Airlines’ El Toro Concerns Leave the Issue Up in the Air

The proposals for a commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station after the military leaves often have appeared to contain the assumption that if you build it, the airlines will come.

But now the airlines have called that assumption into question. The Air Transport Assn., a coalition of 23 major airlines, has raised concerns about giving El Toro over to cargo flights or commercial aviation. Since it would make no sense to build an airport that airlines would not use, the worries need to be considered seriously.

The Marines are scheduled to leave El Toro in 1999. Two years ago county voters narrowly approved a measure clearing the way for a civilian airport at the 4,700-acre base. This year voters soundly defeated a counterproposal that would have made it just about impossible to use El Toro for commercial or cargo aviation.

The controversy has spawned bad feelings between residents of North County, where the idea of an El Toro commercial airport is popular, and those living in South County, worried about noise overhead and increased congestion on the ground from airport-bound travelers and freight shippers.

Airlines are accustomed to confronting noise restrictions that hamper their operations. Newport Beach residents battled fiercely to win limitations on the number and hours of flights at John Wayne Airport. Los Angeles International Airport bought and razed some homes of residents unable to live near flight paths of noisier jets that replaced propeller planes. Other homes near both airports were given extra soundproofing.

Thus it is significant that the Air Transport Assn. warned that noise limits and restrictions on takeoffs at El Toro could undercut the viability of an airport there. The association also expressed concern that an airport at the base could lead to worse air traffic congestion over Southern California, creating a safety hazard. Safety clearly has to be the primary concern.

Southern California’s skies are crowded. An association vice president noted that “air traffic management and capacity in Southern California are serious ongoing problems.” He said that significant commercial traffic at El Toro “would obviously exacerbate this situation.” That warning must be heeded.

The airline coalition noted that it is not opposing a civilian airport at El Toro, but wants more study of the proposals. The letter to county planners was part of a run-up to an environmental report that will consider the impact of various developments at El Toro, including the merits of a commercial airport versus one limited to cargo flights and smaller aircraft.

Some of the concerns the coalition raised are standard when new airports are proposed: Are forecasts of passengers too optimistic? What happens to nearby airports, such as John Wayne? Those are good questions. Unfortunately, the debate over a civilian airport at El Toro has become so politicized that answers to the questions are quickly challenged.

Two months ago the Southern California Assn. of Governments said plans for a commercial airport at El Toro should be scaled back, in part because passenger traffic was unlikely to be as great as airport proponents forecast. An official of the El Toro Local Redevelopment Authority then questioned SCAG’s own forecasts for airport demand.

The county’s lack of leadership on the airport issue led to the initial ballot box planning, which was wrong. Answers based on fact are needed, not political campaigns marked by blizzards of mailers that oversimplify issues.

Orange County taxpayers cannot afford to get stuck with a white elephant of an airport. Proponents have argued that this will not happen because of fees generated by such a facility, but that requires airlines using the airport. There are also questions about the future of John Wayne Airport, which was modernized at great cost only a few years ago.

The Air Transport Assn.’s questions are important, and they demonstrate why planners must have alternative sets of plans for the use of the land. County officials will have to prove to the airlines, potential passengers and residents that their final choice for a facility at El Toro makes sense.