Outgoing FAA Administrator Marion Blakey: LAX Must Address Runway Safety

I'm sure that most of you know that my five-year term comes to a close next month. Looking back, I can honestly say that no two days have ever been the same. A new challenge was always popping up somewhere. And you know what? That's why I got into this from the get-go-to help solve those vexing problems that spring up now and again. And oh, the stories I've heard along the way. One of my favorites comes from former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta when he was mayor of San Jose. The airport was inundated with noise complaints. So, the airport authority went in and bought up a lot of the homes in the vicinity. The homes were eventually razed, and there were acres of lush, green land just sitting there. So one day, a group of mortuary owners comes into his office. They wanted to talk to him about buying up the land for a big cemetery. It was a very lucrative deal they put on the table, one that would have been too much to simply walk away from. But in the end, he did. Mineta told the mortuary guys, "Thanks, but no thanks." His reasoning? He loved the airport, and the thought of a cemetery so close by, well, he jokes that he didn't want any confusion for passengers when the captain says, "Ladies and gentlemen, we're on final approach..." What's even funnier is the land was eventually used for a huge parking garage. To borrow a line or two from Joni Mitchell, they really did "pave paradise and put up a parking lot."

Yes, it's true: "You don't know what you've got until it's gone." And when it comes to airports, for years, Los Angeles has had the crown jewel of them all-LAX. From the 1960s all the way through the '84 Olympics, it embodied state-of-the-art. Not only was it beautiful to look at, but LAX was safe. Now some people are beginning to question that.

So the reason I've come here is to say that, as business leaders, you're in a position to bring back the glory days. You know as well as I that the sectors that power Southern California's economy-overseas trade, tourism, technology, and entertainment-depend on a safe, modern LAX to connect this region with the world at large.

You've already taken some big steps to get the facility back on track. The major runway improvement program on the south side is going to pay off in spades. I met this morning with Mayor Villaraigosa, and he tells me that everything is on time and on budget. But as I told him, and I'll tell you-the job's not done. The north airfield needs some of that same clarity of thinking and commitment to safety that was brought to the south.

There's already one runway design option on the table-that's the Airport Layout Plan that was approved by the FAA in 2005-and it's not my place to advocate it over another that may come up. What I can do, and what I will do, is to urge Los Angeles to get going. Fix that north airfield now. Prevention of runway incursions is a multi-layered defense. Technology may provide a last level of defense, but the first line of defense is good airport design. It goes back to geometry. I understand there's been a call for a comprehensive study of the north airfield, one that examines all the options in an open, unbiased manner. On this point, there seems to be an emerging consensus. I will only add-and caution-this: unbiased, "no thumbs on the scale" demands that the study also be balanced.

You need to look at the total airport environment: safety today, safety improvements for tomorrow, and of course, the efficient operation of the airport. You can't look at safety and efficiency separately. Period. Full stop. L.A. has struggled for years with what it means to modernize the airport. If there is to be one more study added to this dense literature, then let this be the one that prompts action, not inertia or delay. I'll put it plainly: However you decide to fix the airfield, get it done. I'll tell you why it's so important. Let's look at this from a safety angle for a minute. As you've read many times over the years, the problem here is that the parallel runways on the north are too close together. A landing aircraft that leaves the outer runway on a high-speed taxiway has only a few feet to stop before crossing the inner runway hold line. If the plane crosses that line, and there's another plane using the inner runway, it's a runway incursion. If we're lucky, one of the planes stops in time, and it's not an accident.

We had this same situation with two closely spaced parallel runways on the south side. There were a very high number of incursions as a result. The FAA and Los Angeles World Airports, which oversees LAX, concluded that separating the runways and putting a taxiway in between them would be a permanent fix to the high-speed exit problem. That project is now underway. I can't say it any plainer-airports with closely spaced runways have a far higher rate of incursions than those with widely spaced ones.

Compare Dallas-Fort Worth and LAX. Both have runways that sit tightly together. Between the two, they had a combined twelve incursions in fiscal year '06. Now let's take two other busy airports-Denver and Dulles. They have greater distance between parallel runways, and neither one recorded a single incursion in '06. The north section of LAX has posted five surface mishaps this year alone, including one just last week. In that episode, a flight that was coming in for a landing came dangerously close to a plane that was taking off. No one was hurt, thank goodness. But at least two of the five mishaps that have occurred were a direct result of the lack of elbow room between the runways. This is the exact kind of incursion that wider spacing would eliminate.

Some people might say "Three incursions? Big deal." It is a big deal. Yes, I'll admit, three out of several hundred thousand operations is a very small number. But what I'd point out is, three isn't zero. Besides, regardless of what the numbers are, we don't have small accidents in the business we're in. Remember - all it takes is one accident to make a catastrophe. LAX has had three incursions just on the north side this year.

Runway safety. It's the subject of intense focus at the FAA. Now last week in Washington, we issued a Call to Action-a summit, if you will-to address this matter. We brought together safety experts from all the airlines, airports, pilots, controllers, and all I can say is, when aviation faces a challenge, industry doesn't walk to the table to solve it, it runs, and that's what L.A. needs to do as well.

Not only is safety at stake here, but your economic strength. The world's biggest passenger jet is headed this way. But it's not just the A380. It's the 747-800, and a number of other aircrafts that require work-arounds at LAX right now. And if the airport's slowing down and not up to snuff, carriers will pack up and go elsewhere.

Now I know there are some here who will say, "That's fine, we've got Ontario." But for international flights, you've got San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Phoenix Sky Harbor. If there's one thing about air commerce that should be eminently clear to all of us, it's that if you don't pay attention to your business, to your customers, there's another airport waiting with open arms to welcome them.

I came across something interesting in the L.A. Times back in March. It's an article that chides the city for not doing enough to make LAX as competitive as its neighbors. It says: "Los Angeles International Airport now looks shabby compared with the gleaming new terminals at San Francisco and Seattle-Tacoma airports." If those cities can upgrade their airports into world-class facilities and attract businesses, the article goes on to beg the question, Why can't L.A.?

Well, it all starts with the right leadership. You've got it in Mayor Villaraigosa, and you've got it here in Gina Marie Lindsey, the new director at LAX. She's had a terrific career at Seattle-Tacoma, where she worked hard to turn that airport into what it is today.

After leadership, you need civic will. You need the force of the community to rally behind what's best for the future of L.A. Look at Chicago. The O'Hare modernization plan was sputtering along in fits and starts, and mostly going nowhere. That all changed when the business community got involved. They testified at hearings. They pushed the mayor hard. And they let it be known that political will and courage doesn't just come from elected officials.

Here in L.A., all we seem to be hearing are dissonant voices. Where are yours? The danger here is that all this silence from business leaders is tacit agreement to the status quo. Other peoples' voices are out there. How about yours?

Now I know that the north airfield plan has generated passionate interest and debate. I respect that. I understand what divisive issues airplane noise and the environment can be. That's why I'm pleased to announce that yesterday I was with Congresswoman Jane Harman in her district to announce a federal grant totaling $6 million. It'll help soundproof about three hundred additional homes in Lennox. The money's going to be used to install thicker windows, heavier doors, attic insulation-whatever it takes to bring the decibels down to acceptable levels.

We're also awarding today $6 million to El Segundo to soundproof about 150 homes, and another $10 million to Inglewood to soundproof 290 homes. I'm proud of the fact that in the last 15 years, we've given more than $200 million to soundproof homes in Los Angeles and Inglewood, as well as Lennox and El Segundo. On top of that, we've also authorized Los Angeles World Airports to spend $700 million in Passenger Facility Charges for noise mitigation in those communities.

Once all the work is done, everyone will be sleeping a little bit sounder, and one day, breathing a little easier. That's because planes will use better technology, fly more precise routes, and burn less fuel under our air traffic control modernization plan of the future. We call it the Next Generation Air Transportation System-"NextGen." And you'll be hearing a lot about it in Congress, in fact, because Congress has only until September 30 to put in place a new financing system for the FAA and NextGen.

Emissions growth is an issue we take very seriously. But let's not forget that in the United States-the largest aviation market in the world-we burned 5 percent less fuel in 2006 than we did in 2000. And we produced 10 million tons less CO2 even as we moved 12 percent more passengers and 22 percent more freight. That's a lot of numbers to digest. But let there be no doubt that we care about the environment and communities.

We also care about returning LAX to the glory that once was. It's a delicate balancing act, to be sure, but it can't be done without you. Since accepting challenges is the Chamber's stock in trade, I ask all of you to band together to get the north airfield project done. It's an issue of safety, efficiency, and economic competitiveness. Ask yourself-if business leaders in other cities can step up, why can't L.A.? Thank you.