EDITORIAL : PILING ON AT LAX PENA, MCCAIN SHOULD LET THE AIRLINES FIGHT THEIR OWN BATTLES.

Some of the most aggressive, in-your-face lobbyists around work for the political arm of the airline industry, otherwise known as the Air Transport Association.

The association routinely pulls out all the stops to deter host cities from recovering local tax dollars that have been spent at airports, and to oppose new or higher fees and taxes on airport lessees.

Typical of the pressure tactics used by the association was the rally it helped organize at Los Angeles City Hall in April. About 250 protesters, many of them union employees at the airport, denounced a proposed International Airport fuel tax that was being studied by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. Some of the protesters carried signs reading ``No tax at LAX'' and ``Don't Balance the (city) Budget on Our Backs.''

But the association doesn't rely entirely on local pressure. It has friends in high places, too.

Transportation Secretary Federico Pena has warned Mayor Richard Riordan, who has been trying to recover $31 million from LAX, that the city could damage its relations with Washington if it pursues its case.

``Everyone knows that Congress has made very clear its views on the diversion of airport funds,'' Pena said Oct. 7 during a visit to LAX.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was even harsher in a letter to Riordan. He accused Riordan of having ``blatantly orchestrated a middle-of-the-night scheme to divert $31 million from the airport.''

McCain, chairman of a Senate aviation subcommittee, said he would use his position to cut federal airport grants for Los Angeles unless the $31 million is returned.

Actually, the city has a pretty good case for the money. Audits conducted by the Los Angeles County grand jury and City Controller Rick Tuttle contend that the municipal Department of Airports has not returned General Fund money that was advanced by the city for operating expenses and the acquisition of land.

``In this case,'' Tuttle said, ``we were able to document investments the taxpayers made in the airport and the city is entitled to be paid back.''

(Tuttle said earlier this year that the airport owed the city between $300 million and $350 million for contributions made for the development of the airport between 1950 and 1972. Last month, the Department of Airports returned $31 million to the city.)

If the law and the facts are on the city's side, Los Angeles would be cheating its own taxpayers if it failed to press its case through appropriate legal channels. The city is entitled to have its day in court. It is totally wrong for Pena and McCain to attempt to use their political muscle to pressure Riordan, Tuttle and other city officials to back off.

Finally, it is reprehensible for McCain to threaten to block federal airport grants for Los Angeles. This would be tantamount to playing with lives if grants dealing with safety are involved.

The ATA is perfectly capable of fighting its own battles with Los Angeles taxpayers. Pena and McCain should stay out of it.