Custom «Long Beach Airport in California» Essay Paper Sample

Located between Los Angeles and Orange County in southern California, Long Beach Airport has been serving people since 1923. It has five runways and serves an estimated 3.1 million passengers each year by both regular and low-fare aircrafts to cities in and outside the U.S. This paper will give a brief description of Long Beach Airport.

History

The airport was created when the first biplane transcontinental flight landed on Long Beach in 1911 when the beach was used as a runway. During the 1920s, the city’s beach continued to be used as the airport. In 1923, the Long Beach City Council set aside some 150 acres to be used as an airfield. The first airport operator lease was issued in April 1925 and by mid1930s two runways were build while the civil aeronautics build the first activated tower in 1930. The airport acquired 500 more acres in 1941 to expand its operations and presently it covers a total of 1,166 acres and has the longest runway of 10,000 feet. It is a hub of activities and has become one of the busiest airports in general aviation activity (Long Beach Airport).

Ownership

The Long Beach Airport in California is currently owned and operated by the Long Beach community in California. The airport has also partnered with two Long Beach Unified Schools (Long Beach Airport). Thus this is a publicly owned airport.

Management

The airport is managed by an airport director, Mario Rodriguez, who is assisted by an executive assistant to the director, Ken Mason. Other people who manage Long beach airport include an administrative officer, a CFO, operations & facilities bureau manager, Superintendent of Airport Operations, Superintendent of safety, Superintendent of noise compliance and facilities management officer (Long Beach Airport).

Type of Operations

The types of operations in the airport include commercial operations (30,303), air taxi operations (7,558), local operation (141,992), itinerant operations (123,040) and military operations (744).

Based aircraft

Long Beach airport is served by regular and low fare airlines. Single engine aircraft, multi engine aircraft, helicopters and jet engine aircraft use the airport.

Terminal size (design type, passenger processing design)

Passenger terminal at long beach airport was built in the 1940s and designated a cultural heritage landmark in 1990. It was expanded in the 1980s with addition of two more concourses to the terminal but the original art-deco architecture was retained. Level 1 has a South Boarding Lounge at gates 1-9 while the northern lounge is at gates 21-23. Level 2 houses the legends of aviation restaurant and airport offices.

A new boarding lounge and concession area which is part of the passenger concourse project was started to be built in 2011 and completion date is given as 2013. The passenger terminal includes a wireless Hotzone that covers the inside waiting areas, the restaurant and adjacent corridor and the outdoor part of the north side. Daugherty café is on the first floor of the terminal, paradise shop and Grab & Go kiosks to the northern and southern boarding lounges while the ‘Legends of Aviation restaurant (ifly.com).

Runway configuration

The main diagonal runway was improved in1952 to 1960 and extended 700’ to the northwest and 2400’to the southeast. These improvements are the ones that brought long beach airport to its present runway configuration and to its present size (Long Beach Airport).

Air Traffic Control Tower Hours of operations (class)

Air traffic control towers ensure that the safety of all passengers is guaranteed. The airspace extends upward from the surface to 2,600 feet within a 4.3 mile radius. Air controllers give pilots taxiing and takeoff commands.

Air carriers

Some of the commercial airlines operating in the airport are: America West Airlines, Horizon Blue, JetBlue airways and American Airways. Cargo carriers are FedEx, United Parcel Services and Airborne Express (ifly.com).

Operations/Enplanements

The FAA code: LGB

Number of Enplanements: 1,413,251.

The airport rules and regulations are approved and adopted by the city of Long Beach. The Long Beach Airport and users are committed to operate in an environmentally and in a responsible manner. They have developed and applied programs that promote clean air and water, conserve energy and reduce landfills and recycle necessary materials (Long Beach Airport).

Fitch gave Long Beach Airport an A- rating which reflected on the airport’s underlying demand within California area and a favorable enplanement trends. The outlook reflects Long Beach Airport ability to maintain a low cost per enplanement in the next five years thus ensuring its low cost position in the Los Angeles area. This is because the airport had maintained a strict noise compatibility ordinance that constrains enplanement growth (Dana-Jo).     

Financial Performance (FAA Form 127)

Audited financial statements by KPMG show that the Long Beach Airport had a total of $134,813,552 as at 30 September, 2009 which was a 13% increase from the previous year’s $119,212,721. The change was a combination of $1,960,892 from operating loss and $6,012,444 net non-operating revenues.  $6,005,439 was from passenger facilities charges, $77,403 was from interest expense, $352, 640 from operating security cooperation agreement and $11,549,279 from the FAA capital grants. The total net cash provided by operating activities in the year ending 30 September, 2009, was $2,101,974 a decrease from the previous year of $2,285,174 (City of Long Beach Airport Enterprise Fund). 

Conclusion

The long beach airport is located in the state of California, Los Angeles city. The airport has a long history, starting its operations in 1923 and was activated as an operational airport in 1940. It has a total acreage of 1,166 and has 5-runways. LGB is owned by the public. It is open to the public and inspected by the FAA. The current manager is Mario Rodriguez. The airport has undergone extensive capital improvement program to become one of the best and busiest airports in the U.S. and the world.