year -- that pain will not become

intolerable.

Could a different alternative have lessened the pain more?

Probably. But given the end of El Toro as an alternative and the lack

of another option, this deal appears to be the best possible.

Newport Beach leaders deserve thanks for working diligently to get

the caps in place. They will deserve a loud round of applause when

those restrictions are set in stone.