Talks are taking place between Los Angeles World Airports and the largest leaseholder at Van Nuys Airport to extend the time needed to construct new hangar and office space. The Maguire Aviation Group was to have completed by now 210,000 square feet of new building space on two properties at the airport. Then the economy tanked and ushered in one of the toughest periods that Valley airport has faced. Not only could Maguire not complete the improvements called for in lease agreements, overall aircraft operations dropped off and some businesses closed their doors. Robert Maguire, chairman and owner, sees a turnaround in the business climate at the airport and his aviation company is working to make good on its commitments to new construction. Negotiations with LAWA are on spreading the requirement over a more reasonable amount of time. In less than five years, Maguire has become a major player at Van Nuys, starting with taking over the former Petersen Aviation facility on Valjean in 2006. The Million Air property at the north end of the airfield, and Skytrails at the south end would be added later. The lease called for 113,000 square feet of hangar and office space on the 18-acre Million Air site, of which 67,000 square feet was built. On the Skytrails property, the requirement was for 165,000 square feet. Maguire has committed to building new hangar and office space that will become the Southern California base for a large, national business jet operator. Between what has been built and what is in the planning stage, the aviation firm has met about 70 percent of its lease requirements, Maguire said. “The amount we will spend is in excess of the amount LAWA mandated,” Maguire added. As the largest leaseholder, Maguire is also the largest revenue generator for the airport through its property taxes, fuel sales, and lease payments. Maguire expresses optimism about the airport as the economy begins to recover. Based on aircraft operations, there is still a ways to go to return to pre-recession levels. There were 35,802 turbine operations in 2010, a 15 percent increase from 2009 but still behind the 41,952 turbine operations in 2007. Maguire Aviation’s hangars are all full and Maguire anticipates there will be demand for space when the new hangars are eventually completed. “It is starting to get back on schedule,” Maguire said. “There is opportunity to make Van Nuys the most top notch general aviation national and internationally,” Curfew Update The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure passed its version of a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration on Feb. 16. Missing from the legislation however was a provision on a mandatory nighttime curfew for Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Van Nuys Airport. Congressmen Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman and Howard Berman sent a letter to committee Chairman John Mica and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri seeking to have the curfew made part of the FAA Reauthorization bill. The lawmakers had made the same request in the summer of 2010 when the bill was still making its way through Congress. With the Senate having passed its own version of the reauthorization bill, there will need to be an agreement in language on what will eventually go into law. Depending on the rules adopted for the reconciliation of the two bills, amendments could be allowed from the floor, which would give another chance for the mandatory curfew to get in. If not, the three congressmen have another card to play – the Valley-Wide Noise Relief Act. In the Feb. 9 letter to the transportation committee chairman, Schiff, Berman and Sherman said they would be introducing this legislation to close a loophole in the Airport Noise and Capacity Act. The long-time voluntary curfews between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. at both airports did not fall within the exemptions allowed by ANCA and the legislation is meant to make up that omission, the letter stated.. Jet noise has been a long simmering issue at both airports and led the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to apply to the FAA for a curfew through the Part 161 process. In November 2009, the FAA rejected the application after finding shortcomings in the authority’s cost-benefit analysis and failure to meet four of six conditions needed for a mandatory curfew. Los Angeles World Airports, the owner and operator of Van Nuys, is currently going through the Part 161 process for a mandatory curfew. By having curfews at both airports, flights would not be shifted from one to the other and addresses a concern by the FAA that a nighttime ban would add congestion to the airspace, the letter said, adding that nighttime flights not allowed to land at Van Nuys had the option of going to Los Angeles International Airport. New Service Southwest Airlines will begin two daily flights to Denver from Bob Hope Airport in August. The Burbank airport was the only airport in California services by Southwest that did not have flights to Denver. Southwest began service to Colorado’s largest city in 2006. Southwest is the largest airline at Bob Hope, flying 2.9 million passengers in 2010. Days prior to Southwest’s announcement, United Express added a third flight to Denver on its summer schedule. After Southwest’s announcement, United Express than added a fourth flight for the summer. American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue also serve Bob Hope. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]