Operation of Lindbergh Field transferred to new airport authority

Tuesday December 31, 2002

SAN DIEGO (AP) Handing over symbolic keys to Lindbergh Field, Port of San Diego officials Tuesday transferred the task of running the airport to a new authority, ending 40 years of custody by the port.

The transfer of power, scheduled to officially take place at a midnight ceremony, fulfilled a state law passed in 2001 to give control of the region's busiest airport to a newly created entity, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

The law also requires the authority to propose a new or supplemental airport site for Lindbergh Field, and to bring a measure before county voters by November 2006.

Port authorities Tuesday morning handed over $75 million in cash to the authority for operating expenses and a promissory note of $50 million due in seven years. The authority will be run by a nine-member board of directors and will employ 180 workers.

Business, civic and labor leaders have argued that Lindbergh Field, which serves more than 15 million passengers each year, is inadequate to serve the region's growing transportation needs and say the region's economy will begin to suffer unless action is taken soon.

Despite losing its largest responsibility, the Port of San Diego will continue to operate several marine terminals, oversee state tidelands around San Diego Bay, and lease waterfront properties to businesses in San Diego, National City, Coronado, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)