Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Cutbacks Anticipated at Palmdale Air Force Plant
The commander of Plant 42, the Air Force’s 5,700-acre test and production facility here, warned Thursday that looming federal budget cuts may force the closure of his airfield to military flights one-third of each month and cause the loss of security and firefighting personnel.
Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Allen said the closure affecting nine to 11 days each month could commence Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year, because Plant 42 would not be able to afford enough civilian firefighters to meet military flight standards.
Plant 42, which handles about 60,000 aircraft operations annually, is facing a projected $3.7-million shortfall in its operations and maintenance funding for the coming year. The facility can expect $8.5 million but needs about $12.2 million, said Col. Patrick Mullaney, an Air Force spokesman.
The potential closure would affect 14 military installations in the Western United States that use Plant 42 for testing and training, as well as major aerospace contractors including Lockheed Advanced Development Co., Northrop Corp. and Rockwell International that have sites there, Allen said.
The plant is currently used for the final assembly of the B-2 stealth bomber and for modifications to the F-117A stealth fighter and U-2 spy plane.
However, it would not affect the two commercial air carriers that use Plant 42’s runways to provide passenger service out of adjoining Palmdale Regional Airport. Allen said Plant 42’s firefighter staff would continue to meet Federal Aviation Administration standards for smaller aircraft.
The potential cuts are part of an expected across-the-board reduction in operations and maintenance funding for all the military services, said Mullaney, director of public affairs for the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center in Ohio. But the final decisions will be made by Congress.
The Plant 42 cuts would fall on Pasadena-based Pacifica Services Inc., one of the county’s largest Latino-owned companies. Owned by Ernest Camacho, a former associate of Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alatorre, Pacifica provides Plant 42’s more than 100 firefighter, security and maintenance workers.
Allen said he has been warned by his superiors of similar cuts every year since he arrived in mid-1990, but Plant 42 always was spared. This year, however, Allen and Mullaney said their commanding general was unable to obtain a commitment from his superiors for the needed funds.
