Report explores potential of selling airport

Deirdre Newman

A county report exploring the potential of selling John Wayne Airport

arrived at the same conclusion as did a 1995 task force: the county

can’t sell the airport under federal law, which prohibits any revenue

garnered from the sale of the airport to be used for non-airport

purposes.

The report, issued in early June, was commissioned by the Orange

County Board of Supervisors in May. It was conducted by the county

chief executive office, John Wayne Airport and the county counsel to

see whether the airport could be sold and the proceeds used to pay

off county general fund obligations.

The report also shared the pessimism of the earlier task force

that changing federal law would be extremely difficult, since it

would be adamantly opposed by commercial air carriers.

With this fundraising avenue terminated, the county will now have

to get resourceful in raising money through the airport and might

consider selling partnerships to cities like Newport Beach, said

James Campbell, an aide to Supervisor Charles Smith, who initiated

the report.

“The report is in no way a surprise,” Campbell said. “Now it’s

time to take the next step and get creative and look at real

alternatives as far as governance is concerned.”

The verdict of the report did not surprise Newport Beach officials

either, Mayor Tod Ridgeway said. Nor did it diminish their desire to

have some control over the future operations and curfews of the

airport, Ridgeway added.

In November, the city began a dialogue with the county about

having more control over several county-run operations in what it

considered its sphere of influence. Chief among those was the

airport.

“We gave a preliminary discussion and paper to the county,”

Ridgeway said. “I think we’re prepared to give a more formal and

detailed request here in the near future.”

The report was not an attempt to replicate the scope of the 1995

task force, which was commissioned by the board as an investigation

into possible sources for the payment of debt created by the county’s

declaration of bankruptcy. Instead, it sought to update the prior

investigation by examining current law.

Even so, the new report drew the same conclusion. In fact, current

law makes it even more difficult to sell the airport now because of

Congress’ actions in 1996 which significantly strengthened federal

revenue-use restrictions on airports, the report states.

Newport Beach has been looking for ways to increase its role in

the airport management to prevent expansion that could occur after an

expansion agreement expires in 2015.