FAA chief says region right to consider bases
SAN DIEGO -- The nation’s aviation chief said Monday that it wasa wise move for San Diego to consider military bases as potentialsites for a new airport because the changing nature of nationaldefense may deliver an opportunity to use a military installationfor civilian purposes.
“I think it’s wise that the airport authority is lookingcarefully at all the options,” said Marion C. Blakey, administratorof the Federal Aviation Administration, in a news conference atLindbergh Field.
At the same time, Blakey said the federal agency would notintervene in a dispute between regional officials and the militaryshould the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, andsubsequently county residents, select a local base as the preferredsite.
Instead, she said, it would be up to local members of Congressto lobby the military on behalf of the region.
The authority is studying whether to build a new airport orexpand Lindbergh Field and expects to name a choice by June. Thatchoice will appear on the November county ballot as an advisorymeasure.
Blakey was in the area Monday to deliver the keynote address forthe 78th annual conference of the American Association of AirportExecutives, being held this week at the San Diego ConventionCenter. She spoke to reporters at the news conferenceafterward.
Airport authority officials maintain that by 2020, Lindberghwill run out of room to accommodate the region’s swelling aviationtraffic. Lindbergh is the nation’s busiest single-runway airportand 20th busiest overall. It recorded 17.4 million airlinepassengers in 2005, and is forecast to reach 30 million by 2030.That forecast is disputed by a UC San Diego economist who suggeststhat Lindbergh can continue serving the area for the foreseeablefuture.
Blakey, however, said there is plenty of reason to believe SanDiego’s cramped 661-acre airport cannot handle the area’s long-termneeds, let alone emerging opportunities to provide a greater shareof swelling international service for Southern Californians.
“LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) is and will continue tobe a major international hub,” Blakey said. “But it isgrowth-limited and there is not much prospect for that tochange.”
Prospects are great, however, for demand for travel todestinations in Latin America and Asia to soar because ofimmigration and because of China’s economic expansion, Blakey said.The United States long has been the world’s busiest aviationmarket, but China is growing so fast that it will overtake the U.S.in 20 years, she said.
With Los Angeles approaching a cap on future capacity, and fewairports stepping up to the plate to absorb the growth it will haveto pass on, she said, San Diego officials have a chance to seize alarge chunk of the international market.
“But they’re not going to be able to do it with a one-runwayairport,” Blakey said.
The nation’s 15th FAA administrator also said San Diego Countyleaders should not become discouraged in the face of the difficultchoices.
“These are huge decisions, and sometimes they have taken decadesfor others to make,” she said.
The degree of difficulty in choices came into sharp focusMonday, as consultant Robert Hazel of Reston, Va., presentedresults of a market study to the authority board. The 84-pagereport revealed that four candidate sites are much farther fromdowntown San Diego than any airport today is from the city centerit serves. The world champ is Narita Airport, 41 miles fromdowntown Tokyo. That distance is dwarfed by the 69 miles to Campo,88 miles to March Air Reserve Base, 94 miles to Borrego Springs and104 miles to Imperial County.
“They’re just not going to be successful,” Hazel said of theremote sites. “People aren’t going to drive that far.”
Imperial proponents have stressed that a maglev rail systemwould slash travel times and make that option viable. But thereport stated that, even with an expensive and speedy train, itwould take county residents an hour and 22 minutes on average toreach such an airport.
Three of the four remaining sites are on military property. Theyinclude Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Naval Air Station NorthIsland and a Camp Pendleton site 2 miles east of Interstate 5 and1/2 miles north of Highway 76. Lindbergh is the only close civiliansite.
Board member Bill Lynch of Rancho Santa Fe observed: “I’ve saidfor a long time that you’ve got to work something out with themilitary or you’re stuck with Lindbergh.”
In other business, the board voted 7-0 to oppose legislation byAssemblyman Jay LaSuer, R-El Cajon, that would expand boardmembership from nine to 11 members, and require that five beelected from the same districts county supervisors represent. Thosefive would be paid and serve on the board’s executivecommittee.
Board member Anthony Young of San Diego opposed the legislationon grounds that subjecting five positions to elections wouldpoliticize the appointed board.
Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 orddowney@nctimes.com.