Rejects Appeal By The Airport For An Earlier Closure Date

The FAA has rejected an appeal by Santa Monica city leaders to push up the closing date of Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), citing AIP grants the city accepted back in 2003.

The ruling came from Eduardo A. Angeles, the FAA’s associate administrator for airports. He upheld the decision made by Byron K. Huffman, acting director of the agency’s Office of Airport Compliance, back in December of last year, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

Huffman said that the city accepted an AIP grant of $240,600 in August of 2003, and grant terms normally expire 20 years after they are accepted. That would put the earliest possible closing date of KSMO at August, 2023. The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by airport tenants and many national aviation groups fighting to keep the airport open.

Angeles said that Huffman's decision was backed up by a "preponderance" of evidence that is consistent with FAA policy, court precedent and federal law.

City officials contend that the 2003 grant was merely an amendment of a $1.6 million grant received in June of 1994, which would mean that all federal obligations were met in 2014. The FAA disagrees.

City officials must now decide whether to move the matter to federal court, having exhausted the FAA's administrative review process, according to the report.

FMI: Original Report