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# Despite turbulence, city’s airport soars
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/despite-turbulence-citys-airport-soars/
- Published: 2002-10-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:48:19.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*It has developed from a patch of dirt to a vital business district*

(Editor’s note: This is the first installment of two-part series examining the role the airport has played in Santa Monica. In Wednesday’s edition, the future of the airport.) It might be difficult to imagine that the thriving Santa Monica Airport was close to shutting down two times because local officials thought its place here was no longer valuable.

The airport, which existed solely as a plane manufacturer for Douglass Aircraft, turned into a burdensome neighbor for many residents who didn’t appreciate the increasing number of jets whisking people to places like Las Vegas. Local officials heard the complaints loud and clear through lawsuits levied against the city.

As a result, local officials began to think the airport was more of a headache than it was worth — but the land underneath it was not. The city council tried to shut down the airport and turn it into a massive business park. But the Federal Aviation Administration sued, resulting in a legal settlement in 1984.

“None of this would be here today,” said Santa Monica Airport Manager Bob Trimborn, gesturing to the hangers and restaurants that surround the runway. “It would probably have stayed a patch of dirt.”

In exchange for promising to maintain and keep the airport open until 2015, Santa Monica was allowed to drop the level of noise airplanes are allowed to 95 decibels, have a strict curfew on planes, restrict helicopters, and use a significant portion of the airport’s land for non-aviation uses.

A year before the landmark settlement with the FAA, the city wrote an airport masterplan that provided the basis for how the airport would be developed over the next 25 years.

“The only other option was to let somebody else run the airport for us,” Trimborn said. “But then we wouldn’t be able to directly control the airport’s operations or regulations.”

The agreement has charted how the airport today plays a role in the city, as well as how aviation is regulated here.

The agreement expires in 13 years, which will allow the city free reign to close it if it wishes. Officials now are beginning to look to the future in anticipation of 2015, wondering if the city is better off with an airport or valuable land to develop on.

Many officials would agree that keeping control of the airport in the 1980s was in the city’s best interest since it generates millions of dollars a year and is completely self sufficient.

But more than economically, the airport has integrated itself into the social fabric of the community. Residents can easily hop on a Big Blue Bus and get to the airport, where they can watch planes and jets fly in and out from a viewing platform or soak in the sunset while nibbling on sushi at the local restaurant. Officials are plan-ning to complete a new park this year on the eastern edge of the airport that will likely become a regional draw.

New aviation buildings now encircle the runway, and the vast majority of them are stationed to the north side of the airport, furthest away from residential homes.

But it was the development of office space and work studios for local artists, along with attracting a few restaurants, that has allowed the airport to become economically independent for atleast the past six years.

The city leases space in one 24,000-square-foot office building for about $1.95 a square foot, while at another 30,000-square-foot building, the rents are about $1.45 a square foot. Space in the airport’s administration building is going for $2.25-2.50 a square foot.

“It’s the intent that it be fiscally self-supporting and not dependent on the city’s general fund,” said Mark Richter, director of economic development. “Because of that, the airport has become much more than a runway and hangers.”

Any money left over after paying for its basic operations is sunk into capital improvement projects, like repaving the runway or repairing hangers, officials said.

“We save up money in our airport fund to pay for those large capital improvements,” Trimborn said. “We truly stand alone when it comes to the city and finances.”

Not only is it an economic engine for the city, but the airport has developed into key a business district for Santa Monica. Demand for space at the airport has become so high that there is now a waiting list to lease some of its property.

The airport’s largest hangar is routinely rented out for movie production and for large fundraisers, galas and award shows. Other hangars are rented out by people like Michael Jackson, Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfield to use for storage of vintage cars and other high-priced toys.

“It certainly has its own character because it is so different from other operations in the city,” Richter said. “It’s important to the city and the area in the manner that it supports businesses located here.”

The airport also has helped the city through some tough times. During the riots, some of the city’s emergency personnel were flown in when the roads and freeways were blocked. And after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, aid and supplies were flown in through the airport.

“It’s also important that we have the airport for emergencies,” said City Councilman Ken Genser. “It serves a very good purpose that way.”

Rapid development, among other national aviation factors, also focused new attention on the airport. Large international companies like MGM, Sony and MTV settled in Santa Monica and now station their company jets at the airport.

During the economic boom of the past decade, many wealthy westside residents began frequently using the Santa Monica Airport and use it to store their private jets. Many U.S. Presidents use the airport when they travel to Los Angeles, mainly because of its close proximity to Century City and Beverly Hills, where many political fundraisers are held.

Since the 1984 agreement, the mix of planes using the airport has steadily changed to more jet traffic. Officials say jet operations have steadily grown from between five or six flights a day to more than 15 jet flights by the mid-1990s. And by 2000, more than 40 jets were coming into and out of the airport, officials said.

Increased highway congestion coupled with commercial airline delays mixed in with the influx of wealth on the westside, has led to the increased jet use, officials said. Also, fractional share ownership — which allows multiple companies who can’t afford a private jet on their own to lease one from a management company — has led to an increase in corporate jet traffic, officials said.

The increase in jet noise became so noticeable, a group of residents mostly in West L.A. sued the city in 2001 for damages stemming from nuisance claims of noise and pollution. A judge has dismissed the claims of 19 of the 21 plaintiffs. The remaining few were awarded a few thousand dollars in damages each.

Then on Dec. 4, 2001, the city enacted some of the highest fines in the country for violating its stringent noise ordinance. First time offenders are given a warning, but after that a pilot can be cited with a $2,000, $5,000 or $10,000 fine for each time they breach the noise ordinance.

“There’s only a dozen airports across the country with noise ordinances,” said Deputy City Attorney Marty Tachiki. “Of those 12 or so, Santa Monica’s is the most restrictive.”

Based on residents’ concerns about planes possibly crashing into their homes, some of which are located within a few hundred feet of the airport, the airport commission has asked the city council to approve two 500-foot safety buffer zones at either end of the runway. The commission also asked the city to re-classify the airport as only being able to handle small jets and propeller-driven planes. Those requests are pending with the city and the FAA.

About 1,300 aircraft take off and land at Santa Monica airport during a month’s time. Of those, 90 percent are propeller-driven planes, which are in compliance with FAA regulations.

Jets constitute the other 10 percent, and of that type of aircraft 50 percent are the non-conforming, larger planes.

The safety zones would therefore only affect about 5 percent of the total planes flying into and out of the airport. If approved, Santa Monica would become the first general aviation airport in the country to take such an action.

“It would be misleading to suggest that heading in this direction would alter the number of operations,” said Jean Gebman, an Airport Commissioner. “Indeed large aircraft with higher approach speeds could simply be replaced by more smaller planes.”

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, jet operations at Santa Monica Airport are back down to 2000 levels, but officials say they are unsure how those numbers will change over the next few years.

“It’s anybody’s guess,” said Tachiki. “That chapter hasn’t been written yet.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/102202-01_01.jpg)

An arial view shows hundreds of homes surrounding the Santa Monica Airport, which has become a mini-city of its own. (Photo: Andrew H. Fixmer/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 22, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102202.pdf?ref=smdp.com)