Torrance Airport Operations Are in the Red for Ninth Consecutive Year

For the ninth straight year, aeronautical operations at Torrance Municipal Airport are in the red, and city officials predict that the trend will continue for at least the next two years.

Since 1979, aeronautical operations have lost the city a total of about $2.5 million, according to annual city budget reports.

Most Torrance officials said they are not too concerned about the loss, because airport land-lease revenues have put the total airport budget in the black.

The airport, which leases land to mini malls, auto dealerships and others, is located just north of the Pacific Coast Highway at the southern tip of the city.

$1.6 Million

It encompasses 500 acres, of which 140 are leased for non-aeronautical use. Revenues from the leased land are expected to bring the airport about $1.6 million this year and about $1.9 million next year.

Residents who want the airport closed because of aircraft noise say the financial shortfall is another reason the city should consider shutting down the airport and developing the land for other uses.

“The city would make more money by leaving the land vacant,” Joe Arciuch, a longtime critic of the airport, told the City Council earlier this month.

City officials defend the airport operations, saying the airport is run for the benefit of the community, not for profit, and that they are not interested in closing it. They predict that aeronautical operations, which include runway maintenance, airport security and management of the control tower, will begin to turn a profit once planned airport renovations are completed.

Aeronautical operations for the fiscal year that ends June 30 are expected to lose about $520,000, according to the 1989-90 city budget approved by the City Council last week.

Construction Bonds

But city officials attribute about $250,000 of that loss to airport funds earmarked to finance bonds to pay for the construction of two new hangars and a new $1.5 million General Aviation Center.

Next year, budget reports predict that aeronautical operations will lose $862,000--about $487,000 of that earmarked for the new hangars and the aviation center. In 1990-91, the city expects to lose about $869,000 from aeronautical operations, according to budget records.

City Manager LeRoy Jackson defended the airport, saying it benefits the community and that some of its expenses are incurred to make sure it is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.

For example, he said, some of the losses can be attributed to the cost of operating an airport noise abatement program, which is expected to cost more than $238,000 this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The program includes monitoring airplanes and fining noise violators.

Some airports make a substantial amount of revenue from jet fuel sales. But Torrance city officials and nearby residents have opposed the sale of jet fuel because they fear it will bring more jets to the airport and thus increase noise, Jackson said.

“We’re not running (the airport) to be the most successful or the most profitable,” Jackson said. “Our intent is compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood.”

Jackson said he expects aeronautical operations to produce profits once the city finishes renovating several airport facilities for such operations as flight schools and airplane repair shops.

Benefits of Renovation

The renovations, which should be completed within the next two years, are expected to attract more airport operators and result in longer leases, he said.

He also noted that the City Council has recently voted to increase tie-down fees, another source of revenue. Tie-down rates, which vary with the type of aircraft, were increased from $65 and $104 per month to $80 and $125 per month, effective July 1. The average tie-down fees charged at nearby municipal airports are $79 and $113. City officials said they hope the new rates will increase annual revenues by about $50,000.

“Yes, we’d like to get better profits,” Jackson said. “The council has had some concern (about the aeronautical operations) which we have been addressing.”

Vic Verloo, an associate planner for the state Department of Transportation, division of aeronautics, said each municipal airport is different.

But he added: “It should be possible to at least break even. It’s done at other airports.”

Attract Businesses

Verloo said that although the aeronautical operations of some small airports do not make profits, they benefit the local community by attracting businesses to the area.

Officials at Hawthorne and Santa Monica municipal airports say aeronautical operations at those airports usually break even or make a small profit. They could not provide figures, they said, because those cities do not separate aeronautical operations from the total airport budget.

“We hold our own,” said Bob Trimborn, manager of the Hawthorne Municipal Airport. “We turn out a modest amount of money . . . We are not a drain on the budget.”

Hank Dittmar, director of Santa Monica Airport, said it spends about $150,000 annually on noise abatement and receives about $250,000 from the sale of jet fuel.

Break Even

He said the aeronautical operations of the airport just about break even. Jackson said each airport is different and it is not possible to judge one against the other. “That’s like apples and oranges,” he said.

Most of the Torrance airport’s revenues come from tie-down fees, hangar and building rental and the leasing of airport land. The biggest expenses come from administration costs, noise abatement and general maintenance.

City Transportation Director Arthur Horkay said he is not surprised by the aeronautical operations budget deficit and compared running the airport to operating the Fire Department and other city services that are not operated for profit.

Ben Murdock, the city’s revenue supervisor, said the city would like to increase revenues but does not want to drive airport users away by increasing fees and rental costs too much.

“We want to make more money,” he said. “But what do we do, raise the rent until we scare everyone away?”