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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLORIAN PETRYt, GAIP: JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT GENERAL AVIATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT WHITE PAPER Corporate and Charter Commercial Jets Are Masquerading as General Aviation Aircraft If the General Aviation program moves forward as proposed by the County and John Wayne Airport, the result will be an expansion of the airport's commercial operations into an area of the airport which now supports 14 General Aviation. Community Aviation Groups • CAANP — Citizens Addressing Airport Noise and Pollution: Sue Dvorak / Julie Johnson Susan Dvorak@hotmail.com JulieStewa.rtJohnson@gmail.com • AirFair/SPON — Still Protecting Our Newport: Nancy Alston / NanAlston@Rmaii.com • Airport Working Group General Aviation -Historically, small, privately owned "mom 'n' pop" prop aircraft that do not have scheduled flights. Current mix includes small, prop aircraft, charter '& corporate / business jets. Examples; Piston -driven "mom 'n' pop" tie down planes, 'corporate, and charter jets Curfew: General Aviation aircraft has a noise -based curfew. If they meet the noise limits, they can fly out and land at JWA at any time — day or night. What is the General Aviation Improvement Proiect — GAIP John Wayne Airport developed plans to "modernize" its General Aviation facilities to bring it up to "FAA standards" and has submitted a draft program EIR (Environmental Impact Report) to the County for its approval. As part of their "modernization" plans, JWA wants to: • Significantly reduce the small, quiet "mom 'n' pop" prop planes and increase the number of corporate & on -demand charter turbo jets. Removing the small prop planes is not required by the FAA; it is being proposed by the County so they, in our opinion, can bring in more revenue through on -demand chartered services. • Build 2-3 large Fixed Base Operations (FBOs) facilities. FBOs are really just another name for terminals. • Expand international services to support international travel. This would include customs, security, and immigration. Issues with GAIP 1) Noise: The small prop planes are relatively quiet so noise from these airplanes is not a significant issue for corridor city residents. Charter and corporate jets are much louder and can be just as loud as commercial jets. 2) Curfew: Unlike Commercial aircraft, General Aviation aircraft can depart and arrive at anytime during the day or night as long as they meet the noise limits. 3) Million Annual Passengers (MAP): General Aviation passengers are not counted in the MAP count as defined in the John Wayne Airport Settlement Agreement if they are not scheduled revenue flights. 4) Outdated General Aviation Definition:. Most people think of GA aircraft as the small, privately owned "mom 'n' pop" prop tie -down aircraft which are relatively quiet and do not have scheduled flights. But today, the GA type aircraft have "grown" in size and scale. These larger, louder GA corporate and charter jets still fall under the definition of GA even though they have scheduled flights offered on demand; this changes the paradigm of the GA flight model. 5) Security Risks: On demand charter and corporate travelers don't have to go through existing TSA security screening like every commercial passenger is required to do. The providers of these travel services claim their members have been cleared through the TSA pre -check process, but in reality, security is lacking and some travelers at some airports have been found to be transporting drugs and even guns across state lines. 6) International Facilities: Under the GAIP, new International Facilities are proposed which will likely result in a major expansion of International flights; this could lead to many daily uses by larger commercial aircraft not even based here. What Residents Want: • Impacted residents want to keep the small, quiet "mom 'n' pop" prop planes at JWA. Impacted residents do not want to increase the number of loud corporate and on demand charter jets that can fly 24/7. • Impacted residents do not want to increase the size of International services at JWA due to its obvious consequences: this will result in an expanded number of large aircraft with increased noise, pollution, and security threat risks. Summation: The definition of General Aviation aircraft is outdated. If the County and JWA move forward with their proposed plan, loud corporate and on -demand charter jets will take over and may be able to fly 24/7. • International services will grow and one can only imagine what the future implications of that would be for our community. • The General Aviation Improvement Program is designed to increase jet traffic and skirt the curfew hours; this violates the spirit of the 1985 Settlement Agreement.