Let Public In on FAA Hearings

The new year has brought the Federal Aviation Administration squarely into the midst of the continuing contest over the proposed El Toro airport. A pending change of administration in Washington, recent test flights at the site and lingering contradictions about early agency appraisals of the safety of flight patterns all are coming front and center.

Whatever else the agency does in having its final say on the airport proposal, it has an opportunity and an obligation to make good on its administrator’s previous commitment to hold community hearings in Orange County.

The appointment of Norman Y. Mineta as head of the Department of Transportation brought with it an expectation of continued tenure for current FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, who, like Mineta, wants change within the agency. This is potentially significant for El Toro, because Garvey came to her job as a veteran of the battle between East Boston community activists and expansion plans for Logan International Airport. She previously has indicated a preference for community-based hearings on El Toro.

That was supposed to happen last year, but last year there was uncertainty over the outcome of Measure F, the recently overruled ballot initiative that required an airport to go before voters. Now that planning for the airport is going forward pending further appeals on Measure F, the incoming Bush administration, and the FAA in particular, can bolster confidence in its flight plan review by holding hearings.

With their recent decision to spend a substantial amount of money lobbying Washington, county supervisors further aggravated strained relations with many constituents. People don’t seem to care much that the lobbying money is revenue generated by John Wayne Airport, and is not direct taxation or a raid on the general fund. The angry response shows how alive community sentiment remains on El Toro seven years into the debate.

Until fairly recently, the FAA had managed to stay above this fray. Its unsatisfactory answers to date on the discrepancy between a MITRE Corp. consulting report on arrival and departure problems for jets at El Toro and the assertion of an agency manager that jets won’t have such difficulties raised the question of who’s right. Now recent FAA flight tests have generated more negative community buzz.

When the county conducted its separate flight tests in 1999, something changed in the dynamic of already fractious relations between the county and southern communities. The superintendent of one school district reported that one of his principals said he could not imagine educating children in such a noisy environment. Supervisor Chuck Smith, the most determined airport supporter in county government, even remarked that the noise he heard would have to be addressed.

All of this argues for a thorough response to legitimate questions about the impact of this proposed airport on surrounding communities.

The new year has brought the FAA back to the center stage. With it comes the responsibility to adequately address the concerns on the ground.