SCRAA: A New Day for LA

Today, the City of Los Angeles took a giant step towards turning our regional air traffic rhetoric into reality. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced this morning that the City of Los Angeles will rejoin the Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA) and that I will be the City’s representative. Congresswoman Jane Harman and Supervisor Don Knabe, both longtime supporters of regional aviation, were also on hand to voice their support for this monumental step, as was Assemblyman Ted Lieu, who represents the district previously held by the late Mike Gordon, whose name is almost synonymous with regionalization.

SCRAA has come and gone several times. It was originally assembled in 1985 and has representatives from the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Orange County. We hope to persuade both Ventura and San Diego Counties to join as well, so that we can have everyone at the table together to work on this issue.

This is a new day for the City of Los Angeles. No longer will LAX have to shoulder the burden of our region's air traffic. I'm very optimistic that SCRAA can provide the framework we need to equitably spread air traffic throughout Southern California and I look forward to our first meeting.


-Bill