South Vista Communities joins with Citizens for a Friendly Airport and the Palomar Airport Action Network in continuing to oppose the County’s plans to permit American Airlines to operate out of Palomar Airport.
SVC thanks all of you who came to the Vista City Council meeting on October 22 to speak in favor of the Council’s resolution opposing commercial flights out of Palomar Airport, and we are grateful to the Council members for approving the resolution.
SVC thanks each of you who entered your comment opposing the AA proposal on the County’s agenda page — 523 E-Comments with over 85% (446) opposed (see below).
Our fight is not over — please see the report below.
AA at Palomar Board VOTE POSTPONED
Last Wednesday, Dec 11th, the Board of Supervisors postponed a vote to:
- Authorize a lease for American Airlines to fly a very large jet in and out of Palomar Airport
- Change a long standing policy, (called an F-44) to allow jets this large to use Palomar Airport
The truth is, they didn’t have the required 4 votes to pass the item, so Supervisor Desmond punted the item until Wednesday, Jan 8th, hoping to garner the necessary votes by then.
We have our work cut out for us. Supervisor Lawson-Remer voted against postponement. It passed 3-1, with Supervisor Anderson absent. The games have begun.
This agenda item received 523 E-Comments with over 85% (446) opposed. We are so grateful to all who took the time to respond. (See the infographic at the bottom of this email for the breakdown). Our responses scared the Supervisors. Wednesday, Jan 8th, is the first meeting of 2025, just after the holiday season. They are hoping we are all still in “Holiday” mode and won’t show up. We have to prove them wrong.
C4FA would also like to thank the City of Carlsbad and the City of Vista for their stances on the AA issue. The City of Carlsbad reminded the County that per the 2021 Court order, the City of Carlsbad needs to be consulted on this issue (which hasn’t been done), and the City of Vista passed a Resolution opposing the contract.
C4FA is opposed to approving the AA contract and rescinding/changing the F-44 Board Policy. Simply put, the AA jet is far too large for Palomar Airport. This contract will take a safe airport and make it unsafe. The runway is too short, the planes wings are too wide, and to land safely, the jet has to come in much faster than the airport is designed for. Additionally, the first flight of the morning leaves at 6:15am, during Palo- mar’s Quiet Hours, the same Quiet Hours developed and touted by the County as one of the ways Palomar tries to be a good neighbor to the community. American simply doesn’t care.
Changing and/or removing the F-44 policy is a violation of the Court’s 2021 ruling against the County. It changes the use of the Airport, one from supporting General Aviation and small jets, to one that becomes a full blown Commercial airport. The FAA recommended airport design standards for this AA E175 are the same as those for a 737. This is a backdoor attempt to start to expand the Airport without getting Carlsbad’s approval (as ordered by the Court) in a “little by little” way, instead of a transparent public process.
So for now, we hope you all enjoy the holiday season. We’ll be back after the New Year with a Call to Action for the Jan 8th vote. We need all of you to rally and submit a new batch of E-comments when the Agenda is published. The 523 comments have all been “archived” and the County is hoping we’ll all simply go away.
As always – Questions? Please email us at [email protected]
Happy Holidays and thank you for your continued support.
Your Friends and Neighbors at C4FA
Please put January 8 on your calendar and watch for the County agenda page — we need your comments.
