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VAN
NUYS AIRPORT
The Big Engine that Does
By
Bob Rodine
What
is now Van Nuys Airport opened in the San Fernando Valley community of Van Nuys
in 1928 as a well-improved cow pasture. By World War II the U.S. Army had
established sophisticated manufacturing facilities, and runways that permitted
the operation of newly manufactured fighter planes and bombers in and out of the
facility. It was turned over to the city of Los Angeles in 1949, and its modern
history parallels the changes that swept the Valley starting in the 1950’s.
As
manufacturing, spawned by WWII defense activities, blossomed in the Valley in
the ‘50’s and ‘60’s so did activity at Van Nuys Airport. By the end of
the ‘60’s, the runway was extended to its present 8,000 foot length and it
was home to sophisticated business jets supporting commerce in the entire LA
Basin. By 1978 there were 600,000 annual operations at the Airport, and it had
become home base to 1370 aircraft.
Today,
Van Nuys Airport is the busiest General Aviation Airport in the United States,
and, measured in terms of operations, it ranks fifth behind such mega airports
as Chicago O’Hare, John F. Kennedy, and Los Angeles International.
This level of activity makes the Airport a powerhouse in terms of major
economic engines in the San Fernando Valley.
Taken as a single entity, the collective economic activity of $1.22
Billion places the Airport among the Valley’s largest economic engines, which
includes giants such as Healthnet and Disney Studios.
Over 10,000 people enjoy employment, either at the Airport, or through
induced economic activity. And the visitors debarking aircraft at Van Nuys Airport bring
nearly $100 Million of economic activity to the San Fernando Valley.
By 1994 some 142 different companies used Van Nuys Airport, and
approximately half of the 61 local companies generated some $39 Billion dollars
of revenue and employed over 250,000 people worldwide.
Van Nuys Airport
- 1998
Summary of Community Economic Impacts
Economic Elements | Expenditures
by Sector | Expenditures
by Community
Because of the significance of Van Nuys
Airport as an economic engine in
the San Fernando Valley, the Los
Angeles World Airports (“LAWA”) has periodically engaged the international
economic and engineering consulting firm of Wilbur Smith Associates to conduct
studies of the economic impact of the Airport.
The first such study was done in 1986, and that work was updated in 1991.
In preparation for a California Department of Transportation Operating
Variance Hearing in 1999, a new study was undertaken as of the end of 1998.
The primary data elements
reported on are Jobs, Payroll and Total Economic Impact.
These factors are examined in reference to direct and indirect aviation
related economic factors, as well as non-aviation factors resulting from
non-aviation businesses located on contiguous LAWA owned property. The analysis undertaken is what is referred to as an
“Inputs” Analysis. Stated
simply, the analysis measures the expenditures of the businesses subject to
study on purchases in the community.
Through economic studies and
modeling, it has been ascertained that the disbursement of a single dollar has
greater impact on a community that the first disbursement, and that single
dollar disbursement is actually multiplied in terms of economic activity as a
result of re-spending, or what is known as the multiplier effect.
That multiplier effect has been thoroughly examined by economists, and
the U. S. Department of Commerce has developed a detailed regional model known
as “RIMS II,” or Regional Input-Output Modeling System.
The product of running that model for a given region is a table that
depicts consumption for a particular industry sector given all of the Input
Supply Industries.
To insure the completeness of the
Economic Impact Study, the multipliers for the Transportation Sector in the
Southern California Region are applied to the Direct and Indirect expenditures
of the aviation and non-aviation activities, to determine the Induced element of
economic activity. Adding this
Induced Element to the Direct and Indirect disbursements produces the final
total economic activity attributable to the businesses situated on Van Nuys
Airport.
The data is presented in three
formats. First there is an
aggregate summary of all factors. The
data is then presented by impacted industry segments, and finally it is
summarized by impacted community.