County Pilots Fly Off Handle Over Approval of Fee Raise

Private airplane pilots, who say they’re often treated as second-class citizens, in contrast with pilots of big commercial airlines, have taken yet another blow.

But this time, they’re not going to stand for it.

Private pilots at John Wayne Airport reacted bitterly Wednesday to the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ decision to gradually increase parking fees for 40-foot space at the airport from $58 a month to $101 a month by Jan 1, 1989.

Some pilots said the move is yet another example of the county’s “hostile” attitude and jeopardizes the future of private planes at the airport.

“At some point, when the cost gets too high, general (private) aviation will disappear from Orange County. That’s a predictable effect, and there is no place for us to go,” pilot and flight instructor Michael Church said.

Church said he doesn’t think the move was intended to rid John Wayne of the smaller aircraft, but the commercial airlines would be more comfortable without the private planes around.

“Light aircraft are something of a nuisance to commercial air carriers. It’s an undeniable fact of life,” he said.

Spokesmen for about 70 private pilots, who recently formed the Orange County Airport Assn. to address the issue, said pilots were denied an opportunity to adequately register their complaints to the supervisors before the fee increase was approved.

Scott Raphael, a pilot and attorney representing the airport association, said the group may seek a federal court injunction to stop the fee increase.

“We are disturbed and disappointed that the Board of Supervisors’ view has been one of hostility toward general aviation,” Raphael said.

Church, who is also acting president of the airport association, accused the county of raising the fees to gain financing for a new commercial terminal and other expansion projects at the airport that won’t benefit private pilots.

“There is no single aspect of the development that benefits light-aviation aircraft,” Church said. “The contrary has developed. The developments and alterations at the airport have worked to our detriment.”

Airport spokesman Alan Murphy said that the fee increase is needed to cover the county’s cost of providing space and services for private planes and that none of the revenues from the general aviation fees will be used to pay for improvements to the commercial airline terminal.

Commercial aircraft were hit with a 94% fee increase last July, he said.

In addition to the parking space, officials said the fees cover costs of security for the plane storage area, washing and waxing facilities, crash and rescue teams and administration.

“It has been a number of years since (general aviation) fees were increased. In prior years, other areas of the airport have been subsidizing these particular tenants,” Murphy said.

The higher fees further angered private pilots, who were forced last month to move their planes from the north end parking lot to the west side of the airport to make way for building the new terminal.

They had already complained to airport officials that the new parking area was inconvenient and inadequately serviced.

“The level of service was reduced, so there is no conceivable justification for the doubled rates. It’s not an equal trade,” Church said.

Airport officials said they are working to install more lighting in the west parking lot and make other improvements requested by the pilots.

Airport officials hired a private firm last year to conduct a financial evaluation of the the entire airport, looking at the costs of operating each area, Murphy said. Contrasted with other airports throughout California that have general aviation, Murphy said rates at John Wayne are substantially lower.

But Raphael disagreed.

He said airport officials, in compiling data from other airports, computed fees charged to fixed-base operators--private businesses that operate at the airport--rather than the private plane parking fees, which generally are substantially lower.

He said the new fees are about 68% higher than those at comparable airports in the country.

Murphy said the board followed standard procedure in adopting the new fee schedule. He said the commission heard two hours of testimony at a public hearing on Nov. 18 and delayed the matter until Dec. 2 so more pilots could testify.

On Dec. 2, the commissioners voted to recommend the gradual fee hike to the Board of Supervisors. No public testimony was allowed at the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday.

Just two members of the five-member commission appointed by the Board of Supervisors voted on the measure, however. Two were private pilots and abstained, and the fifth member was absent from the meeting.

“If the cost of operating at this airport gets too high, we’re gone,” Church said. “That’s why this issue is so important. This is a county airport for county residents.”