Small-Town Thinking Can Jam Region’s Air Traffic
Ontario and other airports in the Inland Empire are the clear beneficiaries in the latest revision of Southern California’s airport plans.
Under configurations being drawn up to accommodate the growth of passengers and freight expected in the next two decades, traffic through Ontario will grow to 15 million to 17 million annual passengers from 6.5 million today--as the airport’s capacity grows to 20 million or even higher. March Air Force Base in Riverside and San Bernardino International Airport--formerly Norton AFB--are slated to receive more cargo traffic.
Los Angeles International Airport also will grow dramatically, from 64.5 million annual passengers to roughly 86 million by 2015-2020. Cargo at LAX will double to 4.2 million tons a year.
But LAX growth will be less than earlier plans called for because Lydia Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, wants to regionalize air traffic to ease street congestion in communities neighboring LAX and to accommodate growth in other parts of the region.
The visions of air and ground transportation, now being worked on by the Los Angeles World Airports authority and by the aviation task force of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, still include a role for a new Orange County airport at El Toro Marine Air Station. But realistically, plans for Orange County are being cut back because voters rejected the proposed El Toro airport in a March 7 vote.
Nonetheless, Orange County will be affected. Under the emerging configurations, LAX will become more of a hub for international and longer-distance domestic flights, thereby moving more passengers in fewer aircraft.
Short-haul domestic flights and the commuter flights from San Diego and Orange County that now comprise one-third of LAX’s traffic will be allocated to Ontario, Burbank, Palmdale and other airports in the region. So the assumption of Orange County residents that they would always have convenient travel through LAX may prove unfounded.
None of those plans can be set in concrete of course. Airports and air traffic are difficult topics for all communities. Protests and complications are a certainty. Ontario’s airport growth is constrained by air quality considerations, for example. Burbank residents don’t want a larger terminal; Palmdale is a long way north with no easy ground transportation at present.
High-speed rail systems are being discussed for linking LAX, Ontario, Palmdale and other airports, but there could be 10 to 15 years between discussions and reality.
And yet the plans being developed now--for presentation to the public at the end of this year--have the virtue of vision. They think in suitably dynamic terms about a region that is growing 5% a year in air traffic--one of the most economically and culturally exciting areas on Earth.
The regional economy of Southern California is larger than those of all but a handful of the world’s countries. But it has a disturbing tendency to think in small-town terms. Last week, for example, was filled with lamentation over the sale of Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, because it took the headquarters of another Fortune 500 company out of the area. “Los Angeles has become something of a banana republic,” said commentator Joel Kotkin in this newspaper and others.
Some bananas! The annual economic output of Los Angeles County is $316 billion--a tad more than that of Russia. The annual output of all six Southern California counties, including San Diego, exceeds $600 billion. It is not boosterism to remind the region that from a collection of casual, orange-scented towns, it has become a global powerhouse. As such, the region is attracting investment and people and trade and innovation on a scale unequaled anywhere. If the residents of Southern California want to continue to enjoy good quality of life, they must cope with such growth and be less careless about building the infrastructure for it.
One feature of the plans for LAX is that the Green Line rail service will be extended into the airport, accommodating passengers and relieving congestion on the local streets.
Why doesn’t the Green Line already go to the airport? Apparently because of confusion and carelessness: “The taxi and shuttle interests opposed it years ago,” says one expert. “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority didn’t have the money when the airport was modernized for the ’84 Olympics,” says another.
But things are changing now. The Los Angeles World Airports authority, which owns LAX, Ontario and Palmdale, is thinking ahead on a regional basis. Its plans recognize the growing population and economic importance of San Bernardino and Riverside counties--which have 3.1 million residents now. With the adjacent San Gabriel Valley cities of Covina, Pomona, Claremont and others, the area employs more than 1 million people. Expansion of the airport and other transportation is essential.
San Diego County, where there are plans to expand Lindbergh Field, may offer some solution for Orange County’s problem. (Costa Mesa’s John Wayne Airport is legally forbidden to grow.)
And to the north of Los Angeles, Palmdale Airport, which is already built, could provide useful service if rail access to it is provided.
Of course there’s no end to the possibilities if, as one concerned businessman puts it, “people would think of the good of the whole, interdependent region.”
As always, that’s Southern California’s problem--and its challenge.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Projections Aloft
Forecasters agree that airport passenger traffic will grow in Southern California. The numbers reflect projected passenger traffic through regional airports for 2015, except where noted.
*
Current Projected
Airport (in millions) (in millions)
LAX 64.5 86-98
Lindbergh Field (San Diego) 15.3 21-24
John Wayne 7.5 6-7*
El Toro NA 20-23*
Ontario 6.5 15-17
Burbank 4.7 8-9 (2020 est.)
Palmdale NA 4-5
*
*Based on projections for proposed airport at El Toro, which voters rejected March 7.
NA= Not available
Sources: Los Angeles World Airports; Southern California Assn. of Governments; Lindbergh Field; John Wayne International Airport; Times estimates
Researched by NONA YATES/Los Angeles Times
