L.A. chamber to visit Palmdale Airport

Myers, who sits on the North County Transportation Coalition, said L.A.'s chamber members plan to tour "what they refer to as Palmdale International Airport at the end of April, early May."

L.A.'s chamber is a major proponent of the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport near Santa Monica and opposes apportioning LAX's services to outlying airports such as Palmdale's, Myers said.

If the tour is taken, the city's goal should be to reduce the animosity between the proponents of LAX's expansion and the proponents of the expansion of outlying airports, Myers said.

This could help Palmdale in its bid to attract a high-speed rail route through the city, he said. That route, connecting Los Angeles with San Francisco, would carry passengers right by Palmdale's regional airport.

"It would be nice if we could get them to - whatever position they take - to say nice things about us," Myers said. "My experience has been that one of the early strategies toward dampening enthusiasm for Palmdale airport has been to say nasty things."

To attract the high-speed rail route, city officials are trying to fight the perception that Palmdale is working to replace LAX as Southern California's international hub, Mayor Jim Ledford said.

Speaking recently to the LAX Expansion Task Force, a committee established by 5th District county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, "We were able to convince them that we are not moving toward an international airport," Ledford said.

Instead, Palmdale officials promoted the need for retaining the existing joint-use agreement with L.A.'s municipal department of airports "that keeps the contractors (at Plant 42), keeps the Air Force there, and allows up to 400 flights a day - the same level of activity that's occurring at Ontario Airport," the mayor said.

Palmdale is attempting "to clarify our position, which does play into the regional airport issue and doesn't challenge the city of Los Angeles in taking away their international airport and moving it to Palmdale, which I don't believe is a realistic expectation," Ledford said.

High-speed rail support

The city needs to rally support for its airport without instilling fears that doing so will hurt LAX, Myers said. That support should help Palmdale in its bid for the high-speed train.

Myers said he will discuss the benefits of running the train through Palmdale to the California High Speed Rail Authority in April. A final decision on the routing of the train line will be made in June at a meeting in Los Angeles.

For that decision to favor Palmdale, "We need everybody on line," Ledford said, including those who may view the city's airport as competition.

"I think our position right now puts us right where we need to be, where the opponents of international expansion can support us and the supporters of regional expansion can support us," he said.

Construction of the $23 billion bullet-train system would reduce the daily travel time for Antelope Valley commuters as well put Palmdale's airport within the reach of Los Angeles residents, Ledford said.

"If we could bring people up here from Los Angeles in 30 to 45 minutes, I think we would have a viable location for an airport to grow," he said. "We need to market that point to the city and county of L.A. instead of vying on the international level, which is not only unrealistic, but flies in the face of the LAX master plan.

"They may not mind sharing a viable regional market but I think they would fight you tooth and nail for the international market," Ledford said.

Besides, Ledford said, establishing international commercial operations in Palmdale could terminate decades of military operations at Plant 42. Instead, Palmdale should concentrate on reaching the same level of activity as that of Ontario, which is allowed under the existing joint-use agreement with the Air Force.

"I want to eliminate the mixed message I think we have been giving" when pressing Los Angeles to expand operations at Palmdale regional, the mayor said. "We should prove to the city of L.A. that working with Palmdale would actually accelerate the economic development of its property" near Plant 42.

Annexation

Toward that end, Palmdale will propose the annexation of a triangle of L.A. city-owned land south and east of Plant 42, north of Avenue P-8 and west of 50th Street East, Ledford said. The annexation would make companies relocating to that land eligible for municipal redevelopment and economic-development financial assistance.

The land is part of the 17,470 acres purchased since 1966 by the Department of World Airports for construction of an international airport.

Old plans for that international facility contradict new ones being laid at L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan's behest for construction of a new 6-million-square-foot passenger terminal at LAX. That terminal would more than double the airport's current number of 2,100 flights a day.

The new terminal, to be served by new runways and an expressway leading to and from the San Diego Freeway, would bring the city between $50 million and $80 million in new revenues a year at a cost of about $10 billion.

It also would increase air and land traffic congestion as well as air and noise pollution for Los Angeles and cities adjacent to and under the flight paths of LAX aircraft.

The spectres of additional congestion and pollution have drawn opposition to LAX's expansion plans.

The expansion also would mean a continuation, and possibly the amplification, of inconveniences for Southern Californians forced to drive for hours to access domestic and international flights concentrated at LAX.