New bid to ground stage 2 aircraft at Van Nuys Airport: board moves to ban some older jets at San Fernando Valley site.

BUSINESSES at Van Nuys Airport have been fearing the economic impact of a federal proposal to phase out older, Stage 2 aircraft, including the popular Gulfstream II business jet.

But now they have a more immediate concern on their hands: a decision by the L.A. Board of Airport Commissioners to ban the noisy planes over the next nine years.

The decision, which still must be seconded by the City Council, is less onerous than the proposed federal ban stretched out only over five years, but it is still drawing criticism from the San Fernando Valley business interests.

"We are disappointed," said Brendan Huffman, president of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, a Sherman Oaks-based business group. "(The airport) is a multi-billion dollar economic engine."

Van Nuys Airport is the largest general aviation airport in the country and hosts more Stage 2 aircraft than virtually every other airport. The planes are used primarily for business and charter purposes and were manufactured until the mid-1980s. Though there are still about 1,000 in use, most of the aircraft have been put out of service as the quieter Stage 3 and newer Stage 4 planes have become the industry standards.

VICA has lobbied against efforts to ban Stage 2 planes, saying the 32 such aircraft based at Van Nuys Airport contribute more than $400 million each year to the local economy through the maintenance, fuel and other businesses that keep them flying.

Robert Rodine, an airport consultant who has studied Stage 2 planes for the association, said though the planes generate a number of community noise complaints, neighbors seem to complain just as much about other aircraft.

"By banning the Stage 2 aircraft, they're not going to ameliorate the concerns of the people who complain," he said.

Clay Lacy Aviation Inc., a Van Nuys charter company with one of the largest fleets of Stage 2 planes in the country, said it stands to lose as much as $15 million per year if the planes are phased out.

The federal government is set to decide later this year whether to ban the planes nationwide as part of the reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration.