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7-11-99 Added A list of anti-Noise and pollution Airport groups
[Note the Jet Center in this story does not refer to the business by that name at VNY]
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press July 11, 1999.
By SEAN KEARNS Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - Exodus Air Service has plans to build a jet center at Gen. William J. Fox Airfield in an attempt to capitalize on a current runway expansion project. While there are some services for jets at Fox Airfield, there is nothing specifically dedicated to them.
Along with the runway expansion, the Jet Center is a key to supporting the development of the Fox Field industrial corridor, said Mike Haney, owner of Exodus. "It's going to increase usage of the airport," Haney said. "It's going to bring corporations into this Valley. One of the things required to move a corporation is whether the aircraft can get in. "Not only will there be an increase in air travel but (in) the number of big businesses that relocate to the airport."
Without a jet center, Haney said, pilots would be less inclined to use Fox Field. The project calls for the construction of a 15,000-square-foot hangar and 14,000 square feet for office and other space. Exodus currently has about 13,000 square feet of hangar and office space. The Jet Center will cater to corporate and cargo jets. Haney said the center will have anywhere from four to eight jets in its shop at one time undergoing maintenance or other services.
Exodus has 15 employees, many of whom maintain three corporate jets. The rest of the business involves piston-powered aircraft. Exodus also provides other services, such as corporate pilots and pilot training. Haney, from Tehachapi, started Exodus in 1990. Along with Barnes Aviation, Exodus is the only other fixed-base operator at Fox Field.
The jet center requires $3.5 million in funding, and Exodus is talking with Lancaster city officials for help on the project, Haney said. Haney said one of the biggest obstacles for the project and airfield is the cost of jet fuel. In other areas, the cost is as low at four cents a gallon. The present cost at Fox Airfield is 58 cents per gallon. Haney said Rite Aid brings its own fuel tankers to Fox Field rather than fill up there. [Not these costs are the add on to the fuel price charged over the gas cost by the airport operator.]
"To be able to get aircraft up here, you're going to be able to sell them fuel," Haney said.
Fox Airfield is under an expansion project to lengthen the runway from 5,000 feet to 7,201 feet.
Haney said that airports like Van Nuys, Santa Monica and John Wayne are becoming crowded and facing encroachment. Fox Field is an option with its new runway because there are few noise restrictions and fewer buildings around the airfield, he said.
A study released in March by the American Association of Airport Executives showed that Fox Airfield has a $32 million impact on the Antelope Valley economy. It is projected the airport will have an impact of about $35 million a year over the next five years.
COPYRIGHT 1999 AV Press
[Note this is the same city council that approved rezoning the nursery just a block north to 50+ new homes/townhouses in the crash zone]
By PATRICK MCGREEVY Alarmed that an airplane clipped two school buses last month, a Los Angeles City Council panel agreed Tuesday to ask federal authorities to report on safety issues involving Van Nuys Airport.
Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, chairwoman of the council's Commerce, Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she wants the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board to report to the city on current safety standards at Van Nuys and whether improvements are possible. "We'd rather have them land at the airport than on the freeway," Galanter said of planes facing emergencies. "The concern is to make sure the people in the surrounding community feel safe."
Councilman Joel Wachs wants federal authorities to determine whether clear zones around the airport are easy to access by pilots for emergency landings, whether pilots are well-educated about the existence of the zones and whether there are additional measures to protect motorists from being struck by planes landing on city streets.
Wachs called for a review of safety measures after a June 23 incident in which a crippled airplane landed on Hayvenhurst Avenue in North Hills, clipping the front ends of two school buses carrying nearly 50 children. No one was seriously injured in the mishap
Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
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