Halloween was particularly scary this year for airport advocates in Southern California. In a major blow against the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO), which for decades has been fighting a tough battle to stay in operation long term, the City of Santa Monica filed a lawsuit against the FAA on October 31 in an attempt to claim the rights to make its own decisions regarding the future use of the property on which the airport is currently located.
A press release issued by the City of Santa Monica said the city has enlisted a high profile international law firm called Morrison and Foerster, or MoFo for short. The suit asks the court to declare that the city “holds clear title” to the land and that claims by the FAA that the city must operate the airport indefinitely are false.
