Phaseout of Noisy Private Jets Urged

After nearly two years of study, city officials recommended Wednesday that noisy private jets at Van Nuys Airport be phased out over the next 11 years.

The proposal by the Los Angeles Department of World Airports would exempt about 50 so-called Stage 2 jets--primarily jets built before 1985. But by 2010, all other jets operating at the airport would have to be the quieter Stage 3 aircraft.

The proposal, subject to approvals by the Board of Airport Commissioners and the City Council, was criticized Wednesday, both by anti-noise activists and airport operators who have fought vehemently over the issue for more than a decade.

Veteran airport operator Clay Lacy called the proposal “very, very detrimental,” saying it would force corporate and charter jet operations to move to more business-friendly airports.

“People here can’t just lay down and take it,” he said.

But Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., said waiting until 2010 to phase out noisy jets is unacceptable.

“That’s too long,” he said. “Not many on the City Council are willing to wait.”

But at least one member of the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council praised the proposal as “a huge step in the right direction.”

The latest proposal “goes a long way toward addressing both the homeowner groups’ legitimate concerns on noise in general and the noisy aircraft in particular,” committee member Coby King said.

King was appointed to the 18-member committee by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, whose district includes neighborhoods affected by airport noise.

“While neither the homeowners nor the aviation interests will be completely satisfied with this proposal,” King said, “it is a good basis on which to move forward.”

The proposal by the Airport Department’s Environmental Management Bureau also would loosen restrictions on the repair and maintenance of noisier aircraft at the airport. Tight regulations in a 1997 proposal could have forced at least one business, the Jet Center, to abandon its operations at Van Nuys, studies found.

That 1997 proposal also called for phasing out Stage 2 aircraft entirely at Van Nuys. An economic study of that proposal estimated losses of up to 565 jobs and more than $190 million within three years.

The new proposal is scheduled to be heard Wednesday at a special public meeting of the Board of Airport Commissioners. Scheduled to accommodate a large crowd in three combined meeting rooms, the hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at the Airtel Plaza Hotel, 7277 Valjean Ave.

The board’s recommendation will then be sent to a City Council committee, which in turn could recommend action by the full council, possibly by next month.