Ontario Can Be O.C.’s Airport

As long as Newport Beach and South County remain antagonists regarding the reuse of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, no real progress toward a solution is likely. Money will continue to be spent needlessly and ineffectively, and accusations of inaccurate propaganda will continue to fly.

I believe an approach can be accepted by both parties as well as the various pilots associations, the FAA and San Bernardino County. There can be no doubt that an airport at El Toro would impose undesirable noise and pollution on people who live, work or study in its vicinity. Those of us who have lived under the takeoff path for John Wayne Airport, as I have for 31 years, cannot in good faith suggest otherwise.

These conditions should not be imposed on South County. By the same token, Newport Beach residents are entitled to the fine quality of life currently enjoyed by South County. Therefore, I propose that John Wayne Airport be closed as a commercial airfield and the El Toro base be put to a non-airport use.

Instead, John Wayne should be used as the Orange County terminus of a high-speed rail system connecting John Wayne Airport and Ontario International Airport. The Orange County passengers would fly out of Ontario, which is an international airport.

Ontario can now accommodate 10 million passengers a year in two new terminal buildings and has room for expansion. Thus Orange County transcontinental and overseas passengers would fly directly from Ontario, relieving LAX of some of the burden. Orange County travelers who now must use LAX for international and direct transcontinental flights would check in and check baggage at either John Wayne or Ontario, depending on which is closer.

Airline ticketing and baggage checking would be carried out by the fine facilities now used for that purpose at John Wayne. Parking has already been provided. The runways at John Wayne would be closed to commercial flights, and the area opened up could be devoted to expansion of parking and the addition of industrial and commercial complexes similar to those that now surround the field.

The technology for high-speed railways is well within the state of the art. A route following the Costa Mesa and Riverside freeways and Route 83 should be considered to avoid disrupting communities.

This would significantly reduce automobile, shuttle and bus travel, with its attendant pollution, to and from LAX. Pressures on Los Angeles to expand LAX would be significantly reduced. Safety would be enhanced by closing John Wayne as an airfield and not developing an El Toro airport.

First, Federal Aviation Administration control of the airspace would be simplified if John Wayne and El Toro were eliminated.

Second, takeoff and landing procedures at both John Wayne Airport and the proposed El Toro commercial airport present many safety challenges. Eliminating both airports should be a major step toward safer flights.

Much of the cost of developing the proposed regional air travel plan can be covered by issuing revenue bonds, as was done so successfully to finance John Wayne Airport. Additional help should be available from the federal government and agencies such as the Southern California Assn. of Governments. A regional air travel authority should be established to explore, plan and refine the implementation of the idea.

I would very much like to see the Orange County civil war end. I firmly believe that we need a regionally integrated plan that will preserve South County’s quality of life, enhance Newport Beach’s and make good use of John Wayne’s fine facilities.