As the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority continues to gather feedback on planned improvements ” including the construction of 10 gates at Terminal 2, roadways and other parking improvements ” the Airport Authority Advisory Committee members met for a quarterly meeting Jan. 17.
Members discussed what challenges lie ahead and how the Airport Authority can engage the public in meeting those challenges.
Committee members heard presentations from experts about current trends that would affect air traffic to and from Lindbergh Field. A presentation from Heidi Gantwerk, vice president of Viewpoint Learning, outlined how the Airport Authority would communicate with the community to answer the one, overarching question:
“What kind of San Diego do you want to live in? And how does this airport support that vision?’ That’s how we talk to the public about it,” Gantwerk told committee members.
Gantwerk, an executive with a community relations and public policy firm, said the Airport Authority would benefit from daylong “choice dialogues” with the community. The dialogues consist of airport representatives presenting possible scenarios on development and comparing those scenarios to what the community thinks is important, she said.
The community has certain “values” in mind when considering the airport, Gantwerk said.
Those include limiting airport growth to maintain quality of life, creating sustainable regional and environmental development, and maintaining economic development while supporting a sustainable regional solution for air and ground transportation.
The community meetings are designed to work with residents and community leaders to garner public support for a long-term plan for Lindbergh Field, she said.
The Airport Authority already met with members of the community in October to help create a long-term plan for the airport.
The next two “leadership meetings” were scheduled to take place in October but were postponed because of the San Diego County wildfires.
While Airport Authority Advisory Committee members look to gain public support for long-term plans, trends in the industry will continue play important roles for the future of Lindbergh Field.
Stephen Van Beek, director and chair of Federal Practices Group, said improvements in technology has led to airlines becoming more efficient, resulting in industry growth.
With Virgin America Airline entering the local market, adding daily flights to San Francisco starting at $39, competition between airlines would be good for the average flier, he said.
However, the additional 18,000 seats a month offered by Virgin are expected to fill quickly, bringing that much more traffic to the airport, he added.
Van Beek said also climate change could result in higher costs at the counter.
“There is no question that climate change has become an issue of politics nationwide,” he said. “There’s no way around it. It’s an issue.”
As governments begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions through caps or limits, airlines that don’t follow the rules could be taxed or penalized, Van Beek said.
He said he foresees that those costs would be “internalized,” resulting in higher prices.
Van Beek that if San Diego International Airport wants to thrive in the future, it must pay attention to two important factors: San Diego International Airport must make the customer’s flying experience “fun again” and the Airport Authority must pay attention to the long-term growth of Lindbergh Field and surrounding airports beyond 2015 and short-term improvements, he said.
For more information on the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, visit www.san.org.