County to Bar Noisiest Private Jets : Opponents Claim Wayne Ban Could Hobble Economy

An ordinance banning the noisiest business jets from John Wayne Airport won initial approval Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors in a move that could affect some of the county’s largest corporations and the ability of companies elsewhere to fly in and out of Orange County to do business.

The ordinance is billed by county officials as an attempt to force business jets to meet the same noise standards required of commercial airliners, but a spokesman for the National Business Aircraft Assn. described it as “draconian,” and hinted at a possible legal challenge.

While only about 10 jets based at the airport--and owned by some of the county’s most prominent corporations--would be affected, industry officials said the ordinance would have a major impact on the ability of businessmen throughout the nation to travel to Orange County to conduct business.

The ordinance cleared its first reading before the board on a unanimous vote. It will be up for final adoption next Tuesday in what normally would be a routine action. However, heavy opposition from business groups in the intervening days could change the board’s decision.

Ban at 98.5 Decibels

Under the measure, private jets registering more than 98.5 decibels at a monitoring station in Santa Ana Heights would be banned outright. Included in that category--and prohibited from flying at John Wayne unless it can be proved that they are quieter--are the Westwind 1123, Jet Commander, BAC-111, Jet Star I, Sabre Liner, Gulf Stream II, and Lear Jet models 23, 24 and 25.

Jets owned by Irvine Co. Board Chairman Donald Bren, Smith International, the Koll Co. and the William Lyon Co., among others, would be banned outright. Moreover, nearly every business jet currently operating at the airport would be prevented from flying between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.--hours prized by business people who cannot rely on airline schedules.

“The types of people that travel in those airplanes can’t rely on the airlines,” said Norman Anderson of Skybird Aviation, a Van Nuys firm owned by Bren that operates four charter jets for a number of corporations.

“These people are chief executive officers of blue chip corporations that may do business in two or three cities on the same day. Our airports, especially Orange County, play a very important part in the nation’s economic and transportation system, and with the rest of the United States modernizing airports, Orange County is doing just the opposite,” Anderson said.

For nearly a year, commercial airliners exceeding 98.5 decibels have been banned from John Wayne Airport, and county officials reason that private aircraft should not be given special treatment.

“It’s about time that general aviation has to meet the same regulations and standards that commercial aviation has to meet,” Supervisor Bruce Nestande said. “A private plane that carries two to six passengers--why should it be able to make more noise than a plane that carries 140 or 150 passengers?”

Would Affect Curfew

The ordinance would also lower the noise limits for the airport’s curfew hours, banning all aircraft taking off at more than 86 decibels at 11 p.m. That is likely to include nearly every business jet except the Mitsubishi and the Canadair, according to Bill Martin, the county’s noise abatement chief.

Moreover, the nighttime curfew is now likely to take in some twin-engine propeller airplanes as well, Martin said.

“That’s draconian,” exclaimed Robert Cooke, vice president of operations for the National Business Aircraft Assn., an organization of 2,900 companies throughout the nation that own business aircraft. The association has spent millions of dollars in court challenges of restrictive airport regulations over the past decade, including cases in Santa Monica, Burbank and Westchester County, N.Y.

“General aviation has been and continues to do its part for noise abatement. Airplanes are becoming quieter all the time. This is like saying we have a few people who are over 85; who’s going to worry about them; nobody can be over 85,” Cooke said.

“We have to represent not just pilots and operations at Orange County, we represent the pilots and companies who operate out of Chicago, New York and everywhere else,” he added.

In a telegram to supervisors’ Chairman Thomas F. Riley late Monday, the association said the ordinance is discriminatory because it requires private jets to meet single-event noise limits, while airliners are permitted to meet noise regulations by way of their average noise levels over a three-month period.

‘Cries Out for Litigation’

“The discriminatory treatment of non-commercial operators who are now being prohibited from operation at your airport on the basis of rules which are more stringent than those applied to noisier air carrier operations cries out for litigation,” the telegram said.

However, Michael Gatzke, the county’s special airport counsel, said the county was trying to address a reverse issue of discrimination in drafting the general aviation noise ordinance: concerns by air carriers and the Federal Aviation Administration that the county was imposing stringent noise controls on the airlines while not regulating noisier private jets.

“The ordinance has been very carefully tailored and drafted to make it as reasonable as possible,” he said.

If given final adoption next Tuesday, the ordinance would not take effect for 30 days, and there would be a 90-day grace period for plane owners to acquire new aircraft or refit the older ones with quieter engines.

Plane owners whose aircraft were banned by type could challenge the ban and would be permitted to use the airport if they could prove they could fly at noise levels below 98.5 decibels.

On the other hand, aircraft not banned by type but which repeatedly exceed the decibel limit could be banned, and so could their pilots.

Enforcement, particularly for planes not based at Orange County, could be difficult, county officials admit. Currently, they are proposing warning notices for the first three violations and a civil suit against repeat offenders. Misdemeanor fines also are possible.

660 Offending Takeoffs

Last year, there were about 660 takeoffs by jets that would be banned under the new ordinance.

Scott Adams, a spokesman for UCO Air at John Wayne, said the ordinance would cost the company about 10% of its fuel business and up to 30% of its maintenance business.

Robert Clark of Martin Aviation said that about 17% of the firm’s activity would be affected, primarily service to transient aircraft.

“Granted, there’s not that many a irplanes based here that would be affected, but there sure as hell are a lot of airplanes that use the airport that would be affected,” Clark said. “It’s going to affect the transient business, and corporations that are looking to do business in Orange County or set up in Orange County are going to have to look at either not coming here or selling their airplanes,” he said.

A new, quiet-technology Gulfstream jet costs about $14 million, Clark said. Industry officials say most of the older jets affected by the ordinance are worth about $3 million.

Based at Ontario

The Fluor Corp. has an older Gulfstream jet that would be banned under the ordinance, but a company spokesman said the aircraft is based at Ontario, so the company is not likely to feel any pinch.

Irvine Co. Board Chairman Bren’s Skybird Aviation has four planes, all based at Van Nuys, which make frequent trips to Orange County. Two of them would be banned under the new ordinance and the other two would be prevented from nighttime operations.

Sam Couch, an Irvine Co. official, began making calls to board offices early Tuesday about a possible delay in the ordinance, but he said it had nothing to do with Bren’s separate business.

Rather, Couch said, he was concerned about the potential impact on businessmen coming to Orange County to shop for new business or industrial sites.

“What if somebody from General Motors or Pepsi or somebody wants to fly into Orange County and look around for a new industry site or meet with high-level officials about something that affects the economy of the county?” Couch asked. But Couch said the company supports the concept of requiring private planes to meet the same noise standards as commercial jets.