Cypress : City Supports Jetliner Maker in Airport Fight

Cypress officials are urging other Orange County cities to support the McDonnell Douglas Corp. in its ongoing dispute against Newport Beach with a copy of a new city resolution--stamped “urgent”--that was mailed to other city officials Wednesday.

Cypress council members Monday night voted to support the aerospace company when it goes before the Board of Supervisors Aug. 20 to settle pending lawsuits between the county and Newport Beach over airport expansion.

“We’ve supported the City of Newport Beach, but they’re turning it too far,” Mayor John Kanel said. “Aircrafts mean people, mean families, mean jobs.”

Kanel and other Cypress officials are concerned that a proposed settlement will translate to the phasing out of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 for quieter jets. In a letter to Cypress officials, corporate Vice President R. L. Johnson wrote that a proposed settlement “could threaten the jobs of thousands of employees of McDonnell Douglas and our vendors who live in Orange County.”

Newport Beach City Manager Bob Wynn said Tuesday that Cypress officials were “not hitting the nail on the head” with their resolution. The airport access plan, which addresses the number of flights and the different classifications of aircraft based on noise readings, is only one component of a settlement that has not yet been drafted, Wynn said.

Reportedly, the proposed agreement will allow up to 73 jet flights from John Wayne Airport after 1990 while replacing the MD-80 with quieter jets.

Kanel said Cypress is “attempting to take the lead” in supporting McDonnell Douglas, which, he said, approached city officials last week.

In his letter to Cypress, Johnson wrote that the company employs 12,000 workers in the county. The proposed settlement before the Board of Supervisors “would do serious damage to efforts to meet local air travel air requirements, and also to our company, our employees and our suppliers.”