PSA Seeking 12 Additional Flights From John Wayne
PSA has applied for 12 additional jet departures from John Wayne Airport in its new British Aerospace “whisper jet,” a move which could test Orange County’s ability to regulate even the quietest jets and raise the total number of airline flights from 55 a day to as many as 67.
Citing tests that have shown PSA’s BAe-146 as so quiet that its flights are exempt from regular airline noise regulations, PSA officials are seeking to add 12 daily BAe-146 flights over the 55-per-day ceiling established by the Board of Supervisors for John Wayne Airport earlier this year.
‘Believe They Will Qualify’
Although the application, filed late last week, must undergo environmental studies and additional sound-level measurements from the aircraft itself--a process that could take several months--Orange County officials said Monday that it may be difficult to refuse the airline’s application under current regulations.
“I believe they will qualify,” said county noise abatement chief Bill Martin. Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley said the county would have to consider “political” factors as well, given the board’s commitment not to increase flights at John Wayne beyond 55 a day during the next five years.
“The thing that disturbs me a great deal is we’ve said we’ve got this plan and we’re going to hold to the 55 flights. Now, I guess you could make a case that these would be exempt flights, but how do you sell that to the public who is challenging us that we’re only trying to build another LAX here?” Riley said.
“We’re dealing with a whisper jet here, but even one more airplane requires a political decision,” he said.
PSA spokeswoman Margery Craig said the airline chose to request 12 additional flights because “it’s a nice, round, even number, isn’t it? . . . We’re certainly not the only carrier that has maintained that there is a crying need at John Wayne Airport among the traveling public for more air service.”
County officials never expected that a major airliner could take off at John Wayne Airport at less than 86 decibels when they established that level as the floor for regulating airline flights. Below that level, planes are not substantially regulated and do not require a slot from the county’s 55-per-day airline allocation pool. These flights include tens of thousands of takeoffs a year by private business jets and noisy twin-engined aircraft.
However, PSA’s BAe-146 has consistently taken off at less than 86 decibels, Martin said. Craig, of PSA, the only airline serving John Wayne which has the BAe-146, said the airline has exceeded that level “only on one or two cases where there’s been a deviation: either the equipment wasn’t operating properly, or the pilot just flat-out admitted that he had made a procedural mistake.”
New Rules Imposed
Fearing that airlines with the BAe-146 might choose to fly an unlimited number of flights because they were exempt from normal regulations, the Board of Supervisors recently imposed new regulations requiring that carriers with more than 75 seats (the BAe-146 carries 100 passengers) undergo 90 days of noise tests and additional environmental reviews before being granted extra flights.
Moreover, the board specified that total passengers using the airport cannot exceed 8,500 a day because of the airport’s severely cramped terminal and parking facilities.
In their application, PSA officials calculated that airlines at John Wayne are presently carrying only 6,517 passengers a day. PSA’s proposed 12 additional departures would serve an additional 1,020 passengers a day, well within the limits established by the county, the airline argued.
If it is determined that the PSA application requires a full environmental impact report, the process could take up to six months, county officials estimate.
Justification Claimed
However, PSA officials say they believe that the report prepared for the airport expansion plan has enough documentation to justify their request. In that case, additional flights could begin as soon as the aircraft’s noise tests are completed at the end of July, Craig said.
Said Supervisor Riley: “I certainly am not going to prejudge the fact that the environmental impact report is going to come in and provide a clean bill of health (for PSA’s request).” It is possible that county officials may decide to grant PSA additional flights, but not the full 12 requested, he said.
It was not immediately clear whether the county would be able to launch the environmental studies immediately, since Superior Court Judge Philip Schwab has ordered the county to halt all further planning and engineering work tied to the expansion plan that took effect April 1.
However, Deputy County Counsel Dan Didier said it appears that the PSA studies can proceed, since airline regulations were not specifically a part of the judge’s order.
