CARLSBAD — Concerns are growing over the future of McClellan-Palomar Airport after San Diego County officials revealed the municipal airport is facing a $3.8 million budget shortfall this year.
County staff announced the news during a March 21 presentation to the Palomar Airport Advisory Committee, reporting that the airport is expected to generate $4.5 million in revenue while spending $8.3 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The gap is being filled with money from the Airport Enterprise Fund, which supports the county’s eight airports. Officials did not say exactly where those extra funds came from.
Dom Betro, a member of the Palomar Airport Action Network, said this was the first time the full extent of the airport’s losses had been made public.
“We thought they were losing between $1 and $2 million, which is a lot each year,” Betro said in an interview with The Coast News. “And then we were blown away with this revelation that they’re losing $3.8 million.”
According to the report, $1.2 million of the airport’s revenue comes from rent and leases. The remaining $3.3 million comes from airport fees, such as landing and fuel charges.
Betro questioned whether some of that income should even count.
“What they include in their revenue is actually rents from the Lowe’s shopping center across the street, because they claim that’s part of the airport operations,” Betro said. “We think that’s a stretch. That has nothing to do with the airport operations.”
Betro also criticized a recent lease deal with American Airlines, which gave the airline a 50% discount.
“You’re losing $3.8 million a year and you’re giving a lease that you’re not collecting your true costs on,” Betro said. “I mean, who does that except the government?”
County staff said most (83%) of the airport’s budget goes toward services and supplies, while the other 17% covers salaries and benefits.
However, Betro said the county offered no plan during the meeting to address the ongoing deficit.
“Some of the [committee] members … were asking … where’s this money coming from? How are we not going to have this deficit going forward? There was no discussion or no indication of that,” he said.
The financial questions come as the county faces a lawsuit over American Airlines’ operations at the airport. Citizens for a Friendly Airport, a separate community group, is suing the county over the lease agreement. A court hearing is set for April 4 in San Diego Superior Court.
Last fall, the Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved a set of rules to give the city more say over airport development. Mayor Keith Blackburn said the goal was to protect “local control.”
The changes are meant to stop unauthorized airport expansion, limit growth to existing airport boundaries, define terms like “airport” and “airport expansion,” and require city approval for new or expanded airport projects.
Betro, whose group is not involved in the lawsuit, said the financial losses and the push to bring more commercial airlines are connected.
“Here you’re losing this amount of money, and at the same time, you’re pushing to bring these other airlines in and then giving them these fantastic discounts,” he said. “It seems and feels to me like it’s an act of desperation, because the airport is really not making it as an airport.”
County officials and Palomar Airport staff did not respond to a request for comment.
