Parking Rate Increase at John Wayne Proposed

John Wayne Airport officials have succeeded so well in persuading travelers to use the cheaper, long-term parking lots across the San Diego Freeway from the airfield that its total parking revenue is below projections, prompting proposals to raise the all-day rate a dollar, to $6.

The proposed increase, which would affect more than 15,000 people each day, is scheduled for a vote tonight by the Orange County Airport Commission. The panel, which advises the county Board of Supervisors, meets at 7 p.m. in the county Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

The proposed $6 fee would remain much lower than the $12 daily rate at the new parking garage adjacent to the passenger terminal, or the $15 charged in the now-defunct short-term lot in front of the terminal.

“The hike is needed because of a revenue deficit and increased operating costs,” said Tom Beckett, airport financial officer. “Parking revenue is a very important piece of revenue for the airport, and parking revenue is less than what was anticipated.”

“Part of it is we’ve been successful in getting people to use the remote lots, and revenues are down because it’s less expensive to park there.”

Beckett said parking revenue is $500,000 short of the $7 million projected for the fiscal year ending June 30. He said parking fees account for about 20% of the airport’s total operating revenue, with the remainder coming from concessionaires, including airlines and car rental agencies.

Costs have gone up, Beckett said, because greater use of the long-term lots, on Main Street between MacArthur Boulevard and Red Hill Avenue, has been matched with additional shuttle service.

The parking lots at the airport site are being phased out because of construction of the new terminal.

At Los Angeles International Airport, parking in the short-term lot costs $10 per day; the outside long-term lots are $3 to $4. At Long Beach Municipal Airport, the short-term lot is $12 per day; the long-term lots are $9.