LAX and Other Airports Must Accommodate Growth If Region’s Prosperity to Continue
(Los Angeles, California -- April 25, 2000) The promise of future growth and economic prosperity for the Greater Los Angeles region will be jeopardized if the region’s airports are unable to accommodate this growth, a new study of commercial air transportation in the five counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside reports.
The Los Angeles region—today the principal U.S. gateway for Asia/Pacific Rim commerce—could see those economic benefits slip away to Dallas, Denver or Chicago, if the region fails to improve its air transportation capabilities, according to the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) study. Those other cities have modernized their airport systems in recent years and are actively pursuing opportunities to grow their local/regional economies and compete for Southern California air transportation dollars.
The LAWA study, "Air Transportation in the Los Angeles Region," looked at the present capabilities, potential, and limitations of Los Angeles International (LAX), Orange County/John Wayne, Ontario International, Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena, Long Beach, Palm Springs, Palmdale Regional and Oxnard airports.
The study also examined five military bases that have been proposed for converted or expanded use: San Bernardino International (formerly Norton Air Force Base), March Inland Port (formerly March AFB), Point Mugu Airport (formerly Point Mugu Naval Air Station), Media Reps Southern California Logistics Airport (formerly George AFB), and the recently-closed El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
Lydia Kennard, executive director of LAWA, said, "The inescapable conclusion of this study is that all the region’s airports must grow for the region to continue to prosper. LAX cannot and should not capture all of the new demand for air transportation. LAX’s unique role in the future should be to focus on handling most of the international component of the region’s air service needs."
Citing data provided by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the study projects a Greater Los Angeles area population of more than 21 million people, a work force of 9.9 million men and women, and a gross domestic product of more than $600 billion by the year 2015. Today’s figures are 15 million people, 6.87 million employed, and $500 billion GDP.
Those projections mean a great many more people and goods will be moving into and out of the region, for both business and personal reasons, than today. SCAG projects more than 157 million annual passengers and 8.9 million annual tons of freight arriving and departing from the region’s airports by 2020. In 1997, the last year for which complete data is available, the eight regional airports served 80 million passengers and handled 2.6 million tons of cargo.
"This new study makes clear that the region’s airports do not have the current capacity to handle the increased demand for air transportation resulting from our growing economy," Kennard said.
Although the LAWA study shows significant future population growth in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Los Angeles County will remain the most populous in the five-county region. In the year 2015, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties will have a combined total population of 9.4 million, while Los Angeles County will have 11.9 million residents.
The study projects a decrease in Los Angeles International Airport’s share of overall demand for air services in this region. However, LAX will remain the region’s primary airport.
More importantly, because of the billions of dollars in airline and cargo infrastructure at LAX and hundreds of connections to domestic and international cities, LAX will remain the primary Southern California airport capable of serving as an international gateway. The study concludes that if LAX is not modernized to meet future growth, the region will lose major employment and financial opportunities to other airport complexes in the United States.
