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| For decades now, hordes of air travelers from the
Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and southeastern Kern
County have had no choice but to travel down below to Los
Angeles International Airport for national and
international air service. And in the years to come, as
northern Los Angeles County grows into the affordable
housing mecca it is predicted to become, more and more
air travelers will be stalled on the overcongested
freeways trying to get to overburdened LAX. |
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| The, Valley Press has advocated for years - 37, to be
exact - full development of Palmdale Regional Airport as
a solution to LAX's overcrowding - a plea that for the
most part has fallen on deaf ears with the powers that be
in the Los Angeles basin. While former L.A. Mayor James
Hahn acknowledged the need for a regional solution to air
travel in the Southland, his statements amounted to not
much more than lip service while he threw his real weight
behind an $11 billion LAX expansion plan. |
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| Turn the page. With Hahn out and new L.A. Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa in, there is new hope on the
horizon. Villaraigosa, before running for mayor, during
the election and after taking office, has voiced favor
for the Palmdale and Ontario airports as regional
solutions to the Southland's overcrowded air-passenger
picture. After Villaraigosa's election, we urged the
mayors of Palmdale and Lancaster to invite L.A.'s new
mayor and the airport's board to visit Palmdale Regional
Airport to demonstrate how LAX's overburdened situation
might be solved. |
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| Thursday, Valeria Velasco, one of six new
Villaraigosa appointments to the Los Angeles World
Airports' Board of Airport Commissioners, toured Palmdale
Regional Airport at Air Force Plant 42, signaling
movement that the facility may still be on the radar to
evolve as a full-service passenger airport for north Los
Angeles County. |
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| Paul Haney, LAWA's deputy executive director for
public and community affairs, called Valasco's use of the
Palmdale Airport "symbolic," remarking how it
amounted to "demonstrating in a tangible way a
commitment to a regional solution to overcrowding at
LAX." |
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| "The whole reason I'm here is really to promote
this airport and promote regionalism," Valasco said
during her tour. "This is lovely," Valasco said
of the 17,500-acre LAWA site, adding she hopes to hold a
board meeting at the Palmdale airport so other
commissioners can see the facility. |
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| Now that Valasco has seen what we have to offer,
let's hope her enthusiasm for the site will translate
symbolism into reality with the other board members. With
LAWA's resources and marketing, Palmdale's runways can
open up to a host of destinations that can solve some of
the region's air-travel problems. |
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