SANTA MONICA—At the end of March 2026, the Santa Monica City government announced that the Santa Monica Airport would close on December 31, 2028. On Wednesday, May 6, residents tried to persuade the city government to keep the airport open, who are concerned about job loss including revenue for the city.
Santa Monica intends to convert the land on which the airport sits into open space, including cultural sites and athletic facilities. Residents of Santa Monica who support keeping the Santa Monica Airport open believe that “the airport can help with emergency preparedness” to fight future wildfires, according to KTLA 5 in Los Angeles.
Reasons for the planned closure of Santa Monica Airport include complaints complained about the noise from planes landing and taking off from the runways. In addition, to exhaust from jet engines negatively affecting air quality in the region.
Since the 1970s, there have been several legal disputes where residents of Santa Monica fought against the Federal Aviation Administration’s actions regarding aircraft operations and the use of the Santa Monica Airport’s facilities.
The Santa Monica Airport was built in 1923. Its original name was Clover Field, which was a tribute to the American Aviator and writer Greayer Clover, who served as a pilot in the French Army before he died in 1918. The aircraft company, Donald Douglas, was once based at the Santa Monica Airport.
In the late 1960s, the city of Santa Monica started working with other local airports and the Federal Aviation Administration, and the airport’s name changed from Clover Field to Santa Monica Airport.
According to the terms of the Santa Monica Settlement Agreement, which the city of Santa Monica reached in 2017 with the FAA, the city is legally required to continue operating the Santa Monica Airport until December 31, 2028.
By Daniel Diquinzio