SCAUWG.ORG
The SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AVIATION UNITED WORKING GROUP
We Make Safety Happen!
05/12/2026 NBC-TV VIDEO Coverage of Santa Monica City Council 5/12/26 - Airport Agenda Item:
By report approximately 250 people in favor of the airport were present at the overflowing, packed, meeting, Though the vast majority in the room were Pro-Airport, featured presenting to the council were three anti-airport voices, and one pro-airport speaker. One anti-airport voice said she can't talk on the phone and do work, another said she can't work, and apparently without knowing that unleaded fuel is available at the airport, reading from a prepared speech, she spoke about how her property was a dumping ground for leaded fuel, and that she can't work. The third complained that her air purifier turns yellow and red. The pro-airport featured speaker expressed that without the airport staying open LAX could send their traffic over SMO.
No reference was reported as to whether the residential areas referred to are zoned for work. No interviews with the anti-airport voices were included asking if i they knew that the 103-year-old airport (the second oldest airport continuously in operation in the United States) was there prior to them moving into the area, and if property owners, they signed escrow papers acknowledging the airport's location. Nor was it indicated if any of the anti-airport speakers were hesitant to go to someone else's neighborhood, like those surrounding LAX, Hollywood Burbank & Ontario, and fly really large aircraft at their desire, and whether they considered it okay to allegedly impose on those area residents.
Welcomed is that NBC-TV covered the meeting and interviewed a few airport supporters. Stressed was that SMO is Santa Monica's "community's airport," that there is now passenger service to several cities, and that Santa Monica Airport provided very important emergency services while fighting the recent devastating fires. One voiced that the City cannot afford making the property a Park, and that there was a very good possibility that (inferring reference to past examples) the final result would NOT be a Park. The aviation supporters desire that there be another city-wide vote to determine the airport's future, they represented that the result would reflect a recent survey's determination that 67% of Santa Monica residents want the airport to stay open in some form.
You can view the NBC-TV Coverage Here.
Contact: Ron Berinstein E mail: Contactus@Scauwg.org