City Had Petitioned For Closure, Redevelopment
One gets the feeling that ever since the March 2003 "emergency"
closure of Meigs Field by Chicago mayor Richard Daley, the FAA is a
bit sensitive to other cities taking it upon themselves to decide
whether an airport is necessary or not. Take Bakersfield, CA as an
example.
Wishing to redevelop the land currently occupied by Bakersfield
Municipal Airport (L45) for "mixed use" purposes, city leaders
asked the FAA to release it from its obligations to the airport.
Bakersfield claimed the airport was underused, unsafe, and too
expensive for the city to maintain.
The mayor also told the FAA that other airports could
accommodate L45's 30,000 annual takeoffs and landings and its 100
based aircraft.
The FAA's response? An emphatic "no."
"L45 continues to serve the purpose for which it was created and
its loss would be a substantial detriment to civil aviation
interests of the region, state, or the national system of
airports," wrote the FAA's acting Associate Administrator for
Airports Catherine Lang.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association adds that in a
10-page response to Bakersfield's request, Lang batted down every
argument the city advanced for closures and made it very clear that
a contract is a contract.
AOPA had asked the FAA to stand firm when the city formalized
its closure request.
"The FAA truly supported AOPA and general aviation pilots on
this airport," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "And we greatly
appreciate the agency's determined efforts across the nation to not
only prevent airport closure, but to continue to improve the
network of reliever and GA airports that are such an important part
of our national transportation system."
It appears that, for now at least, Bakersfield got the message.
"At this point in time, I think it's pretty clear from the FAA's
point of view that the answer is no," said the City of Bakersfield
spokesperson Rhonda Smiley to KGET-17.
One airport tenant adds
that despite the city's efforts to stymie growth at the airport,
Bakersfield Municipal has managed to continue on.
"I think they've been slapped pretty hard on this one," said
airport business owner John Harmon. "They've been told a number of
times, 'pay attention to what we're telling you. We don't close
airports.' If it's a lemon to you, squeeze it, make lemon juice.
The airport will survive."
The FAA also says the city's figures show Bakersfield has
managed to profit from that "lemon juice" -- while also noting the
city discourages aeronautical development
"The city's own 'Summary of Actual Revenues and Expenditures'
shows that since 1994-95, the city has operated the airport with a
surplus averaging $42,000 a year," Lang pointed out.
"Consistent with federal obligations, 'the highest and best use
of the land' is that it remain as an airport," Lang added.
To which AOPA's Boyer added, "Amen."
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