Warning on El Toro Runway Stirs Foes

New warnings about the safety of a primary runway at the former El Toro Marine base have reignited fears in south Orange County about the flight paths at the commercial airport being planned there.

The warnings about easterly takeoffs were issued by a man considered the preeminent authority on flight procedures in the airline industry: Robert Baker, executive vice president of operations for American Airlines.

Airport foes were quick last week to cite Baker’s letter, as well as previous concerns from two pilots’ unions about the safety of El Toro’s northern takeoff route, as proof that the airport is unworkable.

Still, county officials reacted with a collective shrug to Baker’s prediction that pilots would refuse to use the eastern runway at El Toro because of prevailing tail winds and nearby hills.

County planners pointed to a study completed nearly two years ago showing that the eastern and northern departure routes considered for the new airport would be safe by Federal Aviation Administration standards. The FAA has yet to approve the flight paths.

The contradiction between the warnings and airport planners’ tepid reaction may lie in economics.

Baker’s letter, a response to questions by anti-airport activist Leonard Kranser of Dana Point, didn’t say El Toro’s eastern runway was unsafe.

But Baker did warn that heavier aircraft would not be able to use the eastern runway with significant tail winds. That could result in weight restrictions on easterly departing planes, which already must clear foothills.

Weight restrictions--in fact, any operational restrictions--are anathema to airlines that want to be able to fly where they want, when they want and with as much payload as they can.

So far, county planners expect that 62% of the commercial flights would take off on the easterly runway, El Toro spokeswoman Ellen Call said. That amounts to 256 out of 412 flights expected to leave El Toro daily by 2020, she said.

Bruce Nestande, a former Orange County supervisor who heads the pro-airport group Citizens for Jobs and the Economy, called Baker’s letter “posturing.”

“What American is doing is getting on the record a realistic concern they have about that runway under certain conditions,” he said. “They want to go out fully loaded to maximize their profit. Clearly, pilots and the airlines would like an airport with perfect wind conditions on flat land that’s 50 miles from the nearest residence.”

American is the first airline to weigh in on the runway issue at El Toro. Most military jets depart to the south.

Baker couldn’t be reached last week to expand on his comments. His letter said nothing about El Toro’s northern runway, which concerns pilots because they must clear the 800-foot-high Loma Ridge three miles off the end of the runway.

Representatives from other airlines either couldn’t be reached or said decisions about whether to use El Toro would be made after the airport is approved.

Roger Cohen, spokesman for the Air Transport Assn. in Washington, said Baker is an expert in the aviation industry and that his concerns about the eastern runway warrant further study. But he also said the association believes there “clearly is a need” for additional airport capacity in Orange County.

He said both sides of the debate have lobbied hard to gain favor with the association, which represents most of the nation’s airlines.

“It is fair to say that a week doesn’t go by that either the South County people or the county doesn’t come to visit [us],” Cohen said. “They bump into each other in the lobby sometimes.”

Southwest Airlines is the only other carrier to speak publicly about El Toro. Robert Montgomery, Southwest’s director of properties, ignited a furor in South County earlier this year by declaring that El Toro was “an airport planner’s dream and a windfall for residents.”

Southwest’s chief executive, Herb Kelleher, followed up with comments, again by letter to Kranser, stating that whether El Toro becomes a commercial airport is solely a local decision.

Despite obvious airline interest, the final authority on which routes planes would fly at El Toro rests with the FAA. An agency spokesman said the FAA won’t comment on the county’s proposals until after the project is approved by the county and submitted to the agency.

County planners concede that the eastern runway cannot be used by some aircraft during certain tail-wind conditions. However, no payload restrictions are expected for either runway, Call said. The heaviest jets will be assigned to the longer northern runway.

Supervisors are scheduled to vote in December on certifying final environmental documents, which would represent the formal approval of the project.