Schwarzenegger May Lose His Easy Commute

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 3rd 2008 at 11:02AM

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger might be about to lose one of the perks of his job. Schwarzenegger regularly commutes by a Gulfstream IV provided by NetJets from Sacramento to Santa Monica but Bloomberg reports that a federal judge will decide on May 15 if he can continue to land at the municipal airport. The airport is a fast commute to Schwarzenegger's Brentwood home but Santa Monica city council members including the governor's brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver recently voted unanimously to ban the jets. The town of Santa Monica is now fighting the temporary restraining order obtained by the FAA that blocks enforcement of the ordinance and a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles will decide whether to allow the ban or send the matter to trial.

Part of the problem is that the Santa Monica airport is an older, small airport that was not built to accommodate jets that land at fast speeds and there is just one runway. There hasn't been an accident involving a jet on the runway but there are homes located very nearby. The FAA which wants to use the airport to help relieve air traffic in the crowded skies over Los Angeles has offered to add a concrete-like material at either end of the runway that would slow runaway jets and to help the city buy homes to make more room for planes landing and taking off. There is also a possibility that Santa Monica may try to close the airport in 2015, when its agreement with the FAA expires although it seems unlikely that will occur. As for Schwarzenegger, it's likely he will circumvent any potential ruling by either traveling by helicopter or landing at another airport but Bobby Shriver is already anticipating some teasing complaints around family gatherings from his beefy brother-in-law.

Tags: santa monica, SantaMonica, schwarzenegger