I wish the folks who are upset about spending money on the airport study would also be just as concerned about the economic loss this region faces from a constrained airport; they are truly penny wise and pound foolish. And they don’t recognize that large regional airports are the only piece of public infrastructure that’s profitable; airports are completely self funding from user fees. 
What really upsets me is the lack of engagement on the airport issue by the opponents. They have virtually no concern about the existing air cargo problem or the pending capacity issues. They offer no solutions. Their response is simply: “Good luck finding a solution to the region’s airport problem but don’t bother us.”
Meanwhile, the military keeps changing their plans with respect to Miramar and the basing of new aircraft. Here is some background information.
First, the initial pilot training in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will occur in Florida, not at Miramar; a joint training base for all services was dictated in BRAC 2005, see page 6.
And the EIR documents for the MV-22 Osprey, another plane planned for Miramar, state that the Osprey could be based anywhere within a 200 mile radius of Camp Pendleton.
Well, enough about the military for now. Let’s look at noise. Check out this site for noise contour information at Miramar. Notice how much quieter it is with civilian aircraft and no military jets. Look at slides 13, 14 and 15.
And for further backup, check out the Boeing Commercial Airplane website on the new 787. Page 26 will show you how much quieter this aircraft is than existing aircraft. In 20 years, when over half the airline fleet will have been replaced with quieter aircraft like the 787.
– JOHN CHALKER