…As Rialto Goes Head-To-Head With FAA

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That’s not to say that cities aren’t still threatening to shut down airports, if they think there’s profit in it. In Rialto, Calif., on the far western edge of the Los Angeles metro region, a new highway bypass is spiking property values, and the city is looking for ways for close its GA airport and redevelop the land. The FAA is crying foul, saying it has given the city almost $15 million to develop the airport and Rialto has no right to close it. The city says that the airport is no longer needed and the operations there can be moved to an airport in nearby San Bernardino, so they are not really closing the airport, just moving it (fun with semantics, 101). The FAA’s not buying that argument. “If you move something, by definition you have to close it,” FAA spokesman Donn Walker told The San Bernardino Sun. “That may not occur without our approval.” The city has “shown a blatant disregard for state and federal law,” AOPA says. “The city claims that it cannot afford to operate the airport, yet it has repeatedly rejected proposals for aviation businesses.”

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