Santa Monica Drops Efforts To Ban Large Aircraft

Santa Monica, Calif. city officials said last month that they would not contest a federal court’s ruling that the city could not ban Category C and D aircraft from Santa Monica Airport. This brings to an end a three-year battle over such operations at the airport. “The council’s announcement follows a January 21 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in favor of an FAA decision that the city’s most recent attempt to ban the aircraft amounted to “unjust and unreasonable” discrimination and violated the terms of a grant agreement for accepting federal funds for the airport. The controversy dates to 2008, when Santa Monica city officials adopted a ban against the Category C and D jets at SMO on alleged safety grounds. The FAA, as well as NBAA and AOPA, challenged the move.