A Welcome Regional Response

Palmdale Regional Airport may be coming back from the dead.

Earlier this month, Mayor Richard Riordan announced that the ongoing expansion of Los Angeles International and Ontario International airports will be extended to Palmdale Regional Airport, which, like LAX and Ontario, is operated by Los Angeles World Airports. Last week, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners took some small but concrete steps to get the now idle airport up and running again.

This is good news, after a draft report commissioned by the city’s Airport Department in August seemed to close the door on Palmdale. That study suggested that even the most optimistic projection--that Palmdale could eventually handle about 7 million passengers a year--wouldn’t make a significant dent in the 61 million passengers who annually use LAX.

That half-empty cup looked pretty full here in the San Fernando Valley, where homeowners continually complain about noise from Burbank Airport, with just under 5 million passengers annually. Beefing up Palmdale Airport could provide welcome regional relief, and a regional picture is what the Los Angeles area needs.

Better yet, the mayor of Palmdale actually welcomes the development, unlike Valley residents who have fought a new terminal at the Burbank Airport practically to a standstill for fear a modern facility would draw more passengers.

Of course, beefing up the Palmdale airport is no assurance passengers will follow, just as not building a new Burbank terminal won’t stop passengers from going there. Burbank’s draw is location, location, location, which is exactly Palmdale’s problem. Passenger service to Palmdale was halted more than a year ago, and airlines remain reluctant to locate operations so far--60 miles--from central Los Angeles.

The Board of Airport Commissioners is on the right track in looking for ways to market Palmdale to passengers and airlines and in helping fund a study on how to get passengers to the airport. Especially promising is the notion of linking Palmdale with the Van Nuys-based FlyAway bus terminal that now serves LAX.

But Palmdale, although a welcome part of a solution, is only that: a part. With demand for passenger and cargo services soaring in the Los Angeles area and regional demand for air passenger service expected to hit 157 million by 2015, all airports--including those in Orange County, Long Beach, Riverside, San Bernardino and, yes, Burbank--will have to play their part in forming a true regional response to the growing demand for air service.