New Airport Plan Takes Off-But Will It Fly?

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 8, 2009 at 5:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

A retired San Diego engineer says he believes San Diego could solve its airport problems with a double-decker airport, built over water.

A retired San Diego engineer says he believes San Diego could solve its airport problems with a double-decker airport, built over water.

The San Diego Airport Trust has spent the last 8 years researching the idea - this week they are revealing the ideal location for their proposal. It is in the south end of San Diego Bay, next to Chula Vista.

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Carl Luna is a professor at Mesa College and spokesperson for the Airport Trust. He says the idea meets all the criteria required for a new San Diego Airport.

Luna: " It’ll be able to provide 3 runways up to twelve thousant feet that would allow landings on the top decks, and handling of commercial traffic passenger cargo, parking and all, on the second deck and you’d be able to fit in that section in the bay and still leave plenty of room for navigation and flow of water, an airport capable of meeting the needs of San Diego for the twenty first century."

Luna says the flight pattern would cross over Point Loma but at a higher altitude than current flights out of Lindbergh Field

He says the Airport Trust would request an annual royalty if the plan is adopted.

The Trust has been keeping the location of the proposed airport a trade secret, but is now ready to open it up for public discussion.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.