Airport Panel OKs All-Cargo Jetliner Flights at John Wayne

The county Airport Commission approved a plan Wednesday that would allow United Parcel Service and Federal Express to operate all-cargo jetliners at John Wayne Airport.

If the County Board of Supervisors similarly approves the plan on Tuesday, a United Parcel Service spokesman said, the company expects to begin a weekday flight by the end of next week.

“We’re talking a matter of days,” said David Vaughan, the company’s Washington-based lawyer. “We’ve been ready for 6 1/2 years.” A Federal Express representative indicated that his company, too, would hope to start service soon.

An aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the airport and Newport Beach, indicated that he was awaiting Wednesday night’s vote before deciding whether he favors all-cargo flights.

The airport commission’s unanimous approval marked another milestone in an issue that has simmered for years, pitting local manufacturers who depend on air shipments against cities concerned about jet noise.

The package carriers have long sought approval to start service at John Wayne, but the airport has allowed only passenger carriers, under a 1985 court agreement with surrounding cities aimed at reducing noise.

UPS spearheaded the drive to start cargo service at John Wayne by enlisting dozens of shipment-dependent businesses to back the effort and paying for a $150,000 study to assess the environmental impact of adding a single additional jet flight on weekdays.

Under the agreement approved Wednesday, UPS will be allowed to fly a single flight every weekday afternoon in a two-year test. Although the plane will fly in the airport’s loudest noise category, UPS will fly a Boeing 757, a plane widely used at the noise-impacted airfield.

“People are concerned that cargo (jets are) loud and dirty and will fly late at night, which is bunk,” said Rochelle Lewis, a spokeswoman for the Competitive Alliance of Orange County, a support group of local businesses that want cargo flights.

“Most people won’t even know what is flying over their heads,” added UPS spokesman Kenneth Churchill.

Federal Express said it plans to use an Airbus 310, another low-noise jetliner, when it eventually starts service. The two flights would be in addition to 73 daily noise-regulated flights allowed at the airport.

The jets will park south of the terminal, near the old terminal and Martin Aviation.