The
germ of this idea came from the period when Mather was still an Air
Force Base but it was known that the base would be closed and the
airport turned over to Sacramento County. This possibility was opened
for discussion when the issue for Sacramento County was "what should we
do with this new airport?". This possibility faded quickly as a viable
choice. It does not appear in the Mather Airport Master Plan and was
not considered in early analysis for the Master Plan when this writer
attended Community Leader Group meetings in 2001, conducted by the
Sacramento County Airport System.
- The Noise Element in Sacramento
County's 1993 General Plan includes one line saying "The desire is for
Mather Airport to become the premier air cargo center for Northern
California, serving both domestic and international markets." However,
even with that objective its projections for air cargo operations per year were a baseline
estimate of 7,300 and a maximum capacity of 10,950. These correspond to
an average of 10 and 15 approaches per day, respectively, substantially equivalent to current traffic levels.
- Sacramento County Economic
Development Director Paul Hahn was quoted in the press in 1997 as
saying "Our vision of Mather is it will be THE air cargo facility, a
hub not just for this part of California, but for the Pacific Rim."
This vision did not survive into the Mather Airport Master Plan.
- An
article in the Sacramento Business Journal in October, 2005 Carried a
headline of "Study sees China as huge boost to Mather". This
illustrates the difference between reporters and headline writers, who
often sensationalize the subject. The "huge boost" was a
possibility that would increase Mather's cargo traffic by up to 36%.
The possibility has not materialized, 3 years later there is still no
international cargo service to Mather.
- Groups in Folsom and El Dorado Hills that
have been active in complaining about air carrier cargo noise continue
to claim that making Mather one of the busiest international cargo hubs
in the world is the intent of the Sacramento County Airport System
(SCAS) and of officials in Sacramento County. This claim originates
with these groups and is not substantiated by either available
documentation from SCAS and Sacramento County or by actions on the public record.
A
point overlooked in complaints from the Folsom and El Dorado Hills
groups is that arrivals from the Pacific Rim would not overfly Folsom
or El Dorado Hills to land at Mather.
... Jet aircraft
arriving from the north, west, and south conduct their final descent
over the rural area of Sacramento County south/southeast of Mather and
turn onto final approach south of US 50. WebTrak demonstrates that this
routing is used consistently for flights from airports such as San
Jose, Oakland, Redding, Eureka, Eugene, and Portland. Small
propellor-driven aircraft arriving from the north and northwest often
descend over populated parts of Sacramento County, but still to the
west of Folsom, for landing on Runway 22R, the short runway at Mather.
|