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LA Times Takes City of Santa Monica to Task

An LA Times editorial defended Santa Monica Airport and chastised City Council over its attempts to shutter the historic airport. Flying
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Key Takeaways:

  • The Santa Monica City Council is actively attempting to close Santa Monica Airport (SMO) by making it unusable and evicting tenants, citing noise and safety concerns.
  • The LA Times has published an editorial criticizing the city's efforts, highlighting SMO's crucial role as a regional transportation hub for business, medical (e.g., Angel Flight West), and disaster relief flights.
  • The article emphasizes SMO's importance in the national transportation system, its value in preventing LAX congestion, and counters the perception of it being solely a "1-percenters'" playground.
  • The city's aggressive actions are likely to be met with a lawsuit from the FAA, as Santa Monica continues its efforts to close the airport.
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In a Sunday editorial, the LA Times took on an aviation-education role for the public in the greater Los Angeles area by chastising the Santa Monica City Council as it attempts to “make the airport [Santa Monica] so inhospitable and difficult to use — essentially ‘starving’ the airport of services — that tenants leave and planes stop flying in and out.” The paper also detailed the airport’s benefits, as well as outlining its role in the national transportation system.

Rob Mark

Rob Mark is an award-winning journalist, business jet pilot, flight instructor, and blogger.

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