Quote of the Week: "our safety is endangered for these incredibly rich people who use this airport as a playground”  Nina Menkes -- a neighbor of the Santa Monica airport" 

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #200..........................................December 27, 2002 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm Affiliated with, but not a publication of, the U.S. Citizen's Aviation Watch http://www.us-caw.org/ 

 Class War Over Santa Monica Airport Pollution!!!

As Bill Sees It: (Editorial): Santa Monica Airport A Good Example Of Aviation Gone Mad!!! When I saw a aerial picture of Santa Monica Airport with homes completely surrounding the airport even I was surprised. Some of the homes were practically touching the ends of the runways!!! Apparently this airport is heavily used by the "rich and famous" who couldn't care less about the "little people" who are assaulted daily by their private planes, many of which are jets!!!  According to a story this week city officials are trying to stop this outrage. You can be sure which side the FAA aviation "promoters" are on in this kind of battle, and it isn't the homeowners. More and more it is the airports old allies, local politicians, that are demanding a stop to the endless airport expansion. This can only mean that local people are becoming more powerful than the airport users. No doubt the local politicians are more afraid of being thrown out of office than pleasing the polluters. O'Hare Expansion Plans Grounded? The airport's major carrier's are in deep financial trouble and the city of Chicago has "temporarily" grounded plans for a huge overhaul of terminals at O'Hare International Airport. However, the city of Chicago has submitted plans to the FAA for environmental review. New Jersey: New Radio Tower To Affect New York's LaGuardia Flights? If you want to get rid of air traffic build a high tower that the planes have to avoid. Could that be the strategy behind putting up a high tower in New Jersey that would affect flights many miles away in Queens, New York? It wouldn't surprise me. This new tower is supposed to replace the one that was lost when the World Trade Center collapsed. Instead of working with New York communities to form a united front against aviation, some New Jersey communities have for years been coming up with plans that would decrease overflights over New Jersey at the expense of New York City. They even use FAAspeak terminology to label one vicious route change that sends planes over heavily impacted Staten Island, as the "over water route." This is because part of the flight route (see map below) goes over water. The Aviation Cabal knows that they will never be defeated as long as they can count on communities like New Jersey to try to reduce their pollution at the expense of their neighbors.

United Airlines Bankruptcy To Kill O'hare Expansion Atrocity? At the middle of this year, it looked as if Chicago was going to get the expansion it wanted at O'Hare International Airport. Gov. George Ryan and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley had reached an agreement that would turn O'Hare into an airport with six east-west parallel runways. The legislation passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives July 23 after it first failed to receive the two-thirds vote it needed to pass as fast-track legislation the week before. But it never made it past the U.S. Senate. The plan that looked like it was done was stuck on the floor of the Senate. Legislation it was written into never even came up for a vote.  http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/wn/12-26-02-14566.html 

 

Santa Monica Has Had It With Airport Pollution: City officials came a step closer to eliminating large non-commercial jets from the Santa Monica airport, Tuesday, December 10, when the City Council unanimously voted to go forward with a new Aircraft Conformance Program (ACP) that is designed to increase airport safety.  With increased traffic and no safety areas, City officials and residents worry that a prop plane or jet could skid out of control and barrel down on a residential neighborhood. Some houses are just 250 feet from the raised edges of the runway!!! http://www.smmirror.com/volume4/issue28/city_moves_to.asp 

 

New Jersey: New Tower To Affect New York's LaGuardia Flights? Erecting a mammoth 2,000-foot television antenna in Bayonne would require rerouting planes at three area airports to ensure flight safety, according to a preliminary analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration.  The tower, sought by area broadcasters to replace the one lost with the World Trade Center, appears to pose potential aviation hazards that can be remedied, according to the initial review, which the FAA is seeking to supplement during a public comment period that runs until Jan. 2. http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1039864447149211.xml 

Airline News You Might Not Have Heard In 2002: One of the most tumultuous years in the airline industry is drawing to a close. It will be remembered as the year when US Airways and United Airlines filed for bankruptcy reorganization and when the federal government took control of airport security. But a few other stories might be worth remembering, too. USA Today reports on some of them such as: Air marshals bumped? Two federal air marshals wrote a report saying an American Airlines employee told them that the airline "was growing tired of air marshals taking high-revenue seats" and refused to let them sit near the cockpit on a Feb. 20 flight from Palm Springs, Calif., through Dallas to Charlotte. American officials denied it. 727 says goodbye: The Boeing 727, the three-engine jet that was one of the most popular planes ever, was retired from United and American fleets. Northwest and Delta will retire their 727s next year. More than 2,000 were manufactured. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-12-24-biz-travel.htm 

New Jersey Airport Group Fights Airport Expansion: Currently PLANE represents over 2,000 residents in 20 surrounding communities The FAA neglected to conduct a required Environmental Assessment prior to permitting Eastwind Airlines service. The Trenton-Mercer airport control tower closes at 10:00pm but air traffic continues to arrive and depart from the airport 24 hours per day. http://www.aboutplane.com/ 

"Hooters" Owner Buys A Chartered Airlines: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — The owner of the Hooters restaurant chain – famous for its hot wings and its waitresses' outfits – has acquired a small North Carolina charter airline in hopes of taking his company name to the skies. Hooters of America chairman Robert H. Brooks said Thursday he had bought Pace Airlines, a division of Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation, and intended to establish a charter air service called Hooters Air that would provide leisure travel services for the golf industry to serve Myrtle Beach, S.C., as a prime destination. http://site.pga.com/Newsline/Industry_News/industrynews_detail.cfm?ID=3301 

Another Pilot Suspended After Failing Drunk Test: Delta has suspended pilot Gary Schroeder after a test allegedly showed he had alcohol in his system. The test was done after Schroeder was taken off a flight at the airport in Norfolk, Virginia yesterday. Officials say baggage screeners had smelled alcohol on the pilot's breath when he arrived to co-pilot a Delta flight to Cincinnati. http://home.abc28.com/Global/story.asp?S=1063277  http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E1075110,00.html 

 

 

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 Aviation News Stories

O'Hare plan goes to FAA

By The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Mayor Richard Daley submitted his expansion plan for O'Hare International Airport for federal review Monday, saying the time is right even if airlines and the economy are slumping.

Daley said the $6.6 billion plan he submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration calls for new runway construction beginning in 2004, and he said Chicago could lose its FAA approval is required before the expansion plan can be carried out.

"We have to think long-term," Daley said. "If we didn't think long-term, we would have given up on Midway Airport in 1991, when Midway Airlines went out of business."

The mayor noted that Southwest Airlines and ATA have nearly doubled the flights at the city's second airport, Midway, after that airport's major client folded.

The mayor's action Monday is the first time the mayor has submitted his plan for official FAA review. The mayor previously tried to push his plan through Congress to guarantee construction, but that effort failed in the Senate.

Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Illinois, blocked that Senate proposal and criticized Daley for pushing expansion in difficult economic times. Fitzgerald also has said he believes building a third airport would be safer and have more economic benefits.

Daley predicted the expansion of O'Hare would create 195,000 jobs, partly by boosting the efficiency of air shipping from Chicago.

The O'Hare plan includes a parallel runway configuration meant to cut delays when planes wait their turn on crisscrossed landing strips.

Two new features in the plan are proposals for a new connection to O'Hare from the Metra commuter rail service and a western highway bypass that would run across the western edge of the airport on airport property to help connect the existing tollways Interstate 90 and Interstate 294 should the state of Illinois want to build the bypass.

The plan also calls for a new western terminal which would also have access to the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line rapid transit service.

The FAA has begun an environmental study of the expansion and is expected to review the plan for more than a year.

Suburban leaders of the project's opposition had no immediate comment. Bensenville interim village manager Jim Johnson said village officials would review the latest plan before commenting. Bensenville is next to O'Hare and has rallied opposition and pushed for a third airport in south suburban Peotone to spread the disturbance.

United Airlines, O'Hare's longtime leading tenant, welcomed the mayor's submission even while trying to reorganize in bankruptcy.

"It's a long-term project. The construction will span 10, 12, 15 years, and our intention is to emerge from bankruptcy in 18 months and shoulder our burden," United spokesman Joe Hopkins said.

American Airlines also supported the mayor.

"Despite the financial challenges facing the airline industry, the need remains for the O'Hare modernization program," the airline said in a written statement. "As American has maintained for more than a decade, O'Hare's airfield configuration is outdated and needs to be modernized."

Daley said the city could issue bonds late next year to pay for construction. He said it's too early to tell whether the city will pay more of the tab to pick up the slack to the airlines.

Chicago business leaders flanked the mayor as he announced the plan's submittal Monday.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper said. "Our country has gone through recessions before and we've come back stronger."

Daley said the major additions to the plan that he and Gov. George Ryan agreed to in 2001 are the access on airport land for a western bypass and access for a Metra connection to O'Hare.