Politics keep Palmdale airport closed

When the Los Angeles Department of Airports, now Los Angeles World Airports, began buying more than 17,000 acres in the desert east of Palmdale in 1968, it was with a sense of urgency.

Now, decades later, the department still has the land and may at last be on the brink of development.

Palmdale Airport

Meanwhile, Los Angeles World Airports does have an operating presence in Palmdale under a joint-use agreement with the Air Force for Air Force Plant 42, directly west of the undeveloped property.

While historic low demand for passenger service from Palmdale has made catching a flight at Palmdale Regional an on-again, off-again proposition, most of the flights to date have offered only one destination - Los Angeles International - with relatively high-priced tickets and infrequent departures.

The latest airline to abandon the airfield was United Express, which left in April 1998. It offered four daily flights to Los Angeles International, but could not make a profit because its planes were often only half full. Since local governments had no interest in subsidizing the operation, service was canceled.

During meetings in the summer of 1998, airline industry representatives said large-scale passenger service with full-size jets isn't in the immediate future for Palmdale because travelers drive to Burbank or LAX, where their options are many.

LAX overcrowded

However, already crowded LAX is running into opposition to expansion plans, and Palmdale's commercial aviation future could arrive rapidly as a reliever alternative to LAX.

While Los Angeles World Airports waits for the future of Palmdale Intercontinental to arrive, it is leasing some of its Palmdale acreage to farmers. It also owns a 9-hole golf course on future airport land.

Roughly 2,000 acres of the desert has been tilled and irrigation wells drilled so farmers can grow carrots, Christmas trees, sod and other crops.

For the golfers

Golfers are able to tread the airport-owned links at Desert Aire Golf Course on Avenue P at 40th Street East. Los Angeles World Airports has leased operation of the course to private contractors in the past. It is currently run by Lynn Shackelford of Simi Valley, the former UCLA and professional basketball star, under a two-year lease awarded in August 1998. A long-term contract of 10 to 15 years is expected to be awarded in 2000, airport officials have said.