Defending Reid-Hillview Airport
by Ian Kluft
Feb 1, 2008
Here we go again. We may have a new political battle on our hands to defend
Reid-Hillview Airport from a proposal to close it. Now I guess we know it
seems to happen once a decade.
Santa Clara County supervisor Pete McHugh has proposed
closing Reid-Hillview Airport and selling the land to developers, as one of
a list of options to solve a budget shortfall. Here are news articles about
it.
So far this sounds like a trial balloon that McHugh is flying to see what
ideas are feasible for budget cutting. We need to make sure that such a
shortsighted proposal as pursuit of closing the airport for a one-time
budget fix does not move forward.
I'm a constituent of McHugh's District 3. So I'm going to complain directly
to him as well. This hits me very directly since I'm currently training at
Reid-Hillview to become a flight instructor, in pursuit of a long-held
personal dream. I finished my instrument rating
in December and am currently working on upgrading from Private Pilot to
Commercial Pilot. The next step after commercial is my goal of
flight instructor.
While I was working on my
instrument rating, I met other pilots who had learned to fly there at
Reid-Hillview who were hired by airlines shortly after we met.
Businesses at Reid-Hillview offer all levels of personal or occupational
pilot training.
We've been through this before
In the late 1980's and up to 1990, then-supervisor Zoe Lofgren led an effort
to close Reid-Hillview. In the late 1990's, supervisor Blanca Alvarado made
a similar effort. Both attempts failed. But they left the names of
Zoe Lofgren and Blanca Alvarado remembered and reviled among pilots across
the region.
McHugh hasn't crossed the line to join them with such an indelibly bad
reputation among pilots. But he could if this continues.
It's important to review some of the reasons why the supervisors and the
community rejected closure of Reid-Hillview before.
- Reid-Hillview is a "reliever airport" which serves to separate General
Aviation aircraft traffic from airline traffic which is present at
San Jose International Airport. It's a prudent move for safety to separate
aircraft which travel at such different speeds from each other.
Also, in the late 1990's the city's master plan for SJC's expansion
had flight schools such as Trade Winds Aviation and Squadron Two Flying Club
relocate from SJC to RHV, in order to make room for SJC's air cargo facility
and rebuilding Runway 30R/12L into a second airliner-length runway.
- Reid-Hillview is an indispensible resource in an emergency or disaster.
In the aftermath of the 1989 earthquake, pilots flew emergency supplies from
Reid-Hillview to Watsonville while the roads over the mountains were blocked.
But when at some point we are the location in need of supplies, they will come
wherever there is a functioning runway. We must not lose this capability.
- Any General Aviation airport with its associated businesses should be
able to operate at a profit, if operated reasonably well. While there's
enormous room for improvement in the county's operation of Reid-Hillview,
it does support its own costs, create jobs and bring sales tax revenue
in the community. With better aviation-minded business sense, such as
opening a restaurant again at the currently-vacant terminal building
and many other examples, it could do even more.
- The county can't afford the avalanche of lawsuits that would come from
a serious attempt to close the airport. At the board of supervisors meeting
in 1996 where the issue came up, I recall speakers warned them of the
following lawsuits they would get if they proceeded with a closure plan.
- San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
- because of the local
business RHV creates and accessibility that RHV offers to businesses flying
via their own or rented/leased/chartered aircraft to or from the
Silicon Valley area.
- Federal Aviation Administration
- because the county accepted airport funding which obligates it to keep
the airport open at least 20 years. (The latest of that kind of funding
was accepted within the past 2 years, according to the KLIV article above.)
- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
- because local pilots and residents, whether they own or rent aircraft
today or want to learn to fly in the future, depend on Reid-Hillview for
local access to an airport.
- American Airlines
- because there is a genuine safety need to separate the roles of airline
terminals and general aviation airports due to the different speeds of each
type of aircraft. And the airlines do hire pilots who invested in their own
training at flight schools located at General Aviation airports.
- and more
- The meeting went on for hours, with speakers allowed to talk for 2 minutes
each. Many made credible statements of why they would be compelled to sue
the county if the vote had been to close the airport.
- Reid-Hillview has a good safety record. In the 1996 meeting, one of the
supervisors who voted against closing the airport said that he previously
supported the study of the airport's safety. The study said it's good.
- The San Jose Police helicopter has used Reid-Hillview for an emergency
landing when they had a malfunction giving the pilot reason to doubt they
could make it back to San Jose International. If not for Reid-Hillview being
there, they would have had nowhere to land safely. In an emergency, pilots
always seek a safe landing at an airport.
- The airport was there first. I've heard before from someone who thought
that doesn't matter. But actually it matters infinitely for this discussion
that the airport is already there and a part of the community. It helps
significantly on top of that to have been there first.
Fixing the unreliability of the county government
I've suggested this idea before in private conversations.
So far reactions have been that this makes sense.
It's definitely time to bring it into the light.
With ongoing neglect and now a third time we've heard a proposal to
close the airport, Santa Clara County's government has shown itself to be
an unreliable steward of the community asset of Reid-Hillview Airport.
We need to have the government body that operates the airport
have an interest in running it well. That means
establishing an airport district, and transferring ownership of
Reid-Hillview and South County Airports
from the county to the new airport district.
The purpose of an airport district would be to manage its airports
as economically self-supporting entities.
Many supporting examples
can be found by searching the web.
I found the relevant California laws in the past years while setting up
a non-profit corporation for an unrelated purpose. The California
Public Utilities Code sections 22001 to 22909 cover airport districts.
I have
a page of links to the relevant laws
in the Public Utilities Code, Government Code and Election Code.
It may be a bit naive to expect that we can convince the county
supervisors to willingly give up Reid-Hillview and South County
Airports. They've clearly blundered with them.
They've already gotten a strong hint with the City of Palo Alto
taking the Palo Alto Airport back from the county
due to mismanagement and neglect.
So maybe it won't be impossible to convince them that this is in
the community's best interest.
But if need be, with a minimum of 43166 petition signatures, plus at
least 10% for a comfortable margin, state law would allow us to force
the issue onto the Santa Clara County ballot box.
Of course, even this isn't perfect. No human endeavor is. But it's
a better organization to encourage management of the airports with interest
in all issues important to the airports. Safety, economic, technical,
legal and community issues
(not necessarily in that order - each will vary for different topics)
of the airports would be the focus of the
elected board of directors of the airport district.
Let's keep clear what is, might be and isn't part of the expected scope
of a Santa Clara Valley airport district.
- Reid-Hillview Airport and South County Airport
- Yes:
Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) and South County Airport (E16, formerly Q99)
are the airports proposed to be transferred from Santa Clara County
to a new Santa Clara Valley airport district.
- San Jose International Airport
- No:
San Jose International Airport (SJC) is owned by the City of San Jose.
The city actively promotes and responsibly manages the facility as an
economically self-supporting entity.
There is no reason to change or even disturb that.
- Palo Alto Airport
- Unknown, not in the near term:
the City of Palo Alto has already begun the process of taking the
Palo Alto Airport (PAO)
back from the county upon upcoming expiration of the county's lease.
PAO would not and could not be included in a Santa Clara Valley
airport district proposal unless that was initiated by the
City of Palo Alto or a petition by its residents.
A lot depends on the city's success in managing the airport.
Realistically, they might not consider such an idea until and unless
a Santa Clara Valley airport district was established and proved itself
to manage RHV and E16 responsibly and effectively.
- Moffett Federal Airfield
- Unknown, not in the near term:
Moffett Field (NUQ) is owned by the federal government in a complicated
arrangement where it is jointly operated by NASA Ames Research Center and the
Air National Guard. Due to its former status as Moffett Naval Air Station,
it is still controlled by the Department of Defense. If a motion ever came
up to transfer the facility to local jurisdiction, it would make sense for
a Santa Clara Valley airport district to be prepared to accept that.
No such action is currently proposed or expected.
- other airports outside Santa Clara County
- No:
no airports outside Santa Clara County would be under consideration.
The scope of the proposed Santa Clara Valley airport district would be
the boundaries of Santa Clara County. State law creates districts by county.
Though it is possible for more than one adjacent county to join a district,
that's would be something other counties would have to initiate.
Information about Reid-Hillview Airport