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32 • TWIN & TURBINE July 2018
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION • focus
NBAA Fights to Overturn SMO Closure Agreement
NBAA recently urged a federal appeals court For decades, NBAA has been at the forefront
to legally void a deal between the FAA and
the city of Santa Monica, CA, which allows the city to shorten the runway and provides the option to close the Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) after 2028.
While airport stakeholders await that ruling in hopes that SMO will be preserved, decades-long efforts by city officials to shutter their airport have taken a toll on yet another well-respected airport business. Santa Monica Aviation, a long-time airport tenant that provided aircraft maintenance and flight training, is closing its doors for good, another casualty of the city’s long-time effort to close the venerable Los Angeles reliever airport.
Company founder Ali Safai started his company more than 20 years ago to share his love and passion for flying. Inspired to change the flight training experience after earning his pilot’s license, he has taught hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in aviation.
Unfortunately, Safai was forced to close Santa Monica Aviation because of the pressure of trying to run a successful business at SMO. “I’ve invested more than $1.5 million in the company, but all the city’s rules are against me,” he said, pointing to rent increases, restricted hours, landing fees, revoked subleases and the impact from the airport’s now-runway.
of the legal battles to prevent Santa Monica city officials from closing their airport. Earlier this year, NBAA questioned the January 2017 agreement between the FAA and the city that settled outstanding lawsuits and released the city from its federal obligations to sustain the airport.
Petitioners assert that the FAA exceeded its authority when making the secret, one-of-its- kind deal by defying the laws set by Congress, as well as the FAA’s guiding principles. At a May 14 hearing of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Richard K. Simon, a lawyer representing NBAA and other parties challenging the deal, told the three-judge panel that asking the court to overturn a settlement is the right legal outcome, given that the agreement “runs afoul” of five legal requirements.
The appeals court panel is expected to issue a ruling in the case later this year. While any legal relief may come too late for Safai, he thanked NBAA for efforts that “have been a contributing factor in helping protect operators at airports around the country.
“I love flying and feel that I have made a great contribution to the aviation industry,” he concluded. “Now it’s time for me to move on.”