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Oakland International Airport Port of Oakland San Francisco International Airport Sacramento Airport Fresno airport Federal Aviation Administration |
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| Air travel has become an increasingly congested part of our state's transportation system. Two of our airports, Los Angeles and San Francisco Internationals, are among the top five busiest airports in the nation. Passenger growth at SFO has skyrocketed from 18 million in 1980 to 40 million today . That growth, coupled with frequent low visibility and insufficient runway width, have caused SFO to rank worst in the nation for bad-weather delays. In 1998, incoming planes were on time only 64 percent of the time. Delays and crowds are becoming the norm at all Northern California airports. Passengers at San Jose International Airport jumped from 7 million in 1993 to 11 million in the last fiscal year. At Sacramento International, flights are growing at more than 5 percent a year. Oakland International has double-digit passenger and air cargo growth. The document for the airport's proposed development program says, "At passenger volumes forecast for 2000, the levels of service in existing terminals would deteriorate to gridlock conditions in many cases." Plans are floating for a $700 million terminal complex at Oakland, currently operating at 70 percent capacity. Even with construction of a giant new international terminal underway, San Francisco International Airport will be among the nation's 10 most congested airports by 2002, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Already, West Coast shippers are relying more and more on airfreight as Pacific Rim markets expand. Sacramento International's cargo volume has been growing 30 percent or more a year. In the Bay Area, air cargo is one of the fastest-growing industries. The Port of Oakland reports that existing air cargo facilities will be unable to accommodate trade in the year 2000. The bottom line is that without steady expansion of facilities to meet growth in passenger and cargo business, travelers and business operators alike will suffer increasing losses of both time and money. And the economy will suffer. Today in the Bay Area alone, the area's three major airports generate more than $35 billion in direct business revenues. Those revenues support 470,000 jobs, which in turn generate more than $13.2 billion in personal income. Despite the economic imperative to expand, airport expansion plans always draw fire. San Francisco International considers adding another runway to be the best choice for easing its chronic delay problem. But that plan entails filling acres of the bay and is heatedly opposed by environmentalists. San Jose International has plans to build another runway, a new terminal and improved cargo facilities, but a citizens group placed on the March 2000 ballot an initiative that would have dealyed construction of the terminal until local rail and road links were near completion. The intitiative was defeated after its sponsors brokered a deal with the city and agreed not to support it. Just days after the election, there was more good news for San Jose International and all airports when Congress passed the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR 21). The three-year bill will increase aviation investment by $10 billion over current levels, with the lion's share of the funding going for radar modernization and much-needed airport construction projects. The total authorized funding over the next three years will be $40 billion . Bay Area airports would receive $34 million a year for improvements, doubling the annual federal investment. The bill also makes it easier for municipal airports to apply for grants. Updated May 10, 2000 |
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