El Toro Airport’s Uncertain Future

Re “Spending Airport Funds,” editorial, Sept. 30:

The editorial states, “The uncertainty of these times should prompt county leaders to revisit assumptions about revenue streams at John Wayne Airport and the proposed commercial airport at El Toro.” Words of wisdom unfortunately likely to fall on deaf ears at the Board of Supervisors.

Since the terrorist attack, airport officials across the nation have said that runway, terminal and parking expansions would be halted or reviewed.

Why? The attacks have slashed air traffic. But more important, airport administrators are waiting for revised--and probably expensive--security requirements to be announced. Vendors are also pulling out for fear that heightened security--such as barring friends and family from the gates--will severely cut into revenues.

John Wayne Airport is projected to lose $9.2 million in revenue over the next 12 months. The loss will result from declines in fees paid to the county for aircraft landings, concessions, car parking and rentals. During the same period, the cost of airport security will quadruple to $16.6 million.

Until now, John Wayne revenue has been a cash cow for the county’s feverish spending on El Toro, which to date is estimated at over $50 million. Despite repeated warnings that the well is running dangerously low, the pro-airport supervisors continue to spend away to promote an unwanted and unneeded airport at El Toro.

It is this type of “damn the torpedoes” mentality that precipitated the Orange County bankruptcy. It may be time to change course--or the Board of Supervisors--before it’s too late.

Christine Prince

Laguna Hills

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I came across an excellent, well-written Times editorial published last New Year’s Eve entitled “Testing Our 2020 Vision.” It asked a number of pertinent questions carried over from the past two decades that have yet to be addressed. For example, “How will the county meet its commercial and cargo air traffic needs?” And another: “Will we be able to solve the problems now and retool our school, health, housing, transportation and economic institutions?”

And then the big question: “Will we have the courage to make the hard decisions? Or will we continue to allow problems to drift unsolved into 2010 and 2020 for future generations to wrestle with?” Nine months later, we have made no progress in answering the questions, and in fact have made matters much worse, especially in the transportation area that includes airports and toll roads.

I find it rather interesting that The Times editorials present a decidedly negative tone to a key link in the Southern California regional and Orange County air transportation system--namely an El Toro airport. Featured columnists reinforce this negative tone toward El Toro. Fortunately the coverage of the toll roads seems to be more balanced. The anti-El Toro faction and the toll road proponents are intimately connected and are directed or led by the same people.

The strong connection between El Toro and the toll roads is the remaining Orange County land suitable for building houses. If the Foothill South tollway is extended, the open land surrounding the road becomes available for housing development. If El Toro is killed, the buffer zones and the 4,700-acre airport will turn into housing tracts.

So who is trying to run Orange County? One answer is the builders and the NIMBYs in South County, comprising less than 20% of the population.

William Kearns

Costa Mesa

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Now with the public’s tendency to fear air travel, should we not reevaluate our personal feelings and act on the debate over the airport/Great Park at El Toro--this time with equanimity? Shall we have another half-empty airport flying a modest schedule for mostly empty seats, or should we have a great park offering serenity, fun and joy for our children; education; and some freedom from noise, traffic and pollution?

Bill Joyce

Laguna Beach

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In light of the recent tragedy, I wonder what would happen in Orange County if we had a major earthquake and needed medical supplies brought in or the injured transported to hospitals outside the area. Would lives be saved if we had the airstrips at El Toro?

What if America found itself in a major war and needed those four, quite long runways for military purposes? It might be advisable to keep that land an airport for such purposes. We now know the unexpected does happen.

Angela Gallagher

Costa Mesa

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It is a measure of the desperation now felt by the folks pushing the airport that they have priced a proposed park even though the measure awaiting the ballot in March does nothing more than replace the zoning for an airport at El Toro with zoning for a park. There is no park plan to be priced.

But in their rush to force an airport plan upon county voters, the county has failed to price the billions of dollars for a pipeline needed to bring fuel to the airport, the navigation rights needed to allow landings over Leisure World and the sound-proofing program needed to mitigate the sound levels of more than 4,000 homes around the base.

And now that the revenues from John Wayne, which had been counted on to kick-start the airport construction, appear ready to go deeply into the red and bond-rating companies are treating airport bonds across the country like junk bonds, where does the proposed financing for the airport stand?

When will Supervisors Smith, Silva and Coad admit what 65% of their constituents already understand? The plan for an airport at El Toro is dead, and it is time for a well-deserved burial.

Michael Smith

Mission Viejo

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I laughed as I read the Times editorial “Think Through El Toro” (Sept. 15) when the question was asked “What’s the rush?” This referred to Orange County supervisors signing off on the airport Sept. 17. Surely, seven years of planning can not be considered “rushing.”

Your editorial stated, “Some important information is missing about El Toro” and that three supervisors want to “rubber stamp” it. I defy anyone to produce a more detailed and lengthy environmental impact report. The time and money spent on its development over the last seven years are monumental. No other public project in Orange County has been more thoroughly investigated. The citizens of Orange County wanted El Toro Airport, as is evidenced by their voting for Measure A and then Measure S. The reason your editorial can claim the plans are “flawed and unpopular” is because after those two votes, opponents spent millions on propaganda to produce that public opinion. The only thing “flawed” about the airport planning is that the county was not able to match the millions of dollars with a campaign to provide the truth.

Esther Fine

Newport Beach