Airport tour showcases benefits

That expansion is intended to handle an expected increase from 60 million to 98 million air passengers at LAX by 2015.

Judging by the reaction of two members of the chamber delegation who arrived via Metrolink train, the effort may have been successful.

"That was the No. 1 message that came out, that LAX is not in competition with Palmdale," chamber legislative manager Jerry Jeffe said late Friday.

"I've been to Palmdale before, but not to the airport," Jeffe said. By visiting in person, "You really get a good idea of what it means: The acreage, what it's like, what the noise would be and the mitigation, how large the area is and since a terminal is already there - we checked it out - you could do something there today."

Lisa Fitch, the media relations manager for the chamber, called the visit "very educational."

"The fact that you could deliver passengers and cargo today, that there was an existing facility, I would never have known," Fitch said.

In her opinion, LAX and Palmdale Regional "could work together to solve what is going to be an immense number of people" traveling to and from Southern California, she said.

"It wasn't like Palmdale was an alternative to LAX; the two complement each other," Fitch said.

Judging by the comments she heard on the way back to Los Angeles from Palmdale, those who took the trip seemed willing to "take into consideration that, when looking at the whole LAX expansion, there are alternatives" for L.A. airport officials to consider, she said.

Critics of a plan to expand LAX have insisted an international facility be built in Palmdale to handle the expected increase in passengers. Those comments have left Palmdale inadvertently at odds with both the L.A. Chamber and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA).

LAWA is the Los Angeles municipal department that oversees LAX, Ontario International, Van Nuys and Palmdale Regional airports.

Reducing that conflict and convincing L.A. officials Palmdale would be a friend and not a foe was the purpose of Friday's visit, arranged by Palmdale City Councilman David Myers.

After the tour, members of the delegation seemed convinced such an arrangement was workable, Myers said.

"I got a lot of positive feedback. Hopefully, the chamber will take a positive position toward Palmdale irrespective of the expansion of LAX, that developing Palmdale Regional would be beneficial for the entire region," he said.

Besides members of the L.A. chamber, others making the trip via Metrolink train from downtown L.A. represented the Burbank Airport Authority, the San Fernando Valley Industry and Commerce Association, and the downtown L.A. Central Cities Association.

Myers stressed that Metrolink shows how much the Valley needs high speed rail.

Those addressing the visitors included Palmdale transportation coordinator Randy Floyd, Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance executive director Larry Grooms, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce chairman-elect Norm Hickling, and Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Catlin, as well as representatives of Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, Assemblyman George Runner and county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

"Their message was: `You don't have to be anti-LAX to be proPalmdale,' " Myers said. "We tried to show them there is plenty of room in between."