Vacant Terminal’s Future Up in the Air : Controversy: Debate over the Eddie Martin building centers on whether it should be turned into a general aviation facility.

Dandelions poke through the cracked sidewalk outside the abandoned, graying Edward J. (Eddie) Martin Terminal at John Wayne Airport.

The main concourse that once teemed with passengers is now a darkened shell. A single office chair sits empty. An exposed electrical conduit pops out of the ground where ticket agents’ computers once hummed. A nameplate embossed with “Position Closed” rests on the ground like a grave marker.

But for the newsstand outside stacked with recent issues of the Singles Register, it seems as if everything were sucked up by one of Steven Spielberg’s spaceships and hauled away at warp speed.

No travelers have passed through the passenger gates here since the night of Sept. 15, 1990, when the new, $64-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal opened next door. And now a debate is taking shape over what to do with this vacant, 22,000-square-foot building built in 1967.

Options under consideration include:

* Leasing the county-owned building to a private developer who would remodel it to include a restaurant, meeting rooms, a store that would sell aeronautical charts and supplies, a pilots’ lounge, and space for aircraft repair work.

* Using some of the space for new airport administrative offices.

* Leasing the building to commercial airlines for their cargo operations, which are now handled from warehouses located near but outside the airport.

* Demolishing the building and constructing a new, smaller building to handle some of the activities proposed for the existing terminal.

* Demolishing the building to make room for additional aircraft parking.

At stake is hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in potential lease revenue to the county, which currently gets no income from a building that is boarded up.

During the planning for the new Thomas F. Riley Terminal, county officials at first thought that the old passenger facility, named in 1988 after Orange County aviation pioneer Eddie Martin, would be torn down.

But then a new idea took hold: Why not lease the building to a company that would refurbish it as a general aviation facility?

John Wayne is home to 757 privately owned aircraft, ranging from single-engine Cessnas to huge Gulfstream IV corporate jets. A consulting firm has predicted that the number will increase by 25% by 2010 and has recommended devoting more space to small planes.

Small-plane owners embraced the firm’s study.

John Wayne-based Martin Aviation--the county’s biggest aircraft sales, charter, fueling, maintenance and pilot-training firm--however, was not so accepting. It countered the study by the consultant and an airport users’ advisory committee with a 20-page dissent.

In summary, the document argues against allowing newcomers to undermine the profitability of existing full-service firms, such as Martin Aviation.

Martin Aviation is not just any aircraft firm. It’s the namesake of aviation pioneer Eddie Martin himself, who sold Martin Aviation to his brother, Floyd, in 1937. The current owners have marketing rights to the Martin name and the firm houses the Martin memorabilia.

And while Martin Aviation alone cannot stop the county’s plans, it has political clout with members of the Board of Supervisors, who count Martin Aviation co-owner William Lyon--a major home builder and developer--among their personal friends and campaign supporters. Moreover, Martin Aviation has engaged the services of Lyle Overby, one of the county’s most influential lobbyists.

Some pilots and county officials believe that Martin seeks a monopoly or wants to run the airport the way it sees fit.

“Martin Aviation wants the whole thing to themselves,” Jay Ghanbarzadeh, an independent airplane mechanic, said recently. “And they want to service just big corporate jets because that’s where the big money is. If they get their way, the small planes will be pushed out.”

Indeed, Michael Gatzke, the county’s special airport counsel, recently warned the Orange County Airport Commission that Martin seems to be making some very “self-serving” comments about the future of general aviation at JWA.

“What they’re proposing is certainly not competitive. . . . And we’re concerned that what they are suggesting may result in a monopoly situation,” Gatzke said in an interview.

For example, in its 20-page document, Martin argues that only firms that are “full-service” operators--such as Martin itself--should be allowed to fuel aircraft at John Wayne. Also, the document suggests that Martin should be allowed to organize aircraft services at the old Eddie Martin Terminal or at any new structure that might replace the terminal.

In the same document, Martin suggests that it can only invest money in such a project if it will be allowed to control aircraft parking spaces and rental rates for those spaces.

The firm also disputes the consultant’s findings about how much space needs to be created for small planes, citing a greater need to accommodate big corporate jets, which are more profitable to house, fuel and repair.

Martin Aviation officials insist that their proposal has merit. They cite the county’s difficulty in coming up with firms capable of taking over a major hangar and aircraft service facilities. Tallmantz Aviation, one of the firms that operated the facilities, is now in bankruptcy.

“What the airport has learned,” says Martin President Rick Janisse, “is that the line of companies with adequate capitalization isn’t very long.”

Don Miller, president of the Orange County Airport Assn., the county’s largest and most influential pilots’ organization, believes that Martin’s proposals amount to “a restriction on trade.”

Meanwhile, county airport commissioners have ordered up a new batch of studies aimed at resolving the issue of whether converting the Eddie Martin Terminal into a general aviation facility is economically feasible.

“Some people think this has already been studied to death,” Airport Commission Chairman Robert Cashman said. “I tend to be one of those. But we’ll have to wait a little longer to sort this thing out.”

THE FATE OF EDWARD J. MARTIN TERMINAL

Several options have been proposed for the vacant Eddie Martin Terminal, ranging from commercial use to leveling for aircraft parking.

Commuter & RON parking Terminal Parking garage Edward J. Martin Terminal (Old passenger terminal) Martin Aviation maintenance facility 6 Martin Aviation hangars FBO facilities General aviation parking Martin Aviation services Martin Aviation hangars General aviation parking FBO: Fixed Base Operator (aircraft service provider) General Aviation: Small, privately owned planes and corporate jets; no airlines. RON: Ramp overnight parking (for air carriers, commuter airlines)