AOPA LOOSES SANTA MONICA VOTE DOES IT REALLY MATTER

Santa Monica and Venice Beach California are magnificent places to visit. You do not need a rental car, taking a cab from the airport to your hotel and walk everywhere.

Santa Monica Airport (SMO) has been a thorn in the side of people who live there, City Council, Airport Commission, FAA, AOPA and NBAA. Just a short history in that SMO quit taking grants from the FAA in 2000 and claim they can close the airport in 2015. Some say this should be 2022. The vote itself had little use as Federal Law supersedes City Law, and in my opinion this issue will be settled in Federal Court.

The City states they have the right to close the airport and develop it as it so wishes. The FAA states that the property has to remain an airport in perpetuity. I have read that NBAA and AOPA spent approximately $800,000 in the campaign for Proposition D. I personally feel that this was a total waste of money as Federal law will prevail one way or the other. Bill Dunn, VP of AOPA, put in hundreds if not thousand of hours traveling to SMO trying to educate the general public in the benefits of SMO to the City and their economy. I am personally sorry to see the negative results for all the effort he put into making Prop D a success.

There is another caveat that I have not heard a lot of discussion on. The City is trying to do everything in it’s power to make the airport unusable. SMO is the only airport that I have flown to that requires a landing fee for my Bonanza. It was $6 two years ago and now it is $18 to land there. I have never heard of an airport that charges based aircraft a landing fee. At SMO all based airplanes have to pay a fee. In addition if a flight school does a touch and go, they have to pay a fee for every time the wheels touch the pavement. 

Now SMO is reducing the amount of fuel that can be pumped every day. I could fly in with my Bonanza, and would not be able to depart if there was not any fuel available. There are many jets based at SMO that could be in the same situation.

SMO is doing every thing in their legal rights to discourage use of the airport. They have also sued the FAA losing twice with attorney fees in the $3 million range.  I personally think that the City will make things so miserable for the flying public they will have to go elsewhere and the airport will disappear. This will be a shame!