Should Google be given an exclusive to Moffett Field?

I live under one of the downwind legs, and I'm in favor of keeping it as an airfield and letting Google use Hangar One since they're willing to come up with the money to renovate it. However, the other financial issues that Moffett Field faces are troubling.
 
What "exclusive?" The original offer from H211 was to spend $33 million to restore the hangar, use part of it for housing its aircraft, and make the rest available for other uses including a museum. If no other aircraft would fit after H211 parks its planes there, I guess that might be seen as "exclusive," but for $33 million I'd hardly call it being "given" an exclusive.

There were some locals outraged that the Google guys were proposing to take advantage of the situation. Newspaper readers got into the whole "one percent" cliche. There were suggestions that Google should be required to just donate the $33 million for the restoration and not use the hangar at all.

Huh?

So just decline the offer and let them finish tearing it down!

The brainwashing of people to think of corporations as evil is leading to some interesting side effects.
 
SCCutler said:
Paul, I believe the "exclusive" part is the fact that the Google entities are the only non-government people or entities who are allowed to uses Moffett. Is this not so?
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My understanding is that was the case. It was when Google parked their 767 at Moffett. Now NASA has left and talk of maybe letting the county of Santa Clara control operations at the field.
 
SCCutler said:
Paul, I believe the "exclusive" part is the fact that the Google entities are the only non-government people or entities who are allowed to uses Moffett. Is this not so?
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Could be, Spike, but I don't believe that was a condition of the deal proposed by H211. It might be a government policy.

Even if it was part of the proposal, it needs to be evaluated for cost/benefit, not just shot down because some rich guys suggested it.
 
Richard said:
My understanding is that was the case. It was when Google parked their 767 at Moffett. Now NASA has left and talk of maybe letting the county of Santa Clara control operations at the field.
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NASA has left? That's funny, I thought I heard their wind tunnel running the other day.
 
PW_Plack said:
Could be, Spike, but I don't believe that was a condition of the deal proposed by H211. It might be a government policy.

Even if it was part of the proposal, it needs to be evaluated for cost/benefit, not just shot down because some rich guys suggested it.
Click to expand...

I am all-et-up with ignorance as to the facts, here. As I am led to understand, the area could use a qualified reliever airport. True/not? I still remain clueless.
 
If it is the case that Google gets exclusive (private) access then I'd ask the following questions:

Why should Google execs be allowed to operate their aircraft out of Moffett if the field is not equally open to other non-federal aircraft (if that is, in fact, the case).

I can see why they want to - SJC has noise limits which would impact on the aircraft fleet operations, and SFO is somewhat further away & more expensive.

Is this a case of "some animals are more equal..."?
 
wsuffa said:
If it is the case that Google gets exclusive (private) access then I'd ask the following questions:

Why should Google execs be allowed to operate their aircraft out of Moffett if the field is not equally open to other non-federal aircraft (if that is, in fact, the case).

I can see why they want to - SJC has noise limits which would impact on the aircraft fleet operations, and SFO is somewhat further away & more expensive.

Is this a case of "some animals are more equal..."?
Click to expand...

Might depend on how big the campaign donation is. ;)
 
Sounds like a good case for turning the airport into surplus property and setting up an airport authority with grant assurances and deed restrictions to ensure its use as a GA airport.
 
I think the Sunnyvale and Mountain View politicians are afraid of general aviation.
 
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