By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

July 27, 2010 - The FAA’s proposed flight route for certain single-engine airplanes taking off from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) has created a divide between Santa Monica residents and those living in surrounding Los Angeles neighborhoods. While many in Santa Monica do not want the recently tested route to become permanent because it takes aircraft over homes and schools, several Los Angeles residents and leaders see it as a benefit because they say it reduces the number of idling aircraft and the pollution they create.

Several commissioners and public speakers at Monday’s Santa Monica Airport Commission meeting said this division is not the best way to create change. They said those affected by SMO should come together to take on the FAA, which controls the airport and flight patterns. Commissioner Stephan Mark said different groups need to cooperate by finding a common ground.

“You can spend a lot of time analyzing the [proposed route] one way or the other, it doesn’t really lead you to something that may solve everyone’s problems,” he said.

Commissioner Jean Gebman encouraged people to start working like lobbyists and write down what “rules” they want to see changed in the FAA’s rulebook.

“The FAA rulebook has some interesting features,” he said. “The first is they’re the judge. When all is said and done, almost always they are the judge. They are also the jury and the prosecutor and the defense attorney in many instances. And so what we’re up against is a stacked deck.”

Gebman blamed congressional representatives over the years, some influenced by various lobbying groups, for creating this situation.

“Where have the people’s representatives been?” he asked. “That’s the problem we have. And what I would encourage us to do as we go forward is thinking about what rules we the people would like to see changed, and put it in writing just like the lobbyists do.”

The FAA is currently working on a report regarding the tested flight route that took single-engine, piston-powered planes over the Sunset Park and Ocean Park neighborhoods toward the pier. This includes a review of thousands of complaints during the 180-day test period that concluded in early June. The purpose of the test was to determine if the new route would reduce flight delays at SMO and LAX.

When the FAA releases its report and decision whether the route should be made permanent, it will also determine what level of environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) it will conduct. Several public speakers told the commissioners they fear the FAA will not decide the most intense review, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), is needed.

Several public speakers said they do not trust the FAA to make these decisions. Valerie Griffin, chair of the Wilshire-Montana Neighborhood Coalition, talked about many mathematical flaws she said there are in the conclusions contained an interim report on the test route that was released by the FAA in March.

The City has hired consultants to do its own review of the test route, although the FAA has said the findings of those studies will have no effect on the FAA’s analysis.  See: City Hires Consultants for Airport Studies and Website Enhancement,  June 17, 2010.

Also, the City hired a consultant to install a near-real time (15-minute delay) flight track information system on SMO’s website. The WebTrak service will allows people to see actual flight tracks and complaints can be electronically filed through the system.

Santa Monica Airport Director Robert Trimborn said at the meeting that the system needs to get a final approval from the FAA, which is expected to happen late next month. Then the system can go on line “almost immediately.”

“You can spend a lot of time analyzing the [proposed route] one way or the other, it doesn’t really lead you to something that may solve everyone’s problems,”
    Commissioner Stephan     Mark