Santa Monica Advances Runway Shortening Project

The city of Santa Monica, California, has awarded a design-build contract to Aecom/Aeroplex to design the runway-shortening project at Santa Monica Airport, which will transform the landing strip from the current 4,973 feet to 3,500 feet. The shortening is permitted under a consent decree that the city signed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); the decree also allows the city to close the airport after Dec. 31, 2028. 

Cost of the shortening is estimated at $4 million, and the city aims to complete the project in December. The shortening will eliminate about 40 percent of jet traffic to the airport, according to city estimates. 

“The city’s goal is to expeditiously achieve the reduction of runway length to improve safety for both surrounding residents and airport users,” the city said in a staff report about the awarding of the contract to Aecom/Aeroplex. Airport users, however, don’t agree that shortening the runway adds to safety, although the new runway will include 300-foot safety areas on each end. 

On April 25, the city held a stakeholder meeting to discuss the two options for shortening the runway. One would leave the remaining runway farther to the east, with a larger safety buffer zone on the west side, while the second would split the cuts roughly the same on either end. Both options will be presented to the airport commission and city council.

During the comments period following the presentation, airport opponents complained that the city should close the airport sooner. Proponents, while resigned to the FAA’s having caved in to the city’s demands to allow it to close the airport, suggested that safety would not be enhanced by destroying the 1,500 feet of runway that will be closed. One pilot and aircraft owner said, “It’s important for the residents to realize that the airport is here to stay for the number of years agreed upon, and destroying the runway that acts as a safety barrier is not really [best] for the residents. The landing and takeoff will be much more risky, and pilots are going to take more risks trying to land on a shorter runway.”