"Airport Land Use: Schwarzenegger's jet hits turbulence in Santa Monica airport squabble"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Schwarzenegger's jet hits turbulence in airport squabble
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD 
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES-The governor with the Gulfstream might have to find a new
runway. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger's almost daily commute from his Los Angeles estate to
the Sacramento statehouse is being threatened by a ban on powerful jets at
Santa Monica airport, where the celebrity governor takes off and lands in
his luxurious Gulfstream IV. 

The change of flight plans-if it survives a court fight and opposition from
federal regulators-could force Schwarzenegger to spend more time driving
through the region's notorious traffic to reach other airports in the Los
Angeles area. His relatively easy 7-mile hop from his gated mansion in the
Brentwood neighborhood to Santa Monica could double, or more. 

One of the people pushing the ban happens to be the celebrity governor's
brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, a Santa Monica councilman who insists safety
is at issue at the airport, not family squabbling. 

The Santa Monica City Council voted to outlaw faster jets just days after
Schwarzenegger ousted Shriver from a state parks commission. Shriver,
brother to California first lady Maria Shriver, opposed a toll road
supported by the governor. 

"As soon as I realized he fired me from the commission I decided to stop him
from landing the plane," Shriver deadpanned. 

Kidding aside, he said the 5,000-foot runway at the municipal airport isn't
long enough for higher-speed jets, which carry more fuel. Moreover, homes in
the area could be at risk if a pilot overshoots the runway or crashes. 

"The end of the runway is about coughing distance from a house," Shriver
said. "There is zero room for maneuvering." 

The Federal Aviation Administration blocked the ban after lengthy
negotiations flopped, leading to the court fight. A brief hearing Thursday
in U.S. District Court was likely only the beginning. 

For now, the faster jets can keep taking off and landing. The FAA says local
governments have no authority to ban aircraft from airports. 

The seaside city "has not provided a reasonable basis for the restriction,"
D. Kirk Shaffer, the FAA's associate administrator for airports, told the
city in a letter. 

The change would affect about 7 percent of the flights at the airport, which
dates to the early years of U.S. aviation. It's one of the nation's busiest
single-runway, general aviation fields, with about 18,500 jet flights in
2007, up from 13,252 in 2001. 

The city's ordinance bans jets with approach speeds in excess of 139 mph. 

If the city succeeds, the governor presumably could switch from the
Gulfstream IV to a smaller jet or drive to another airport, such as Van Nuys
in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, about 15 miles from his estate. 

The governor's office had no comment.

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