Hawthorne Airport Has Lofty Goal of Taking On Its Huge Neighbor : Airfield hopes a longer runway will make it competitive with LAX

With a freeway at its side and a proposal for a longer runway in its future, Hawthorne Airport is mounting ambitious plans to emerge literally from under Los Angeles International Airport’s shadow and become, perhaps, its fifth runway and a competitor.

Those are lofty hopes for one of the region’s most obscure airfields, which has been virtually grounded for years by downturns in the aerospace field and by the lack of freeway access.

But things have been looking up for the single-runway airport. In the past year, several new businesses have sprung up nearby, a major defense contractor opened a charter flight service and the flight school located there has grown severalfold. The Century (105) Freeway, opened two years ago, runs just north of the airfield and earlier this month, a Metro Green Line station opened just a quarter-mile away.

The airport is in a celebratory mood for this weekend’s 12th annual air fair, and in a fitting moment of symbolism, the B2 bomber will zip over the airfield, where its prototype was first flown.

“There’s been some new life breathed into this airport in the past year,” said Pat Carey, chief pilot for Northrop Grumman’s military aircraft division and Hawthorne-based Security Aviation. “It used to be pretty quiet around here, even dead. Not anymore.”

Built during World War II as a test site for Northrop-built aircraft, Hawthorne Airport fell on hard times with the fall of the aerospace industry in the 1980s. The Northrop operations center generated fewer flights and other military contractors cut back on their use of the airfield.

The opening of the 105 freeway gets much of the credit for the airfield’s rebirth.

“We’ve been feeling like a diamond in the rough since the freeway opened,” said Charles Herbertson, the director of public works for the city of Hawthorne who also serves at the airport manager. “The airport offices have finally moved back into their original building after major renovations, we have a new restaurant and we have a few new tour operators on field.”

In addition, Security Aviation, a 10-year-old flight school located on the north side of the runway, has grown in recent years from a small school with a handful of planes to 26 instructors and 25 aircraft, making it one of the largest flight schools in Southern California.

This summer, Northrop started up a charter flight service open to the public.

A city-backed proposal to lengthen the runway by 1,000 feet is scheduled to be presented to the Federal Aviation Administration later this year. The length would allow the airport to take overflow traffic from LAX; airport operators also are hoping it will draw commuter airlines.

“The congestion problems at LAX are only going to get worse,” said Tom Quintana, public information officer for the city of Hawthorne, which owns the airport. “Things used to look like a ghost town along Hawthorne Boulevard, but that’s changing.”

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Fred O’Donnell, a spokesman for the FAA, said Hawthorne will have to prove its case to the federal government that it would be a viable alternative to LAX.

“Just because a community wishes to do something does not mean the federal government will fund it,” O’Donnell said.

But he conceded that there are problems with traffic congestion at the airport and that a flight to Hawthorne could make for easier access to freeways.

“If the people at Hawthorne can show us a plan that makes sense, we’ll take a serious look at it,” he said.

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Conroy predicts the small airport, which lies in the shadow of giant airliners bound for LAX, could pull commuter and commercial business away from its giant neighbor. “I think once someone flies through here and sees how easy it is go get in and out compared to LAX, they’re going to want to come back.”

But some pilots say they hope the plans for a bustling hive of aviation don’t mean losing the field’s small-town air.

“Hawthorne is a little slice of the Midwest in the middle of Los Angeles,” said Gulshin Gilbert, a pilot who flies Northrop officials from Hawthorne Airport to military bases around Southern California. “It’s not the trendy, bustling Westside atmosphere. It’s a place where you can still chat with someone and have a cup of coffee.”

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This year’s air fair, titled “Flights for Peace,” runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and features the return of the B2 bomber. Its prototype, the Flying Wing, was flown out of Hawthorne during the 1980s. Vintage World War II aircraft and members of the Apollo 13 mission will also be at the show. Admission is $5 for adults, free for children. The airport is located at Crenshaw Boulevard and 120th Street, just off the Crenshaw Boulevard exit of the Century (105) Freeway.