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I sincerely appreciate
Mayor Hahn’s recent vocal support of a regional system of airports
to carry the burden of our ever-increasing aviation demand here in
Southern California. I am even more delighted to see action behind
those words by way of Los Angeles World Airports moving ahead with a
Master Plan for Palmdale Airport so it can take its place as an
active cog in the regional aviation wheel.
We’re heading in the right direction, but there is one more thing
I’d like to see: The City of Los Angeles cooperating with the region
as an active partner to develop a comprehensive regional aviation
plan. A coordinated cooperative planning effort involving all
stakeholders is critical to ensure we meet aviation needs in the
coming years. This is exactly what the Southern California Regional
Airport Authority is doing.
Airports in the Southern California region can no longer afford to
act like 10 separate airports with 10 separate agendas. We must take
the opportunity to put the influence of the nation’s most heavily
populated region, except New York, to work for us. Together, we
carry incredible clout to bring about change, gain federal funding,
and convince air carriers to expand service to our area. We must
coordinate our efforts so we can bring this power to bear, for the
benefit of all Southern Californians.
In addition, the regional aviation system must integrate the various
types of transportation -- air and ground transportation – if we are
to develop a system of airports that truly works. Our goal should be
to create a system of airports that complement each other, rather
than duplicate each other, and to connect the complementing airports
with new-technology ground transportation such as high-speed rail.
This is the type of system that would integrate air and ground
transportation, utilizing strengths and resources of each airport to
the fullest. And it can only happen with all regional transportation
agencies and airport operators coordinating their planning goals and
objectives.
Finally, the region needs to work together to distribute air traffic
from LAX to outlying airports. Regional air service distribution is
not going to happen by itself. All stakeholders, including air
carriers, must actively work together and truly begin to see airport
service in a new way.
It is critical that we as a region act like a region, and not a
bunch of lone rangers. We must band together, and plan together, if
we are to create the aviation system Southern California needs to
see it through this century.
As the founding Chairman of the Southern California Regional Airport
Authority, our goal to implement a regional aviation/transportation
system that meets our future transportation needs is coming to life.
A regional airport system that operates in a community sensitive and
environmentally friendly way, while still bringing economic growth
to Southern California, could ultimately be the new aviation model
for the entire nation. The Southern California Regional Airport
Authority Board of Directors look forward to working with Mayor Hahn
and other airport operators as we move our consensus planning
approach forward in the months ahead.
DON KNABE
Member Southern
California Regional Airport Authority
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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