Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles area. It opened on April 15, 1923, making it one of the United States' oldest airports, and it has been one of the world's foremost general aviation airports (at one time, the busiest single-runway airport in the world).Schiff, Barry: "Death of an Airport," August 1981, AOPA Pilot, retrieved January 11, 2023 The airport is scheduled to close on December 31, 2028.
The airport is about from the Pacific Ocean (Santa Monica Bay) and north of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 categorized it as a reliever airport. The city of Santa Monica is permitted to close the airport at the end of 2028. Santa Monica Airport covers a total of 215 acres (87 ha) of land.
One of the airport's former hangars, the Barker Hangar, is in use as a public events venue, and is commonly used for a number of televised awards ceremonies and concerts.
History
Early history Originally Clover Field, after World War I aviator 2nd lieutenant Greayer "Grubby" Clover, the airport was the home of the Douglas Aircraft company.Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II, p. 15, Cypress, CA, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9897906- 0-4.
The first circumnavigation of the world by air, accomplished by the U.S. Army in a fleet of special custom built aircraft named the Douglas World Cruiser, took off from Clover Field on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1924, and returned there after some .
The first Powder Puff Derby originated from Clover Field, and the field hosted aircraft of pioneer aviators Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Wallace Beery, and Wiley Post, among others.
Cloverfield Boulevard — which confuses the field's naming for a crop of green rather than a fallen soldier — is a remnant of the airport's original name, as is the name of the Cloverfield film series, which derives its name from that road.
World War II Clover Field was once the site of the Army's 40th Division Aviation, 115th Observation Squadron and became a Distribution Center after World War II. Douglas Aircraft Company was headquartered adjacent to Clover Field. Among other important aircraft built there, Douglas manufactured the entire Douglas Commercial "DC" series of reciprocating-engine-powered airliners including the DC-1 (a prototype), DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, DC-5 (only 12 built), DC-6 and DC-7. During World War II, B-18 Bolo and B-18A bombers and thousands of C-47 (military version of the DC-3) and C-54 (later the civilian DC-4) military transports were built at Santa Monica, during which time the airport area was cleverly disguised from the air with the construction of a false "town" (built with the help of Hollywood craftsmen) suspended atop it.
Post-World War II Transition to general aviation reliever airport In 1958, Donald Douglas asked the city to lengthen the airport's runway so that Douglas Aircraft could produce and test the DC-8 there. The city, bowing to objections of residents, refused to do so, and Douglas closed a plant that had employed 44,000 workers in World War II, moving airliner production to Long Beach Airport.Garvey, William, Battled field, Aviation Week and Space Technology, February 24, 2014, p.18
With the departure of Douglas, the airport became a principal general aviation "reliever" airport for the Greater Los Angeles area, accommodating mostly business aircraft, training aircraft, and personal planes.
In 1968, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in exchange for an airport-development grant, contracted with the City of Santa Monica to ensure the airport land would be used for aviation services, including fuel, maintenance and fixed base operations, until 1988.
Battles to limit or close the airport Donald H. Brandsen, a resident of Santa Monica, worked tirelessly for 25 years, until his death in 2013, to save the Santa Monica Airport. Santa Monica Mirror: https://smmirror.com/obituary-santa-monicas-donald-harry-brandsen-passes-away/
It has remained open for 107 years, but On December 31, 2028, it will officially close and become a park. Yahoo News: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/santa-monica-finally-killing-107-120000356.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
Starting in the late 1970s, the airport became the object of numerous political battles seeking to limit or close the airport—ultimately becoming a key precedent for various such airport battles across the nation—pitting local area residents, land developers, and local government against airport users and general aviation industry organizations, sometimes supported by the FAA.
Initially, residents off the departure end of Runway 21 complained of noise, and the Santa Monica city government imposed a noise limit of 100 decibels on departing aircraft. Airport supporters, including airport users, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA), and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), fought the city in federal court.
However, in their first conflict, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a city could impose reasonable restrictions on airport activity and noise. The city responded by preparing 85 decibel restrictions, which threatened to oust most aircraft from the field. It also began other actions against the airport, including evictions of most aviation operators.
Further, in 1981, the airport's occupied five percent of the usable land of Santa Monica, in the heart of the burgeoning population of the Greater Los Angeles area, making it highly desirable real estate for development. One study indicated that intense development of the airport land could double the city's revenue.
Additionally, the city was mostly populated by apartment renters, and rent-cost control was a primary motivating factor in city elections at the time, with the result that liberal candidates who had expressed the desire to close the airport, and/or develop new low-cost housing, were elected to six of seven city council seats.
Battles between opponents and defenders of the airport have continued, with various court decisions and FAA legal opinions emerging favoring one side or the other. However, the airport remained open throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st.
In 2009, with jet traffic increasing at SMO, studies by UCLA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that SMO was a source of abnormally high air pollution in the area, particularly for ultrafine particles that threatened the health of children and the elderly, and those with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In neighborhoods downwind of the airport, ultrafine particles were measured at 2.5 to 10 times the normal amount. The FAA attempted remediation by controlling the timing of engine run-ups and positioning of aircraft, but some residents complained that the measures failed to resolve the problem.Weikel, Dan: "Santa Monica Airport a major pollution source," November 19, 2009, Los Angeles Times retrieved January 11, 2023
In 2017, the FAA agreed to let the city shorten the runway from to —effectively blocking most jets from using the airport—and allowing the city to completely close the airport by December 31,https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/santa-monica-is-finally-killing-its-107-year-old-airport-here-s-what-comes-next/ar-AA1YZj8w?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=69bc99b7745343bf82c6991055a85692&ei=25 2028. A legal challenge to the agreement, backed by the NBAA, failed in court.
21st-century political/social/cultural events
In 2022, the Frieze Art Fair announced that its Los Angeles edition would move to the airport in 2023, occupying a massive temporary tent designed by Kulapat Yantrasast’s architecture firm WHY and hosting more than 100 exhibitors in addition to expanded programming and activations.Wallace Ludel (2 June 2022), Frieze Los Angeles takes off from Beverly Hills locale, will land at Santa Monica Airport for 2023 edition The Art Newspaper.
U.S. Presidents Donald Trump (in 2019) and Joe Biden (in 2022 and 2023) both landed at SMO during visits to the area—arriving in their Marine One helicopter, after first arriving at Los Angeles International Airport aboard Air Force One.
Operations
The airport has a control tower. On average, it handled 296 operations a day (for the 12 months – ended July 2011).FAA's Air Traffic Activity System website Traffic decreased to 83,381 annual operations in 2014.
As the Santa Monica Airport is one of many general aviation airports in the nation that is surrounded on some sides by residential development, the City of Santa Monica aggressively enforces one of the most stringent noise ordinances in the nation. In addition to responding to the community's noise concerns and enforcing the city's Aircraft Noise Ordinance, which includes a maximum allowable noise level, curfew hours and certain operational limitations, airport staff is involved in a variety of supplementary activities intended to reduce the overall impact of aircraft operations on the residential areas surrounding the airport. The following procedures and limitations are enforced in accordance with the noise ordinance. Violations may result in the imposition of fines and/or exclusion from Santa Monica Airport.
Maximum noise level: A maximum noise level of 95.0 dBA Single Event Noise Exposure Level, measured at noise monitor sites 1,500 feet from each end of the runway, is enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no additional noise monitoring stations along the flight pattern, which is routed entirely over residential neighborhoods. Night departure curfew: No takeoffs or engine starts are permitted between 11 pm and 7 am Monday through Friday, or until 8 am on weekends. Exceptions are allowed for bona fide medical or public safety emergencies only. Operational limitations: Touch-and-go, stop-and-go, and low approaches are prohibited on weekends, holidays, and weekdays from one half-hour after sunset until 7 am the following day.
In addition, there are numerous recommended noise abatement procedures and limitations that have been incorporated into the airport's Fly Neighborly Program and included in the program's outreach materials.
The aviation aspects of aircraft operations at the Santa Monica Airport and use of the nation's airspace is regulated by the federal government through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The city is jurisdictionally preempted by federal law from establishing or enforcing new local laws that would affect aircraft operations or the use of airspace around the Santa Monica Airport.
The Museum of Flying at the airport houses a collection of historic aircraft. A new facility was built on the south side of the airport and is now open. The restaurant The Hump was closed in 2010 after its chef and owner were arrested for serving whale meat.
One of the airport's oldest buildings, next to the restored Douglas DC-3, hosts the U.S. Civil Air Patrol's Clover Field Composite Squadron 51.
Landing fees On August 1, 2005, the Santa Monica City Council implemented a landing fee program (Resolution No. 9855) for all aircraft based on a uniform rate of $2.07 per 1000 pounds of maximum certificated gross landing weight. Since the Santa Monica Airport receives no federal, state or local funding to operate, the landing fees fill the gap between other airport revenue and the cost of operations.http://pen.ci.santa-monica.ca.us/airport/PDF%20Files/LF%20Brochure.pdf SMO Landing Fee Program On April 13, 2013, the rates were increased to $5.48 per 1,000 pounds of maximum certificated gross landing weight.
Airport Park