Van Nuys Airport Study

* Re “Airport Study is a Starting Point,” Jan. 10.

Your editorial is way off the mark. First you state that the aviation companies would face a loss of $190 million within three years. This is not correct. The bulk of that loss will be felt by the employees of those companies who will lose their jobs! The accuracy of those number is up to some debate, but even if they’re off by 25% either way, the impact to job loss and the economic hardship created would still be devastating to this San Fernando Valley. Reminder that the economic multiplier effect is something on the order of 3.47. That means that for every dollar lost at the airport, 3.47 dollars are lost to the Valley as a whole, thus the true impact is almost $660 million and over 1,600 jobs!

And this is only the measurable impact. Of the 60-plus companies that base aircraft at Van Nuys, how many would move their operation out of the Valley to keep their plane? The cost of a Stage 3 airplane can be more than the cost of moving the company. Los Angeles is already at a comparative disadvantage in the competition for company headquarters and the high-paying jobs they create. Our business tax structure is the worst in the country, the regulatory environment is onerous and the non-addition rule could very well be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

It is interesting to note that it is never the NIMBY who loses his job, or his business. When the NIMBY complains, it’s always someone else who suffers. But later, after the full economic impact has been felt, the NIMBY will scream loud and long about the high crime rate, low-income housing, poorly kept up houses, lack of infrastructure maintenance and the fact that it’s Food 4 Less and not Gelson’s that is opening the supermarket. And they will inevitably fail to recognize the connection between their past intolerance and the current condition.

JAMES H. STEWART

Member, Van Nuys Airport

Citizens Advisory Council

Panorama City