The Santa Monica city council in California has agreed to a $3.5 million “guaranteed maximum price” contract to Aecom to shorten the runway at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) from 5,000 feet to 3,500 feet. The August 8 approval of the contract is in line with the city’s timeline to begin work on shortening the runway in October and complete the project by December 7, when new FAA charts are ready for release.
A January 28 settlement between the FAA and the city cleared the way for the runway-trimming project, as well as permitted the city to close the airport after Dec. 31, 2028. The city anticipates a 45 percent reduction in jet traffic with the shorter runway, saying, “Regaining local control of land use at SMO and reducing the health and safety impacts on adjacent residents is one of the city council’s strategic goals.”
NBAA has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, in February challenging the agreement between the FAA and the city and is planning to file a brief on the lawsuit in time for the deadline on Wednesday. Deadlines for amicus briefs, meanwhile, are due August 23.
But NBAA director of airports and ground infrastructure Alex Gertsen does not expect the court process to conclude for another year—well after the city’s timeline for shortening the runway. The court in May denied the association’s request for an injunction against shortening the runway. NBAA appealed to the city to allow the process to work its way through the courts before taking action on the runway, but the city moved ahead, dismissing NBAA’s arguments.
Initial plans for shortening the runway, however, do not include actual destruction of runway pavement. They include repainting, moving navaids, removing taxiways and installing new taxiways that would accommodate the shorter runway.
The city council had already awarded a design contract to Aecom to design the runway-shortening project at Santa Monica. Final design completion is anticipated this month, with site preparation beginning in October. According to Nelson Hernandez, a senior advisor to the city manager on airport affairs, the airport will be frequently closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to accommodate the work. In addition, the city anticipates a seven- to 14-day “hard closure” period.
While the initial plan would keep pavement intact, the city noted “staff has begun the process of developing options for removal of excess runway pavement (as the result of the runway shortening),” and anticipates presenting those proposals to the city council in late September. Gertsen noted removal of runway pavement could be a much costlier endeavor, with environmental ramifications.
The Santa Monica city council in California has agreed to a $3.5 million “guaranteed maximum price” contract to Aecom to shorten the runway at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) to 3,500 feet from 4,973 feet. The August 8 approval of the contract is in line with the city’s timeline to begin work on shortening the runway next month and complete the project by December 7, when new FAA charts are ready for release.
A January 28 settlement between the FAA and the city cleared the way for not only trimming the runway but also closing the airport forever on the last day of 2028. The city anticipates the shorter runway will reduce jet traffic by 45 percent,, saying, “Regaining local control of land use at SMO and reducing the health and safety impacts on adjacent residents is one of the city council’s strategic goals.”
NBAA and five other aviation stakeholders filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, in February challenging the agreement between the FAA and the city. But NBAA director of airports and ground infrastructure Alex Gertsen does not expect the court process to conclude for another year—well after the city’s timeline for shortening the runway. In May the court denied the association’s request for an injunction against shortening the runway. NBAA appealed to the city to allow the process to work its way through the courts before taking action on the runway, but the city moved ahead, dismissing NBAA’s arguments.
Initial plans for shortening the runway, however, will not destroy any runway pavement, instead involving repainting, moving navaids, removing taxiways and installing new taxiways to accommodate the shorter runway.
The city council had already awarded a design contract to Aecom to define the runway-shortening project at Santa Monica. Final design completion is anticipated this month, with site preparation beginning next month. According to Nelson Hernandez, a senior advisor to the city manager on airport affairs, the airport will be frequently closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. to accommodate the work. In addition, the city anticipates a seven- to 14-day “hard closure” period.
While the initial plan would keep pavement intact, the city noted that “staff has begun the process of developing options for removal of excess runway pavement (as the result of the runway shortening),” and anticipates presenting those proposals to the city council late this month. Gertsen said that removal of runway pavement could be a much costlier endeavor, with environmental ramifications.
Lobby Groups Challenge FAA
But as the city moves forward with the runway project, so too does the aviation groups’ lawsuit. On August 16 NBAA and five other stakeholders filed a brief to the courts, saying the settlement agreement must be vacated.
The groups charge that in signing the settlement agreement, the FAA disregarded the statutory requirements for a study under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA); ignored the requirement to show that releasing SMO from its obligations would benefit aviation; neglected to document requirements rooted in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); failed to provide the mandatory opportunity for public notice and comment; and did not follow other legal requirements.
“The agreement, whether reasonable or unreasonable, circumvented statutory and regulatory protections that Congress, and the FAA itself, long ago emplaced to ensure that the national interest in aviation and airports could not be disregarded in favor of a parochial agenda,” the brief said.
The brief notes that 45 years ago, the FAA had called SMO a vital resource that it would preserve, quoting the agency as saying it “has no intention of consenting to the use of this property for other than airport purposes and will insist on the City of Santa Monica complying with its contractual obligations.”
The brief further outlines the group’s belief “that this position remains the correct one and that the FAA erred in discarding decades of firmly established policy against the closure of viable airports to effect a settlement with the city. But the petition in this case does not depend on the wisdom or consistency of the FAA’s decision. What occurred was wrong as a matter of law.”
NBAA called the agreement “highly unusual” and noted it was conducted with no input. “The loss of this critical reliever airport shifts the burden of accommodating air traffic to other area airports and has a major negative impact on area residents, businesses, general aviation and the flying public,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. He added that the agreement allows “‘local control’ driven by a vocal minority, with complete disregard for system-wide impacts.”
During EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., FAA Administrator Michael Huerta defended the agreement, saying, “Decisions of land use and facilities under our Constitution are reserved for local governments…[the FAA’s] arrangement with them is effectively contractual in consideration of receiving grants.” The localities must agree to performance standards, he said, but “the reality is that it is a local decision.”
He added that the battle isn’t with the FAA, but with the community. “I think the settlement arrangement buys us a very long tail where the airport will be able to operate perhaps with a shorter runway,” he said. “Rather than litigating this thing and possibly losing and facing overnight closure, instead what we have bought is a certainty for a number of years to work on that challenge with the local community.”
Joining NBAA in the filing are the Santa Monica Airport Association, Bill's Air Center, Kim Davidson Aviation, Redgate Partners and Wonderful Citrus.