Flight of fancy?
I am a resident of Long Beach and have been the entire 58 years of my life growing up in north Long Beach and living most of my adult years in Bixby Knolls. I grew up with McDonnell Douglas in full swing. I can’t tell you during the ’60s and ’70s how many take-offs and landings there were at the Long Beach Airport, both commercially and related to manufacturing and testing of Douglas planes. Actually, I don’t think many residents bothered to wonder because it was a way of life. After all, the airport had been there before most homes were built in the area, and Douglas manufacturing started just after World War II had begun. Many folks of today don’t realize how many local residents were employed there and how important that plant and the Long Beach Airport were to our community.
We have had a noise ordinance for a while, and my understanding is that it is working. We have flight-number restrictions that I don’t think we have gotten close to. Planes of today are quieter, and emissions have greatly improved compared to when I was a kid. I don’t remember people in the ’60s and ’70s making such an uproar about the airport. I flew out of Long Beach for the first time in 1974 to Seattle, Washington. It was the heyday of plane manufacturing in Long Beach, and, again, it was a way of life as well as a means of support to many families.
The bottom line to this is I do not see why people are viewing international flights in Long Beach as a bad thing— just another change in our city and how our airport is used. Yes, I believe in the limitations to number of flights and times of take-offs and landings, but last time I heard, these were not an issue in regard to adding international flights, so why is it being discussed?
Ward Shaw
Long Beach
