San Diego Regional Airport Aurthority Begins Planning To Meet Future Air Transportation Needs

John, as a member of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, you have been active and involved in addressing some of the regional challenges San Diego is facing. One of those challenges, long discussed, is to ensure that San Diego's airport is adequate for the region's ever growing needs. Is there a need for a new airport now?

That's a good question. If you look at it one way, there is no immediate need. The airport is suitable for what we're doing today. The problem is that it could take up to 15 years to increase the airport's capacity. If we do not start the process now, we are going to be right up against some serious capacity constraints at the airport for both passengers and cargo. That will have serious negative repercussions for the region's economy.

Why hasn't there been significant progress on the airport issue before now?

Well there are really many reasons for that, but let's concentrate on the key factor: this is a political decision. There are other factors to consider like technical factors, economic factors, and environmental factors. These, for the most part, can be addressed. But the politics of the situation are difficult, particularly because dealing with the airport issue is going to require very tough decisions that are going to have negative political repercussions, and the benefits won't accrue for many years down the road when the current decision makers will be out of office, both locally and at the state level. That's why I say that the politics and necessary leadership are the challenges that we have to deal with.

Describe the politics confronting the new regional airport authority, created by legislation authored by now retired State Senator Peace.

We were very supportive-and by we I mean the chamber and a number of other business organizations who supported Senator Peace in the effort to create an airport authority-and we felt that establishing an airport authority was one of the changes occurring that created a window of opportunity to address this issue. It's a very key change, because now we've got an organization that's formed solely for the purpose of focusing on managing the airport and developing a plan to meet our future needs. San Diego needs an airport that will meet the region's needs for 50 or 75 years, just as Lindbergh has served us for 75 years. We only want to make this decision once. It's a decision that needs support, not just at the local level, but, to a lesser degree, at the state level and certainly very strong support at the federal level. Although the need is recognized at all three levels, the ability to make progress and go forward on that issue is being hindered at all three levels of government.

What's the mission of this airport authority and what are the challenges it will face in carrying out that mission?

Well, I think that most of those board members recognize that when they were appointed to the airport authority and they accepted, the number one issue they were going to deal with was the relocation of Lindbergh Field, finding a suitable location for the airport that could serve the community and the region for the next 50 to 75 years. In addition to that, they also took on the task of operating the existing airport under the current constraints, including dealing with the land use issues.

Is the San Diego Regional Airport Authority meeting expectations?

As with any political body, there's a learning curve and there's a maturity curve, and they're still learning and maturing. They've been bullied and pushed around quite a bit by state political bodies, federal political bodies, and the Congressional delegation, and they're still trying to find their foundation, get their feet solidly planted and determine what they're all about and how hard they're going to fight to meet their objectives. It's a very difficult position that they're in, and one reason for it is that the political leadership of the region has waited so long to address this issue.

Is action expected in 2006?

The airport authority is going to recommend to the County Board of Supervisors, which controls the general ballot for the November 2006 election, wording for an initiative that will deal with locating a future airport for San Diego. It's unclear whether a specific site will be recommended or if there will be something of a broader nature, but there will be an advisory ballot initiative put before the voters, to take their temperature on the issue. There may be more ballot initiatives that follow, but they are required to have one in 2006, and we're going to see what they put forward and how that vote turns out.

As a stakeholder in the business community, can you explain what is at stake with regard to making sure that San Diego's airport capacity is adequate - meets future demand?

Well, there are lots of numbers we can throw out, but for a lot of people numbers don't mean anything. Let's just say that the airport has the single greatest impact of any infrastructure element, public or private, on the regional economy of San Diego. It's at least 5 percent of the regional economy.

If we don't have enough air transportation capacity for people and for air cargo, it will negatively impact our economy. It will make it less attractive for businesses to locate here. This would ultimately affect our quality of life. The business community is very interested because we want to be able to attract and retain those industries and those businesses that provide high paying jobs here, while also maintaining the city as an attractive destination for so many tourists, vacationers and conventions, which is a very large industry in this town. So the stakes are very large.

The region continues to grow in population and the chamber is, I assume, interested in helping to develop the enterprises that will provide needed jobs. How does the airport figure into the ability to develop the needed jobs?

The airport is tied very closely to overnight express, overnight delivery of products and people for professional services, so it's very key if we're going to have an economy that has a significant share of high technology industries, the biotechnology industries, computer software and other industries of that nature that need overnight or just in time delivery. We need to be able to have sufficient air capacity to move everyone and their products and do it in a timely manner. If we don't have an airport that can handle that capacity and that demand, we are going to be constrained in terms of attracting and retaining those businesses. Those are all high paying industries.

Secondarily, the tourism and convention business, although it's not necessarily high paying, has a very large impact and makes a very large contribution to the economy, so we can't slight it, just because the wages are lower. It's one of the key reasons so many people relocated to San Diego, because of the wonderful climate we have here and the quality of life and it's something that we sell as part of the region, including selling it to those businesses that we want to attract here and retain as well. The airport is obviously very important in this regard.

Another round of military base closures is about to be announced. How does the BRAC process affect the available siting options for San Diego's new Airport Authority?

Well right now, the search for a new location for the airport is down to about nine sites, and the majority of those sites are military sites – the same sites that have been mentioned for decades: Camp Pendleton, the air station at Miramar, and the air station at North Island. There are no surprises there. Right now, in terms of finding a new location for the airport, there is a lot riding on the base closure process. At the same time, the bases are also major contributors to the region's economy, and, of course, this is a very pro-military, pro-Navy town. I myself am a past Naval aviator who flew out of Miramar many times, but we have to look at what is best for the long-term health of the region. If we can generate a greater economic impact by using one of those bases as the home for a new airport and possibly keep a lot of those military units here in the San Diego region, that would be a win-win for everybody. So we have to wait and see what comes out of the base closure process and what the Pentagon and the highest levels of the Defense Department have determined to be in the best interests of the nation.

To close the interview, how, in comparison with San Diego, do you think L.A. is handling its airport expansion process?

Well I don't know that LA is handling their situation any better than we are handling ours. LAX is a major domestic and international hub that is going to be capacity constrained in the same time frame as San Diego. There have been a number of proposals to expand it, because Los Angeles understands the importance of providing transportation infrastructure to its economy. It really builds its economy on providing transportation infrastructure in a location that really had none naturally. Its harbors and its airport are prime examples of that. Now this is a problem that reaches not just San Diego but Los Angeles and also up the coast to San Francisco. It affects the economy of the entire state and the 33 million people that live here and then furthermore it's part of the national air transportation system and the capacity problems that we have across the nation. So, San Diego is not alone in dealing with this problem. It's very difficult here. It's difficult in LA. It's difficult across the country.