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Health & Fitness

Palomar Airport: Rose-Colored Glasses? Blog #48

Palomar Airport lost $2,763,853 in 2012, lost $1.973,129 in 2011, and lost $1,261,192 in 2010.  [County “Operating and Financial Summaries”.]

Palomar Airport occupies several hundred acres of land.  Ignoring the tenant improvements at the airport, the combined value of the FAA-paid for airport improvements and the land value exceed $100,000,000.  For three years running, Palomar Airport has lost money on a $100 million+ investment.

The County Rose-Colored Glasses

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On Wednesday, September 25, 2013 County airport staff asked the Board of Supervisors to accept the KH Runway Study.  The County purpose was to accept the Runway Study so the County could include the Study recommendations as part of the ongoing 2016 to 2035 Palomar Master Plan.

KH recommended construction of a $25 million safety system at the west end of the runway and of a $70 million 900-foot capacity extension at the east end.  

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The County claims a longer runway will allow Palomar corporate jets to fly farther and heavier.  As noted in Blog #44 posted on www.Carlsbad.Patch.com, the County assumption is seriously flawed.  Nonetheless, the County claims that over the next 20 years, the North County economy will enjoy millions in benefits due to a longer Palomar runway.

County Board of Supervisor Accountability

As noted in Blog #45, to the detriment of the taxpayers and rate payers, all levels of California government continue to blindly accept consultant reports without questioning their reliability.  Just a few public projects recommended by consultants that have or will drain the public treasury include: the State’s proposed bullet train, the Orange County toll road system, the “Long Beach” aquarium, and the seriously underfunded pension systems of cities throughout San Diego County.  More examples are easy to find on Google.

Oddly, the KH presentation to the Board of Supervisors at the September 25, 2013 meeting did not report Palomar losses for 2010, 2011 or 2012.   A conscientious Board of Supervisors might have asked questions as follows:

Ø What was the Palomar Airport revenue or revenue loss for the last  three years?

Ø How will the proposed runway extension change last year’s revenue losses?

Ø When the County in the mid 2000s spent tens of millions on Palomar Airport development, what revenue gains did the 2006 consultants predict?

Ø How accurate were the revenue projections of the 2006 consultants?

Ø Why were the revenue projections for the Palomar customs facilities wrong?

Why don’t the Board of Supervisor members ask tough questions? 

As to Airport development, the biggest reasons is: Free money.  If the FAA is going to fund up to 90% of a project, what does the County have to lose?   Why ask difficult questions that might adversely affect an FAA decision on grant allocations?

Also, why create performance standards by which airport personnel and the Board of Supervisors themselves can be judged?

Airport Crash Watch: On September 29, 2013 A private corporate jet crashed into a hangar at Santa Monica, California killing the pilot and likely others aboard.  The hangar was a total loss.   

Last week three small planes crashed in Palm Beach County in separate incidents.

On September 25, 2013 a small plane crashed into a bank parking lot while trying to land at an airport in suburban Chicago, killing one person.

Last week a United flight made a safe emergency landing after its pilot suffered a heart attack in flight and died.

The KH-recommended safety system protects only the Palomar Runway west end.  KH provides no specific information as to how the Palomar landfill methane gas system will be modified at the east end of the Palomar runway to improve safety.  How many airplane crashes does it take for the County to fully assure Palomar Airport safety? 

 

 

 

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