LAX MUST BE MODERNIZED TO MEET NEEDS : FACILITY'S IMPROVEMENT IS CRUCIAL TO ACCOMMODATE BUSINESS, TRAVELERS.

Byline: LOCAL VIEW By John J. Agoglia

A couple of years ago, the city of Los Angeles decided to change the name of its Department of Airports to Los Angeles World Airports. There was a good reason. We had become more than a city airport department. We had become a unique engine of economic prosperity for the surrounding five-county region - from both domestic and international sources - helping to foster trade and tourism to serve a burgeoning metropolis.

Recently, much has been made by others of the need to develop a regional plan for airport modernization. We agree, and in fact LAWA has been advocating a regional approach for years.

LAWA operates three commercial airfields in different geographic areas of the basin, including Palmdale to the north and Ontario to the east. We are convinced that it is in the best interest of Los Angeles and the public to further develop air operations at both of these facilities.

And at Los Angeles International Airport, we currently move 60 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo a year with the help of a 52,000-person labor force. Modernization is absolutely essential to meet current and future demand.

But let there be no misunderstanding. LAWA doesn't limit our support for airport development to the airports that we operate; we strongly support development of airports throughout the region, including a commercial airport at El Toro, which is also supported by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Nearly 30 years ago Los Angeles acquired land in Palmdale to develop a viable commercial airport. However, as fast as the population grew in the Antelope Valley over the last 20 years, the population grew far faster in the Inland Empire. Thus, LAWA expanded Ontario first.

Last year, two new terminals opened at Ontario International Airport - on time and under budget - in an effort to better serve the Inland Empire's population surge. Usage is now at 6.4 million annual passengers and is expected to grow to 8 million annual passengers by 2003 and 20 million annual passengers when the market can support it. A surprising 25 percent come from Los Angeles County and five percent from Orange County.

The Antelope Valley is next poised for a commercial airport. We are nearing completion of an exhaustive study on the potential of the Palmdale Airport and soon will announce a comprehensive plan to develop and market that facility. The plan will include major road improvements in the area to make the airport more accessible.

The LAX Modernization Master Plan is dedicated to improving conditions for passengers and cargo use of Los Angeles International Airport. Any such plan will also significantly improve surface street and freeway congestion in the region. We are in our second year of scrutinizing options in an ongoing environmental impact report, the most rigorous one ever done for an airport. The report is due later this year.

Once an alternative is selected, there will be a lengthy public review period followed by further study and modifications. Only then will any modernization plan go before the Los Angeles City Council for a vote.

Throughout this lengthy process, special attention will be paid to environmental issues resulting from the proposed plan. And no selection will be final until the Federal Aviation Administration and numerous other government agencies agree. These agencies must evaluate the plan and its impact on clean air, ground transportation and other quality of life issues.

Any regional air transportation growth plan must include modernization of LAX. Twenty years from now, LAX will handle only 50 percent of the regional market's needs, down from the current 75 percent, but it will remain the airport closest to the most people and businesses that travel or ship goods.

We will continue to work with the airlines to reconfigure domestic air transportation hubs, but are mindful that airlines operate only where it makes economic sense and there is market demand. The airlines prefer LAX and neither the federal government nor LAWA can force them to operate at airports where they do not wish to be.

We ask the public to remain open-minded in regard to any LAX expansion or modernization as the process takes its course. Let us all work together to promote a sound regional solution to the growing airport capacity challenge.