Slowing Air Traffic May Ground Airport Projects

This week the Los Angeles Times published a story that shows many airport construction projects are in trouble of being canceled or delayed. The article also asserts, the impact is going to be worse at the regional airports, like Oakland, John Wayne and Ontario than at the larger airports. High fuel prices and passenger fees increase the cost of traveling and in many cases are discouraging people from traveling. ($15 for the first bag checked on United, US Air and American!) The airports are financed largely by passenger fees. With fewer people landing and taking off at the airports the projects that were financed are in trouble.

The smaller commercial airports will be affected but the larger airports in the state will continue to do well. Below are some of the article's key points:

• Oakland International Airport has shelved plans for a $500-million terminal after it lost three airlines, with two more to be lost in September. Passenger traffic is expected to fall more than 23%.
  
• Although their losses won't be so dramatic, regional airports in Southern California are expected to see available seats drop in September. John Wayne could lose as much as 14%, Ontario nearly 20% and Burbank's Bob Hope Airport more than 10%. The decline is expected to worsen in November for some airports such as Ontario, where airline service is seen dropping nearly 30%.
• Long Beach and San Francisco International airports are the only ones expecting service to rise. San Francisco, which expects 5% passenger growth this year, is renovating one of its main terminals at a cost of at least $380 million. In 2000, the airport completed a $1-billion international terminal.

One airport that did not make the cut was my local airport, Lindbergh Field, in San Diego. Apparently the Airport Authority is unclear as to what it wants to do. They are often regularly asserting that the airport will be at capacity soon, but this year they are going to have a seven percent decrease in passengers this year. They are looking for a new site for an airport, but is there a need? The Voice of San Diego is tracking this story.

In related news Los Angeles International Airport announced that it is covering up to $1.8 billion dollars in work on its Capital Improvement Program with a project labor agreement. I will publish some thing on this soon.

Photo by: Michael Zara.