Palmdale Airport

* A recent letter from reader George Hall (Sept. 12) related his reasons for supporting an expansion of Los Angeles International Airport rather than developing Palmdale Airport. Hall based his argument on the reduced performance of large aircraft due to higher elevation and warmer conditions in the Palmdale area. I would like to correct some misperceptions. He cited limitations that existed over 25 years ago, and having personal experience flying aircraft out of Denver Airport on a hot day, I can tell you Palmdale would be a breeze.

But the true issues regarding the Palmdale / LAX expansion have little to do with technical problems. They revolve around the more complex problems of transportation saturation and urban overdevelopment. The true motivation behind the push to expand LAX is more business and the money it would bring to the city, regardless of the adverse impact on the traveling public and surrounding community. Palmdale has three main access routes, Interstate 5, Interstate 15 and Highway 14. There is a rail route that runs directly to the airport currently served by Metrorail. Thousands of acres are available for expansion and with little congestion.

Los Angeles needs a triad of airports for its future, LAX in the south, Ontario in the east and Palmdale in the north.

BRETT PAPWORTH

Palmdale

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Hall’s letter criticized expansion of Palmdale Airport due to its elevation and temperature. However, several major airports have significantly higher temperatures while Salt Lake City, Denver and Albuquerque have much higher elevations. These airports operate quite effectively and safely in serving their communities’ air transportation needs, as an airport in the Antelope Valley will be able to serve our needs.

Los Angeles County’s 10 million citizens require a regional solution to meet our air transportation needs. We need to aggressively develop Ontario and Palmdale airports.

MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH

Supervisor, 5th District

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Economic Tail Winds

A study indicates the number of jobs and the economic impact generated by Van Nuys Airport has risen substantially as the airport shifted more toward commercial aviation.

Source: Wilbur Smith Associates