Results tagged “Long Beach Airport” from Press Corps

Long Beach Airport officials announced today that an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday at the airport and will depart Wednesday. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive and depart during the morning hours, after 9 a.m.

The Antonov 124 is a large, Russian-made aircraft, usually white with blue markings, and will be noticeable as it passes overhead, the airport statement says. The noise footprint of the aircraft is similar to a C-17.

Should be pretty cool to watch, too.

 

The Airport Advisory Commission meeting will get an update today on the progress of construction at the Los Alamitos air base, which has forced the military to use Long Beach Airport for many air operations. The extra military aircraft have contributed the noise from the airport, which hasn't made neighbors too happy.

The commission meets at 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 2640 N. Lakewood Blvd., in the Redondo Board Room on the 12th floor, not in the commission's normal meeting place at Skylinks Municipal Golf Course.

If you live near the airport, then you're probably interested in the QuieterHomes Program that the City Council gave a final go-ahead to Tuesday night. I've been getting a lot of calls and e-mails, so below is information about how to find out whether your home may qualify for the program. Remember, only 27 homes at the southeastern end of the airport are being included in the program, which has upset residents at the northern end. See my stories about that issue here and here.

Residents can learn more about the program, see maps of the noise contour and find out if their home is included by going to www.lgb.org, then finding "Quieter Home Program" under the "Community Relations" bar in the directory on the left side of the screen. Residents can also call a toll-free number, 888-739-4090, or the airport's public affairs office at 562-570-2678.

A public informational meeting about the program is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in The Grand Long Beach Event Center, 4101 Willow Ave., airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson said Wednesday. She also said that she will send out letters Wednesday to the 27 residences that can join the QuieterHomes Program.

CNN reports online that several area airports had a huge bump in flight bookings, according to travel Web site Expedia, after the date of today's funeral for pop star Michael Jackson at the Staples Center was announced. Los Angeles International Airport and Long Beach Airport both had a 20 percent increase in bookings, the CNN article says.

Read the full article here.

The monthly Chat with Pat, hosted by 4th District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell, will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. today at Los Altos Library, 5614 Britton. Mario Rodriguez, the new Long Beach Airport director, will be the guest speaker.

The event is free and open to the public. It's a great chance to meet the 4th District council member and to find out the latest on the planned airport improvements.

This just in from Long Beach Airport public affairs:

Boeing has advised the Long Beach Airport that the U.S. Air Force B-1 Bomber is expected to depart on Monday, May 18 in the afternoon.  The aircraft arrived in July 2008 for maintenance.

Please note, this aircraft will likely use its afterburners upon take off, which will make it louder than the typical airplane departure.

What's happening with the Long Beach Airport's modernization plan? How does the airport impact the city, positively and negatively? What's going to happen with JetBlue and the Boeing C-17 program?

These are a few of the issues that will be discussed Tuesday night at Beer & Politics, a monthly discussion forum. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at Gallagher's Pub & Grill, 2751 E. Broadway. The speakers at the event will be 3rd District City Councilman Gary DeLong, 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes-Uranga and Airport Director Mario Rodriguez.

Check it out. Beer & Politics is always a lively discussion.

As I reported today, the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has launched a letter-writing effort to get the public to put pressure on City Hall and ensure JetBlue stays at Long Beach Airport.

Stymied by lawsuits and other delays, terminal improvements have gone nowhere and JetBlue executives are getting impatient. In case you missed it, here's the link to the chamber's advocacy site with a form letter. The Chamber will eventually send all of the letters to Mayor Bob Foster and the council.

I'm told by the Chamber that they've received a good response since the story came out today, increasing their signatures from 132 Tuesday to 204 as of this afternoon.

Meanwhile, JetBlue has had little more to say about the issue since CEO Dave Barger made controversial statements to an aviation blog last month. Today, JetBlue denied my request for an interview with Barger, issuing the following statement:

We remain committed to our home in Long Beach for the time being. Our
Customers enjoy the airport's convenient features every day, and it's
home to more than 500 Crewmembers and many more Business Partners. Yet
there are airport improvements that were promised before we began flying
that have never been made. We're dedicated to improving the environment
our Crewmembers work in and our Customers experience every day, and
expect the city to honor their previous commitments. Recent public
comments by Dave reflect our long-standing views on this matter.

The fate of the airport has become a fascinating story through its years of development, and I get the sense that we are reaching its climax. The questions remain: Will the airport improvements move forward, and will JetBlue stay or go?

Crankyflier.com, the airline industry blog that first reported on JetBlue's concerns about lack of progress on improvements at the Long Beach Airport and then was derided by City Council members Tuesday, has posted a response to the council.

He shoots down some of the council members' claims about how he had gotten the information and how local media had obtained it. The blogger provides an interesting perspective, and you can check it out here.

Today I wrote a column setting the record straight about some of the council members' comments as well.

If you want to listen to the whole council discussion, go to the city's video archive of the meeting, then click on item No. 15.

 

The Airport Advisory Commission and the public on Thursday will meet Mario Rodriguez, the new head of Long Beach Airport. The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. at the Airport Marriott Hotel.

Rodriguez, 43, who started Feb. 23, replaced Christine Andersen, who left in May to become the public works director for the city of Santa Barbara. At Long Beach, he oversees a 125-person staff and a $28 million budget.

Before coming to Long Beach, he was deputy director of planning and development at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

When I met with him this week, Rodriguez had some really interesting stories to tell about living through Hurricane Katrina and how the airport weathered such as disaster.

My profile on Rodriguez will publish on Sunday in the Press-Telegram. If you get a chance, check it out.

Deputy Director at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Mario Rodriguez has been named director of the Long Beach Airport, the city announced this morning.

Rodriguez, who will start on Feb. 23, will be in charge of a 125-person staff and a $28 million budget and report to City Manager Pat West on matters that include airport operations, finances and leases, the Airport Noise Ordinance, community outreach and environmental matters.

"Mr. Rodriguez's exemplary background in the private and public sector provides him with a unique understanding of the industry, which will be an asset to the Long Beach community as he faces many significant challenges in his new role," West said in a statement. "We conducted a rigorous national recruitment and Mario stood out with the interview panel, which included several community members. Simply put, we are very excited to have Mario join our team."
 
  As Deputy Director at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Rodriguez managed a 186-person-staff and a $25 million annual operating budget. He also oversaw the Airport's Sound Insulation, Land Acquisition Programs and all aircraft noise monitoring activity, according to the release.

Read more about it in Wednesday's Press-Telegram.

Last night the City Council voted to have an open discussion, rather than the planned closed session, about a possible lease or sale of the Long Beach Airport. That decision came about in part from pressure by community advocates, gadflies and local news blogger Bill Pearl. See my article about the decision in today's newspaper.

It's rare to see a reporter or any journalist standing at the council meeting podium, and even rarer to hear one give his opinion. We saw this happen last year, and it was the first time in my 10-year journalistic career that I had seen such a thing, when my fellow Press-Telegram employees and our executive editor addressed the drastic changes that had been happening at the newspaper (that wasn't a fun article to have to write, I can tell you that).

But that's the difference between what I do and what Bill Pearl does for www.lbreport.com. My job is to report the news, the facts and only the facts, not to give my opinion. I leave that up to the P-T editorial board.

Bill Pearl, on the other hand, is practically a one-man show at the Web site that he runs out of his home. He's reporter, editor, occasional photographer, and yes, editorial writer. He sometimes posts editorials on his Web site, which he had done about the airport closed session, and gives his opinions freely at council meetings, though that is rare for him as well.

Here's as close as I can get to opinion -- kudos to Bill and the other community advocates for pressuring the council to open up the airport discussion to the public, and to the council for unanimously voting to do so. There's been a lot of talk about creating transparency down at City Hall, and as a journalist, I'm all for it. That's the way democracy should work.