Santa Monica Drops Efforts To Ban Large Aircraft

City officials in Santa Monica, California, have announced that they will not contest a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the city cannot ban Category C and D aircraft from Santa Monica Airport. That ruling agreed with an FAA decision that the city's most recent attempt to ban the aircraft amounted to "unjust 'and unreasonable" discrimination and violated the terms of a grant agreement for accepting federal funds for the airport. The controversy dates to 2008, when Santa Monica city officials banned Category C and D jets at the airport on alleged safety grounds. The FAA immediately challenged the move and later ruled that the city lacked authority to impose the ban. The matter ended up in the Court of Appeals after Santa Monica officials filed an appeal in 2009.