Following voters’ rejection of Proposition B in last November’s election, the city’s airport authority board has changed its tune, and recently appointed chairman Alan Bersin may have a lot to do with that.
The proposition, which asked whether voters would be in favor of moving San Diego’s Lindbergh Field to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, was developed by the board after extensive research and testing that allegedly determined that moving the airport was the only way to meet an increase in passenger demand.
But now the board intends to make the best of what it has with Lindbergh, according to Bersin, who talked to the San Diego Community Newspaper Group Friday, June 1, about his plans to revamp and expand the airport.
“Lindbergh is our airport and will be the major airport for the next generation, and will always likely remain a major contributor to San Diego air traffic,” Bersin said. “But what our planners are saying is that we need to start working on supplementing Lindbergh, because over time we will be constrained.”
The constraints Bersin identified stem from the airport’s single runway and the annual landing and take-off capacity, which he estimated at a maximum of 280,000 and currently totals 220,000 per year. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also predicts increases in total annual passenger counts at Lindbergh from 18 million to about 24 million. The board’s goal, Bersin said, is to provide additional maintenance and repairs to address those constraints, at a cost of approximately $1 billion.
As it works toward implementing Lindbergh’s master plan, which calls for ten additional gates at the airport’s second west terminal and possibly rebuilding a new northern facility, the board plans to hold a series of community meetings to introduce these suggestions to residents, Bersin said.
He added that the first major issue it will tackle is the addition of ten gates and that an environmental impact report (EIR) for the project will be released in September for public review.
Bersin, who moved to Southern California 16 years ago and served as San Diego County’s U.S. attorney from 1995 to 1998 and superintendent of San Diego Unified School District from 1998 to 2005, made waves in the community over the years with his education reform plan.
Mayor Jerry Sanders appointed Bersin to the executive position in November “” shortly after Prop B was rejected – and his appointment was approved in December by City Council. Bersin is one of five new board members sworn in last year who make up a nine-member panel. Three members hold paid executive positions and must be appointed.
The local Airport Authority board was created in 2003 to make decisions regarding the governance of Lindbergh Field, which before that was in the hands of San Diego’s Port Authority.
The Airport Authority board has recently been thrust into the media spotlight for receiving the Grand Fleece award, presented annually to the agency that uses tax dollars in the most wasteful way.
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association awarded the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board the honor following $466,000 in expenditures over the past three years on business and travel expenses, including expensive dinners, first-class plane tickets and stays at five-star hotels.
Bersin, who had no say in the spending until taking over the position late last year, said he does plan to make some changes to the board’s spending policies but wishes that the public would reserve its scrutiny for more important issues regarding the board.
“When it comes to where’s the major action, I wish we got the same media attention when it comes to what we need to do to improve Lindbergh,” Bersin said. “I wish we got the same kind of critical attention on how we are going to spend $1 billion.”
The board hopes to focus more on what changes and improvements can be made now and in the near future to counteract the airport’s current path. Its goal is to improve relationships and coordinate between the county’s 12 civilian airports as well as Ontario International Airport, Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles’ LAX and Tijuana’s Rodriguez Field, Bersin said.
One way Lindbergh could become better connected to other regions would be by implementing a fast-track, high-speed rail system, Bersin said.
He also suggested plans to reduce traffic along Harbor Drive and increase parking by consolidating rental car companies into one large building and constructing a high-rise parking facility closer to the terminals.
Bersin said no plans are in the works to change the airport’s noise curfew, which prohibits flights landing or taking off between 11:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. except for emergency or necessary military flights, according to the airport’s Web site. The curfew has been particularly important to Point Loma and Ocean Beach residents whose homes lie directly below the flight path.
Planning in the past for Lindbergh has centered on finding a new location for the airport, with speculation on whether Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Camp Pendleton or the Marine Corps Recruit Depot could become potential sites within the next 10 to 20 years. In the meantime, the facility has become increasingly outdated, according to Bersin.
“The future is now; the future is here in terms of air transportation, and if we look out and ignore the work on our desks we will suffer,” Bersin said.
Bersin’s previous positions in San Diego have given him insight on what has and still needs to be done concerning the airport, he said, mentioning that the debate over moving Lindbergh has been ongoing since his wife attended elementary school in Point Loma.
“If nothing else, we’d like to end the airport controversy and start a serious airport conversation that starts with how will we rebuild Lindbergh,” he said.
“What we intend to do is move this away from ‘when are you moving the airport?’ We asked that question so often that we ended up not taking care of our airport. Let’s be about the business of making this the best airport it can be.”