Sacramento airport must remain open, AOPA says

Sacramento airport must remain open, AOPA says

Sacramento city officials are once again entertaining the thought of closing Sacramento Executive Airport for residential development. And as AOPA has repeatedly told the city, it's just not possible for a number of reasons. First of all, the city is bound by the federal government to maintain the airport property as an airport. That's because the city obtained the property through the 1948 War Assets Administration surplus property agreement containing deed restrictions, which says the property must be operated as an airport or returned to the federal government. Even though the city owns the airport, it has a 25-year rolling lease with the county of Sacramento to operate the airport. So even if the city did not renew its lease with the county, the lease would not expire for 25 years. "Simply put, the only development option available for Sacramento Executive Airport is as an airport," wrote AOPA Vice President of Airports Bill Dunn. The airport has more than 135,000 operations each year, and it is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). "Every airport in the NPIAS is vital," Dunn wrote, later warning, "AOPA will use all resources available to us to ensure the existing federal agreements are upheld and Sacramento Executive Airport is not allowed to close."

July 7, 2006