Santa Monica, FAA negotiating on eviction prospects

A superior court order scheduled for Dec. 1 has been delayed until early January while the parties work through numerous issues. The judge’s order was to decide on a preliminary injunction sought by FBO Atlantic Aviation to stop its eviction. According to reports, the two parties decided to continue the issue until Jan. 3, 2017.

The delay and related negotiations sparked complaints from anti-airport residents, believing the city may be softening its stated resolve to close the airport by the summer of 2018. As a result of the continuance, Atlantic Aviation and American Flyers can continue operations. The city is seeking to evict the FBOs and take over the services itself, a proposal that has caused the FAA to question the city’s ability to muster such an operation with no previous experience in running an FBO.

“Anytime we have parties in dispute negotiating, that’s a good thing,” said AOPA General Counsel Ken Mead. AOPA for decades has been a leading advocate for the historic airfield, despite unrelenting maneuvers by the city to close the facility, even though it is protected under numerous FAA grant obligations and land grant agreements.