L.A. Election Results
We applaud your editorial opposition (April 18) to the sale or lease of Los Angeles International Airport to a private operator.
However, we take issue with your call for a sharing of the airport’s “profits” with the rest of the city. LAX may be city-owned, but it was built largely with private funds. The money which the city invested in the airport years ago has been repaid, with interest. Any so-called “profits” generated by airport users are reinvested in airport improvements. Expropriating these “profits” for other city services does not obviate the need to invest in the airport. It just raises the airlines’ costs and forces them to lay off more employees.
No one at LAX has taken advantage of the city. To the contrary, LAX is an asset that generates $1.7 billion in taxes annually and is the basis for 400,000 jobs.
JAMES E. LANDRY, President
Air Transport Assn., Washington
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