FAA To Consider Case On October 28

The eviction of FBOs Atlantic Aviation and American Flyers from Santa Monica Airport (KSMO) has been delayed while the FAA considers the legal aspects of the situation.

The City of Santa Monica sent eviction notices to the two FBOs, saying they had to vacate their facilities by October 15. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that the city has postponed those evictions while the FAA continues to investigate the matter. The agency will meet October 28 to consider whether the city can replace the independant businesses on the airport with a city-run operation, according to the report.

City officials say they have done adequate research to know how to run an FBO. They say they want to offer only biofuel and unleaded avgas as opposed to more traditional, and less expensive, fuels. Nelson Hernandez, a senior advisor to the Santa Monica City Manager, said that the city is "committed" to ousting the tenants and taking on those functions. "We’ve got everything it takes to set up our own operation. The city has studied salaries, staffing and the equipment that is necessary," he told the paper. He said the city would do what is "legally required" by the FAA.

All of this is part of the city's "starvation strategy" to make KSMO as unattractive as possible to the aviation community so that they can more easily close it down, according to the report. The City Council voted earlier this year to close down the airport as soon as it could legally do so, hopefully by July of next year.

But supporters of the airport point to language in the agreement that ceded the property to the city following WWII which states that the city agreed to operate the airport "into perpetuity." There is also a question about AIP grants, and how long the city is required to keep the airport open to satisfy the federal requirements associated with those grants.

David Hopkins, who is vice president of the Santa Monica Airport Association, told the LA Times that city officials "are playing a political game, trying to garner votes."

KSMO is considered a reliever airport for KLAX, and handles about 452 operations per day.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.santamonicaairport.info