Beaten in Court, City Aims at Noise, Traffic Studies to Curb Airport Activity

Another airport battle has seen a temporary victory for the aviation side after Lantana Airport's ban on jet-powered aircraft ended. 

The Palm Beach, Florida field is one of 4 in the county, theoretically a reliever for the busier, larger Palm Beach International 7 miles away. Like many reliever airports, it's built up a thriving training and GA scene, the only aircraft permitted at the field by the county. Captain Errol Forman, a Cessna Citation pilot, landed at the field in 2016, kicking off the legal battle. He challenged the ban as outdated, given improvements in turbine noise, referring the situation to the FAA. The Palm Beach airports director threatened Forman with jail time and fines if he landed at Lantana. 

The county, a frequent beneficiary of federal grant money for airport operations, was required to allow jet operations once again, but time and time again they ignored the ban. After a series of lawsuits and appeals, the county's legal team warned that duking it out would only waste their money, with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the FAA's position that a Jet ban was "unreasonable and unjustly discriminatory."

Now, the county seems to eye a different approach to kicking out the bizjets, according to director of airports Laura Beebe. 

“In addition to submitting the Corrective Action Plan required by the FAA, we will be requesting the FAA to conduct a safety assessment of jet operations at the airport and an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act in connection with its approval of the Corrective Action Plan," said Beebe. "The County has also initiated a Part 150 Noise Compatibility Study for the Lantana Airport, which was paused due to the litigation.”

FMI: www.pbia.org/about/general-aviation/park-airport/