Van Nuys Airports

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson introduced a motion Tuesday that would impose a moratorium on construction at Van Nuys Airport until a blueprint for future growth of the city-owned facility is adopted. Bernson said that the city Department of Airports is seeking to expand the hangers at its Van Nuys facility to accommodate larger jets and that such actions violate an understanding the department has had with Van Nuys residents critical of aircraft noise.

Single-engine Cessnas and a former Coast Guard HH-52 helicopter will continue to line one of the most unique classrooms within the Los Angeles Unified School District, thanks to a $100,000 donation announced Monday. The North Valley Occupational Center-Aviation Center had been facing closure or relocation after 40 years at Van Nuys Airport because of budget cuts and a rent increase. In recent weeks, the vocational school - which has produced thousands of mechanics - gained some high-powered backers, including L.A. Councilman and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti.

Los Angeles officials declared Van Nuys Airport "very safe" in a report released Monday, but said more study is needed before deciding whether changes are needed at the world's busiest general aviation facility. The San Fernando Valley airfield meets or exceeds all federal safety requirements, concluded the report by city airports administrator Lydia Kennard. The study was ordered by the Los Angeles City Council after a Feb. 7 collision between two planes over Sylmar that killed four people.

Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti on Friday called for measures to keep a highly regarded aviation mechanics school at Van Nuys Airport from shutting down or being moved to smaller facilities elsewhere. Garcetti said he will request at the Jan. 4 council meeting that Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of Van Nuys, and the Los Angeles Unified School District explore ways to ensure the continued operation of the vocational school, which has produced thousands of mechanics during its 40-year history.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday appointed a leading hospitality industry entrepreneur, Sam Nazarian, to the city's Board of Airport Commissioners. Nazarian, 33, is founder and chief executive officer of SBE operating group, which runs splashy hotels, nightclubs and restaurants, including the Sahara hotel in Las Vegas and the four-star Bazaar by Jose Andres restaurant near Los Angeles' Beverly Center. If approved by the City Council, Nazarian would succeed Christine Essel, who resigned in May to run for the council in an upcoming District 2 special election.

Travelers at LAX were not experiencing unusual delays early Monday as heightened security measures went into effect there and at airports around the world after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden . Security checkpoints were running at their typical Monday rates, as were U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations, said LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles. Nico Melendez, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration , also said it appeared to be Monday morning business as usual.  In a statement, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief George Centeno encouraged the public to report any suspicious activity to the police by calling (310)

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday agreed to return more than $21.2 million to the operator of LAX to settle legal claims that airport funds were misappropriated in violation of federal regulations. On its last vote of the year, the council unanimously approved a plan for the city to repay $18.1 million to Los Angeles World Airports, which had been accused by the Federal Aviation Administration of improperly diverting the funds to L.A. Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau.

The Van Nuys Airport Part 150 Steering Committee will finally be reconvened Oct. 29 (at 7 p.m. at Airtel in Van Nuys) after almost four years of inaction. During the past four years, noise problems have grown worse as more helicopters and noisy Stage 2 aircraft have joined the Van Nuys fleet. The initial Part 150 recommendations do little to resolve noise problems and are clearly ineffective. Instead of reducing the number of jets and cutting back operations, the study recommended a weak "fly neighborly" policy that obviously does not control noise.

A popular vocational center at Van Nuys Airport that has trained thousands of aviation mechanics during its 40-year history faces closure or relocation next year if the Los Angeles Unified School District can no longer afford to keep the facility open. Educators, students, national organizations and business owners at the airport say the loss of the program would be a blow to those seeking technical careers in the aviation industry, which is already suffering a shortage of qualified entry-level mechanics.

The operators of busy Van Nuys Airport have agreed to dramatically reduce the number of days the main runway will be closed for major improvements. Plans call for the 8,000-foot runway to be closed for 10 days and 26 nights instead of 17 weeks — a lengthy closure that airport tenants said would hurt their operations, which have already been hit hard by the recession. Van Nuys is one of the busiest general-aviation airports in the nation, with more than 300,000 takeoffs and landings a year.

A business dispute between two aviation companies at Van Nuys Airport is threatening emergency helicopter flights for injured and severely ill children from around Southern California to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The disagreement could result in flight delays or even cancellations, according to executives at Helinet Aviation, which owns and operates 15 helicopters at the airport. Flights carrying donated organs for transplantation could also be affected, Helinet executives said.

Travelers at LAX were not experiencing unusual delays early Monday as heightened security measures went into effect there and at airports around the world after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden . Security checkpoints were running at their typical Monday rates, as were U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations, said LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles. Nico Melendez, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration , also said it appeared to be Monday morning business as usual.  In a statement, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief George Centeno encouraged the public to report any suspicious activity to the police by calling (310)

The noisiest jets at Van Nuys Airport will be phased out over the next six years with a new law approved unanimously by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, but residents may not notice a difference for several years. A debate over noise around the San Fernando Valley airport, one of the busiest general aviation centers in the nation, has spanned several decades. Officials have tried to mitigate the sound through an overnight departure curfew that begins at 10 p.m. and a residential soundproofing program, but Councilman Tony Cardenas hailed Friday's change as the most significant.

Tenants at Van Nuys Airport on Thursday called on Los Angeles officials to freeze proposed rent increases and consider handing over the management to a private company that might run the popular airfield more efficiently. The action, sparked by the worst economic downturn in decades, is another indication of widespread dissatisfaction with the way the city has run its outlying airports, including L.A./Ontario International and Palmdale Regional, which is now closed. The Van Nuys Airport Assn.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday agreed to return more than $21.2 million to the operator of LAX to settle legal claims that airport funds were misappropriated in violation of federal regulations. On its last vote of the year, the council unanimously approved a plan for the city to repay $18.1 million to Los Angeles World Airports, which had been accused by the Federal Aviation Administration of improperly diverting the funds to L.A. Inc., the city's convention and visitors bureau.

Van Nuys Airport has been plagued with budget deficits for years. Audits have uncovered mismanagement, poor tenant relations, lost business opportunities and facilities that were leased in violation of federal regulations. Now, a dispute between two prominent business leaders and political heavyweights is raising more questions about the management of one of the busiest general aviation airports in the nation. Real estate magnate Robert F. Maguire and billionaire David H. Murdock, the chief executive of Dole Food Co., are locked in a legal battle involving their aviation service companies, which are competitors at Van Nuys.