Valley short-changed in airport plan

Editorial Focus: While Los Angeles city officials are busy planning to spend $12 billion on LAX expansion, they are still talking about tossing a mere $1 million to Palmdale to improve long-awaited cargo ramps.

The reinforcement of the taxiway and ramps at the Palmdale Regional Airport has been planned for a decade.

In December, 1995, we carried a story that said:

More than $12 million in improvements planned for Air Force Plant 42 could help companies wanting to make commercial cargo flights to and from Palmdale Regional Airport.

Plans are under way next year to add lights, resurface runways, and buy and install the latest in firefighting training equipment, said Lt. Col. Peter Drinkwater, the installation's commander.

In addition to those plans, a separate multimillion project to improve the taxiways from Palmdale Regional Airport to Runway 22 in 1997-98 would make it possible for bigger commercial aircraft to fly here, Drinkwater said.

The taxiway improvements would allow 737s and similar-sized aircraft to fly out of Palmdale Regional Airport, the lieutenant colonel said.

Changes to a joint-use agreement between the Air Force and the Los Angeles Department of Airports to allow cargo to be hauled to and from the Palmdale terminal could have a quick impact, he said.

Then, on June 14 of this year we ran this story:

Construction is expected to start in about six months on a five- to 10-acre reinforced concrete ramp to accommodate larger jet air-freighters at Palmdale Regional Airport, it was learned Friday.

Michael DiGirolamo, director of airports operations for the Los Angeles City Department of Airports, said the work to accommodate air freight carriers is expected to cost $1.5 million - an amount equal to the department's annual operating budget for Palmdale Regional Airport.

Although no air freight companies presently operate out of Palmdale, DiGirolamo said the additional hard stand and related taxiway improvements will allow a growing need to be met. He said the department wants "a facility available as we are out marketing" to air cargo companies.

He said the project is now in the design phase, with groundbreaking expected in about six months. Under that schedule, the airport would be ready for heavier capacity jet air-freighters about this time next year. Currently, the ramps and taxiways at the Palmdale civilian terminal can handle stretched DC-8-73s and tri-jet Boeing 727s.

In the nearer future, some air cargo flights could begin flying in and out of Palmdale as early as this Christmas season, DiGirolamo said. He said the existing ramp at the Palmdale terminal could handle U.S. Mail air contractors.

Earlier this month, the amount to be spent at Palmdale was pegged at $1 million.

After waiting more than 30 years for some major development at Palmdale Airport, the longpromised project has been downgraded to the point that the ramp will accommodate up to two midweight aircraft such as a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 or a Boeing 727. The irony is that the main runway at Air Force Plant 42, where the regional airport is currently based, is the strongest in the world.

The nation's pressing need for additional - and less congested - airports was underscored this week in a USA Today editorial which pointed out that at 10 large cities, upstart airlines are unable to gain a foothold because of federal rules and airport practices that give exclusivity to existing major airlines.

Congress deregulated airline service some 20 years ago and the waves of competition - mainly from upstart, low-cost airlines - cut air fares 22% and saved travelers billions of dollars a year.

But in order for new airlines to use major city airports they must be granted a "slot." Most of the slots were given away to major airlines decades ago.

That's just another reason why Palmdale Regional Airport should be activated, so that new airlines can obtain slots to serve Southern Californians.

Part of the budgeted $12 billion for the hotly debated expansion of LAX could be better spent in improving ground access to Palmdale from the teeming L.A. basin. We already have a viable Metrolink rail service and high-speed trains could be far less costly than the LAX Master Plan, which is so ridiculous it proposes underground waiting rooms beneath the Bradley Terminal.

We certainly will welcome any improvements at Palmdale, but the "give the poor dog a bone" attitude by Los Angeles city officials is insulting to the 400,000 residents who live in here in Aerospace Valley.