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Internal Airport Documents Show Extent Of What Airport Management/City Management Concealed From Public In Pursuing, Without Council Voted Authority, Customs Facility For Int'l Flights


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(July 7, 2015, 6:45 a.m.) -- Internal Long Beach Airport documents obtained by LBREPORT.com under the CA Public Records Act, show that for nearly all of 2013 and into the early weeks of 2014, LB Airport management actively -- and non-transparently -- pursued a federal customs facility at the request of an airport tenant (JetBlue) without any public discussion or voted approval by LB's City Council.

Airport management did advise LB's then-Mayor, then-Council and senior city management via two memos to the City Manager for the Mayor and Council (not made public, dated Aug. 1, 2013 and November 14, 2013) that described in general terms what Airport staff was doing. However none of the elected officials who received the memos publicly disclosed them or publicly objected to them in the run-up to 2014 citywide elections for Mayor and five Council members.

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  • Notwithstanding today's (July 7) city management agendized item seeking Council approval to hire an "industry expert" [management's term] to advise on the "feasibility" of a customs facility/international flights, LB Airport management performed two studies on the matter in 2013. The studies were an initial cost analysis (performed by Jacobus and Yuang in Ventura, CA) followed by a separate Economic Feasibility Study (prepared by Frasca and Associates in NYC.) The Frasca study indicated in October 2013 that "the proposed FIS [federal inspection/customs facility] project could be financially feasible, depending upon JetBlue's strategic plans and willingness to participate in the funding of the project, but entails some risk for the Airport."

  • Airport management let JetBlue participate in preparing the Feasibility Study on the project JetBlue was seeking. Airport management shared it with JetBlue Senior VP/Associate Counsel Rob Land who emailed to say that some of the study's assumptions were inaccurate. In an October 23, 2013 email, Mr. Land's indicated that the company planned "to begin six daily international departures and grow from there," not three as assumed in the October 23 report. "I'd appreciate it if the Frasca report beginning would also be updated to note that while JetBlue holds 32 slots, over each of the trailing twelve months since April [2013], we have averaged only 25 in use per day, leaving us ample room to begin with six to seven international flights while not in any way whatsoever [emphasis in original] impacting domestic operations, as the memo implies." A revised version of the Feasibility Study was prepared, dated Jan. 2014.

  • Airport management met with federal officials to discuss changing the Airport to an international facility without voted Council authority. In September 2013, Airport management, alongside senior JetBlue officials, met with federal Homeland Security/Customs officials in Long Beach to discuss the process for changing LB Airport to an international facility [substantive details not provided in documents released to LBREPORT.com.]
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  • Airport management gave JetBlue a "walk-through" to assist in the proposed designs for the facility...and JetBlue provided the Airport with various design options (document titled "FIS Facility Expansion.")

  • By early Jan. 2014, the process reached the point where JetBlue was ready to lobby Councilmembers. A Jan. 3, 2014 email from JetBlue to LB's Airport Director stated, "Happy New Year!...Attached is an updated version ot [sic] the FIS term sheet. I think this is sufficient for Rob [Land] to begin discussions with Council members..." It's unclear from the documents released what, if anything, came of this.

  • Following preparation of the Feasibility Study, JetBlue submitted to LB Airport a proposed "term sheet," initially in December 2013 with a refined draft in 2014, to "set forth certain preliminary terms and conditions of a proposed agreement ("Agreement") between JetBlue Airways Corporation ("JetBlue") and the City of Long Beach...for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a Federal Inspection Services Facility ("FIS") at LGB..." The "term sheet" recited that "it is intended solely to facilitate the negotiations between LGB and JetBlue [and not an offer to lease or other binding agreement and wouldn't be binding on either party until a definitive agreement was signed and approved by the LB City Council.] A subsequent email indicates that the firm (Frasca) that prepared the "Feasibility Study" was involved in the process, submitting to Airport management "an updated FIS term sheet and model" based on its call with JetBlue." There's no indication from the documents whether the document was approved by the City Attorney's office or ever signed.

  • In memoranda to City Manager West for the Mayor and Councilmembers, Airport management represented that its main focus would be (July 18, 2013 and November 14, 2013) "working within the bounds of the [Airport] Noise ordinance" and (Nov. 14, 2013) "Obviously, LGB's main focus will be to retain the integrity of our Noise Ordinance," and documents indicate that both Airport Management and JetBlue assumed continued operation of the Airport ordinance and JetBlue's compliance with its terms. As indicated above, JetBlue indicated it was then averaging fewer slots used per day its total number held. However, no documents provided to LBREPORT.com indicate that LB Airport management, or city management, seriously examined or analyzed potential unintended consequences of a customs facility on City's Airport ordinance, which city officials have said publicly is an extremely valuable City resource in protecting the City from unlimited flights at all hours.

A federal customs facility couldn't be restricted to JetBlue or any one operator, inviting an entirely new category of operators -- international operators -- to seek LB Airport large aircraft flight slots that are currently filled and aren't currently available under LB's protective Airport ordinance.

Developing.

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