Fuel tax savings will aid airport effort

Editorial Focus: Assemblyman Runner's bill to save 2 cents a gallon on aircraft fuel pumped in the Enterprise Zone and the effort toward developing cargo ramps are both favorable signs toward Palmdale Airport progress.

In a bold move that could provide a substantial monetary incentive for airlines to begin flying into and out of Palmdale, Assemblyman George Runner has authored a bill that would save airlines or air cargo services from paying a statewide 2-cents-per-gallon fuel tax when operating within enterprise zones.

That 2 cents tax is above the sales tax the state charges and goes directly to the state's general fund.

Both Palmdale Airport and Gen. William J. Fox Airfield are within the local Enterprise Zone. If Runner's bill, AB 243, passes, it would make airlines eligible to receive the tax break at the two local fields.

"The whole idea is that we need to create incentives to get carriers into new airports," Runner said. "It's just too easy to stay at their existing airports."

He added, "As long as new gates are opening up, like at Burbank or Los Angeles International, (airlines) just stay there and the passengers will be forced to go to where they are."

The master plan for the expansion at Los Angeles International Airport calls for improvements that would make it possible to handle 89 million air travelers a year in an airport redesigned in 1984 to handle 40 million passengers a year.

LAX served about 67.6 million passengers in the year 2000.

The original plans for the Palmdale (Intercontinental) Airport were announced in June of 1968. At present, there are no airlines flying out of the Palmdale terminal facility on land leased from the Air Force at Plant 42.

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Los Angeles World Airport commissioners requested FAA funds to build the Palmdale Airport Cargo Ramp.

Although 2 cents per gallons doesn't sound like much when you're filling your car's tank, it could be a tremendous saving for any airline.

If Runner's bill passes and the governor signs it and if the cargo ramps get built, there may be some forward movement toward making the 1968 airport dream a reality.