JWA gets OK on booking 12.9 million passenger seats a year - DP 1/18/08
This corrects an earlier version of the story.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy permission to allow air carriers to book about 12 million passenger seats total over the next year beginning in April.
Under the terms of a settlement agreement, John Wayne Airport can allow only 10.3 million passengers a year through its gates, but the number of passenger seats allowed is calculated differently.
Although the board agreed to give Murphy the power to give the airlines up to 12.9 million seats, the carriers typically use about 95% of that number due to factors such as passenger cancellations and missed flights, according to county documents. The supervisors also authorized Murphy on Tuesday to withdraw some of the seats if passenger levels threatened to bubble over 10.3 million.
“What we just need to do is eventually close the airport,” said Newport Beach resident Charles Griffin, who spoke at the meeting on behalf of the anti-airport expansion group AirFair.
Murphy said the seats would benefit local travelers. The air carriers at John Wayne initially requested 13.5 million seats, according to county documents.
“We feel this is needed by the traveling public in Orange County,” Murphy said.
— Brianna Bailey
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008 ... ayne16.txt
JWA gets OK on booking 12.9 million passenger seats a year
Re: JWA gets OK on booking 12.9 million passenger seats a ye
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: - DP 1/24/08
Don’t take extra flights lightly
By Barbara Venezia
There’s an urban legend that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it’s placed in tepid water and slowly heated, the frog becomes accustomed to it, eventually cooks, boiled alive and lulled into disaster.
Not a recipe for success.
Boiling Frog Syndrome, as it is called, is alive and well and thriving in Newport/Costa Mesa. We are the frog in the John Wayne Airport story.
We hear the planes roaring overhead, pause our speech patterns with almost no thought at all. A recent study downplayed the airport noise because it increased so slowly over the years. The abnormal has now become the norm because we’re used to it. We have begun to boil.
Last week, the Daily Pilot reported the Orange County Board of Supervisors gave JWA the green light for air carriers to book 12.9 million passenger seats total over the next year beginning in April. The supervisors also authorized John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy to withdraw some of the seats if passenger levels threatened to bubble over 10.3 million, which is allowed in the settlement agreement.
So why authorize the increase in the first place? I’ve read the staff report rationale and the math behind it; it’s difficult to understand at best. The airlines originally asked for 13.5 million seats and if you think we’re not heading in this direction, think again. There are new airline carriers itching to get into JWA. They can’t right now because of the passenger load issue, but they continue to pressure the airport, county and FAA.
In 2006, the Newport City Council signed the Spheres Agreement saying it would prohibit JWA expansion of an additional runway. Council members say repeatedly that JWA is their top priority.
So why with such an important item on the Board of Supervisor’s agenda, there wasn’t a council person in sight? Some may argue that this agenda item wasn’t really important, but any time there’s any issue dealing with JWA, we should be front and center.
The county is trying to be all things to all people. They’re trying to appease the airport, the carriers, and the residents, but in reality no one’s happy.
Officials are careful not to anger the FAA and not take too strong a stand on the no-growth issue.
What no one wants to talk about is the fact that if the FAA wants a bigger airport, we’re cooked. Think it can’t happen here, just look at the history of the neighborhoods surrounding LAX.
We need our supervisors, senators and congressmen to start speaking up for us loud and clear and to stop trying to please everybody. We need leadership that is willing to go to the mat for us.
Where are the letter writers now? We’re not talking about paving over the back nine, we’re talking about the slow methodical destruction of all our communities.
It wasn’t too long ago that JWA was a sleepy little airport. Back in the 1960s, teenagers sneaked onto runways after dark to race their cars.
One has to wonder: How did we get from there to here? The answer is simple: Slowly, it boiled, and we’ve become accustomed to it.
We’re almost cooked.
BARBARA VENEZIA is the chairman of the Santa Ana Hts. Redevelopment Project Advisor Committee and was the co-creator of the cooking show “At Home on the Range” with John Crean.
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008 ... cipe24.txt
And comments:
Silverthorn wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:30 AM:
" Dead on commentary. This is something I think most of us know but don't talk about. The South County whiners took many attempts before they lied their way into stealing the perfect place for an Orange County airport. So now there's no other "reasonable" option but to keep expanding JWA. The Great Pork was one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated against Orange County residents. Now Irvine has a whole new tax base of homes, businesses and industries plus we get to finance their ripoff. And they'll enjoy the fruits of their manipulation, laughing all the way. Oh well. "
Geoff West wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:23 AM:
" Silverthorn, you're right on the money with your comment! If the Costa Mesa City Council doesn't become active and join our neighbors in Newport Beach to fight the expansion of John Wayne many residents of both cities are going to suffer the consequences of their inaction. It was bad enough when the Libby Cowan-led council stuck their collective heads in the sand about El Toro - to protect Libby's job with the City of Irvine - but to continue to ignore what is clearly happening at John Wayne is malfeasance. "
BKrochman wrote on Jan 24, 2008 1:03 PM:
" I would have to say that this is certainly the most likely issue to unite not only the residents of Costa Mesa, but the communities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Irvine clearly has a stake in keeping the airport growing. It feeds their business district and gives their residents access to convenient air travel at the cost of our quality of life. South county has been far too influential in this debate and it is time for north county to make sure our voices are heard. Where are our leaders? "
c_e_griffin wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:41 PM:
" JWA Improvement Program http://www.ocair.com/improvements/Overview/Concepts.htm
includes:
Six additional aircraft gates with bridges and two hold rooms to accommodate four addtional regional/commuter aircraft positions, north of Terminal A and south of Terminal C.
This boosts capability of the airport well beyond 10.8 MAP of the 2002 JWA settlement agreement!
Please encoorage the State Attorney General to reduce carbon dioxide production at JWA by stopping this un-necessary expansion. Allocate airport revenue for a high-speed Mag-Lev system to airports at Palmdale and Victorville outside the polluted airbasin and sell JWA property for private development on the tax roll. "
Don’t take extra flights lightly
By Barbara Venezia
There’s an urban legend that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it’s placed in tepid water and slowly heated, the frog becomes accustomed to it, eventually cooks, boiled alive and lulled into disaster.
Not a recipe for success.
Boiling Frog Syndrome, as it is called, is alive and well and thriving in Newport/Costa Mesa. We are the frog in the John Wayne Airport story.
We hear the planes roaring overhead, pause our speech patterns with almost no thought at all. A recent study downplayed the airport noise because it increased so slowly over the years. The abnormal has now become the norm because we’re used to it. We have begun to boil.
Last week, the Daily Pilot reported the Orange County Board of Supervisors gave JWA the green light for air carriers to book 12.9 million passenger seats total over the next year beginning in April. The supervisors also authorized John Wayne Airport Director Alan Murphy to withdraw some of the seats if passenger levels threatened to bubble over 10.3 million, which is allowed in the settlement agreement.
So why authorize the increase in the first place? I’ve read the staff report rationale and the math behind it; it’s difficult to understand at best. The airlines originally asked for 13.5 million seats and if you think we’re not heading in this direction, think again. There are new airline carriers itching to get into JWA. They can’t right now because of the passenger load issue, but they continue to pressure the airport, county and FAA.
In 2006, the Newport City Council signed the Spheres Agreement saying it would prohibit JWA expansion of an additional runway. Council members say repeatedly that JWA is their top priority.
So why with such an important item on the Board of Supervisor’s agenda, there wasn’t a council person in sight? Some may argue that this agenda item wasn’t really important, but any time there’s any issue dealing with JWA, we should be front and center.
The county is trying to be all things to all people. They’re trying to appease the airport, the carriers, and the residents, but in reality no one’s happy.
Officials are careful not to anger the FAA and not take too strong a stand on the no-growth issue.
What no one wants to talk about is the fact that if the FAA wants a bigger airport, we’re cooked. Think it can’t happen here, just look at the history of the neighborhoods surrounding LAX.
We need our supervisors, senators and congressmen to start speaking up for us loud and clear and to stop trying to please everybody. We need leadership that is willing to go to the mat for us.
Where are the letter writers now? We’re not talking about paving over the back nine, we’re talking about the slow methodical destruction of all our communities.
It wasn’t too long ago that JWA was a sleepy little airport. Back in the 1960s, teenagers sneaked onto runways after dark to race their cars.
One has to wonder: How did we get from there to here? The answer is simple: Slowly, it boiled, and we’ve become accustomed to it.
We’re almost cooked.
BARBARA VENEZIA is the chairman of the Santa Ana Hts. Redevelopment Project Advisor Committee and was the co-creator of the cooking show “At Home on the Range” with John Crean.
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008 ... cipe24.txt
And comments:
Silverthorn wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:30 AM:
" Dead on commentary. This is something I think most of us know but don't talk about. The South County whiners took many attempts before they lied their way into stealing the perfect place for an Orange County airport. So now there's no other "reasonable" option but to keep expanding JWA. The Great Pork was one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated against Orange County residents. Now Irvine has a whole new tax base of homes, businesses and industries plus we get to finance their ripoff. And they'll enjoy the fruits of their manipulation, laughing all the way. Oh well. "
Geoff West wrote on Jan 24, 2008 10:23 AM:
" Silverthorn, you're right on the money with your comment! If the Costa Mesa City Council doesn't become active and join our neighbors in Newport Beach to fight the expansion of John Wayne many residents of both cities are going to suffer the consequences of their inaction. It was bad enough when the Libby Cowan-led council stuck their collective heads in the sand about El Toro - to protect Libby's job with the City of Irvine - but to continue to ignore what is clearly happening at John Wayne is malfeasance. "
BKrochman wrote on Jan 24, 2008 1:03 PM:
" I would have to say that this is certainly the most likely issue to unite not only the residents of Costa Mesa, but the communities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. Irvine clearly has a stake in keeping the airport growing. It feeds their business district and gives their residents access to convenient air travel at the cost of our quality of life. South county has been far too influential in this debate and it is time for north county to make sure our voices are heard. Where are our leaders? "
c_e_griffin wrote on Jan 24, 2008 4:41 PM:
" JWA Improvement Program http://www.ocair.com/improvements/Overview/Concepts.htm
includes:
Six additional aircraft gates with bridges and two hold rooms to accommodate four addtional regional/commuter aircraft positions, north of Terminal A and south of Terminal C.
This boosts capability of the airport well beyond 10.8 MAP of the 2002 JWA settlement agreement!
Please encoorage the State Attorney General to reduce carbon dioxide production at JWA by stopping this un-necessary expansion. Allocate airport revenue for a high-speed Mag-Lev system to airports at Palmdale and Victorville outside the polluted airbasin and sell JWA property for private development on the tax roll. "