California Airports

AIRPORT BOARD OPTS TO STOP EVICTION OF ARTCRAFT PAINT – A group of local pilots and air traffic controllers landed hard Thursday night on the Santa Maria Public Airport District’s plans to redesignate taxiways at the airport.

The Santa Maria Airport General Manager is planning to implement, what local pilots and Air Traffic Control [ATC] officials say, is a new runway taxiway re-designation plan which will be confusing to all pilots. This confusion can lead to unsafe and possibly deadly conditions at the airport.

Santa Maria Airport Air Traffic Control manager, James Jones states the changes “would be very confusing to air traffic controllers, local and transient pilots”. James goes on to say that” The confusion that will result from these proposed changes would only increase runway incursions at the Santa Maria Public Airport”.

The Palm Springs International Airport is not yet LAX. But it seems to be on a sort of Los Angeles-style trajectory when looking at the increasing number of passengers making their way through the 16-gate airport.

The Palm Springs airport set a record in 2012, serving 1,727,122 travelers, eclipsing the old record of 1,610,943 passengers in 2007.

Bob Hope Airport moves to avoid future runway power outages – The Burbank airport’s authority has voted to update aging runway wiring, foran estimated $3 million. Meanwhile, nearly $83,000 will be spent on an emergency lighting system.

Bob Hope Airport is taking steps to prevent another power outage like theone last November that knocked out operations on its longest runway.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport A touthority last week voted to buy an emergency lighting system while officials complete a multimillion dollar plan to replace the dated wiring system that caused the outage.

“That outage, frankly, was not to the standard that we offer to the traveling public…. It creates havoc for those customers that couldn’t fly out of here at night,” said Dan Feger, the airport’s executive director.

Santa Maria AirportSM airport proves Aesop’s wisdom – Santa Maria, North County and all of California were hit hard by the Great Recession. Some places responded with hand-wringing, worrying and sheep-like bleating to elected officials for a government program of one sort or another.

There is no renewed prosperity on that path.

Perhaps we have been guilty of some fretting ourselves. Perhaps Santa Maria is not a perfect picture of fiscal health, but it could be doing a lot worse. And that would not be good for the area, because a healthy Santa Maria is essential to the well-being of North County.

ONTARIO, CA – It’s a question that has been asked over and over again: What would the Ontario International Airport Authority do if it had control of Los Angeles/Ontario International Airport?

The multi-jurisdictional alliance at its Monday morning meeting approved a formal document that details how it would address its four main goals – reducing airline costs, developing airport-related businesses, expanding air service and providing customer-friendly facilities and services.

Fortuna Arcata AirportAt its first meeting of the New Year on Monday, the Fortuna City Council will hear a proposal to rename the Arcata/Eureka Airport.

According to the council agenda, the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission, the entity proposing the change, says a rebranding will attract more tourism dollars, ultimately creating an environment for sustainable airline competition and lower ticket prices.

The commission has already presented the idea to the McKinleyville Community Services District and plans to present it to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors at a later date.

LIVERMORE — After two weeks moored in the muck at Livermore Municipal Airport, MetLife chief blimp pilot Bret Viets eyed the afternoon’s dark clouds, waiting for a break in the weather. The previous day, Viets’ lighter-than-air vessel, “Snoopy Two,” provided aerial coverage of an Oakland Raiders game. His work finished, he bided his time before heading south to San Diego.

An airship pilot for five years, Viets is a rare breed. He estimates there are only about two dozen such pilots in the U.S.

“It’s fun,” Viets said. “I enjoy meeting new people. That’s as much a part of our job as flying.”

Runway 13/31 will be closed on December 26th to December 29th 2012. Please check the NOTAMS before your flight.NOTAMS will be posted shortly. This information may change with the weather but we will keep you posted with the most up to date information as possible.

Jolie Lucas, Region 3 Vice President testified before Santa Maria Airport Board to encourage solution versus eviction for long-time airport business ArtCraft Paint.

Teresa Venegas Arredondo has been doing business at the Santa Maria Public Airport for 28 years as the owner of ArtCraft Paint Inc., and Thursday night friends and business associates made an appeal to the Board of Directors to let her continue.