The city of Santa Monica loaned its general aviation airport to the federal government during World War II for less than a decade. Yet city leaders have spent the five decades since then, on and off, at war with Washington over who controls the storied 100-year-old Santa Monica Airport — and the right to close it down. The 227-acre single runway airfield, which doesn’t handle commercial airline traffic, serves recreational and professional pilots, tiny propeller planes and sleek corporate and chartered jets. If Santa Monica closes, some jets will go to nearby Los Angeles International, burdening an already busy airport with extra traffic competing with commercial jets for take-off and landing time. In addition, though most piston-engine propeller planes still must use high-octane leaded gas, that is changing.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 23, 2016 12:02 UTC