AIRPORT PLAN NEEDS A LIFT GRANTS WOULD HELP PREPARE FOR COMMERCIAL AIRLINES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Los Angeles World Airports is seeking $8.4 million in federal grants to make improvements to the Palmdale Regional Airport to make it ready for commercial airline use.

LAWA, the city of Los Angeles' airports department, is seeking the grants under the Federal Aviation Administration's Military Airport Program. The program is aimed at promoting the use of joint civilian- military airfields.

``We want that airport to be ready in the event an airline says they are ready,'' said LAWA spokesman Dennis Watson. ``We don't want to say, give us a year to get ready.''

If Los Angeles is successful in securing the grants, the money would fund three projects - construction of a cargo ramp, acquisition of a fueling station, and the installation of firefighting equipment called a deluge system in a hangar for fire safety.

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, a leading airport advocate, said the improvements are needed and will help draw airlines and other tenants.

``It makes it more attractive for prospective tenants,'' Ledford said. ``You're always looking to incrementally improve the airport. These are three improvements that are no-brainers.''

LAWA has budgeted funds from other sources, including $2.7 million for another FAA grant program, for the projects.

``If awarded the full amount of $8.4 million, LAWA would be able to reallocate funding to other pressing needs and projects,'' a LAWA staff report said.

The FAA's Military Airport Program grants are funded by fees and taxes levied at airports across the nation.

Only 15 airports can be in the program at any time, according to the FAA. For fiscal year 2003, which runs through September, there are five slots open for the program.

There is a total of $35 million available in the program.

Palmdale Regional Airport could qualify for the grants because it is located within Air Force Plant 42 and uses the installation's taxiways and runways.

The $3 million cargo ramp is a project that Palmdale, the city of Los Angeles, and Air Force officials have been working on for several years. The proposed ramp would be 600 feet by 300 feet and located south of the existing airport terminal, which is off 20th Street East north of Avenue P.

The project also includes a bypass taxiway and a rehabilitation of two taxiways.

The largest project to be funded is a $3.9 million effort to install a water-deluge system in a mammoth hangar that was used during the 1980s to build B-1B bombers. The hangar, which sits on LAWA-owned land, was last used by SR Technics America, an aircraft modification company that fell onto hard times following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Prior to SR Technics' arrival, LAWA had installed a water-deluge system in a portion of the hangar, referred to as hangar 704, and in a neighboring hangar. At the time, half of 704 was being subleased by Lockheed Martin for the X-33 experimental aircraft program and LAWA was not able to install the system for the entire hangar.

The grant will also fund the $1.5 million acquisition of a fueling station developed by SR Technics.

Construction will likely wait until the completion of a master plan for the Palmdale Regional Airport. Earlier this fall, LAWA awarded a $1.9 million contract to URS Corp. of Los Angeles, to develop the master plan.

Work under the master plan contract will include developing conceptual plans for airport development and land use; forecasts for airport demand, an airport layout plan and terminal area plan; and an environmental impact report. The work is expected to be completed in 17 months.

The Palmdale Regional Airport consists of a terminal building on land leased at Air Force Plant 42. Under an agreement with the Air Force, Plant 42 can be used by civilian airlines offering as many as 50 flights a day, and there are provisions to expand to 400 flights a day.

Commuter airlines United Express, America West and SkyWest operated out of Palmdale in the 1990s - sometimes two airlines at a time. United Express, the last commercial carrier at the site, pulled out of Palmdale in February 1998.

In a study commissioned by Los Angeles County, the consulting firm Tri-Star Marketing stated Palmdale can support a profitable passenger service linking the Antelope Valley with such cities as Las Vegas, Dallas, Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area.

``We're hoping an entrepreneurial airline like a JetBlue or a Southwest might want to operate at Palmdale,'' Watson said. ``We have no indication of interest at this time.''

The market area from which the Palmdale airport could draw - about 600,000 people, taking in Santa Clarita as well as the Antelope Valley - is large enough to produce 1 million to 1.5 million passengers a year, the report added. Airports in comparable-size markets average 26 jet flights and 18 commuter flights daily, the report said.