On 2/1/2024, the City of Torrance began collecting landing fees from all Torrance Airport customers (except for the Robinson Helicopter Company) under Resolution 3927. The fees, the City stated, ". . .are necessary to offset the City's costs incurred in maintaining and operating airport facilities." No studies, documentation or any support for this claim was ever presented. In fact, over the past 10 years, the City's own public records show that it has transferred over $10 million annually into the General Fund from the Airport Fund because, it claimed, this money was not needed for the operation and maintenance of the airport.
On March 8, 2024, TAA filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. TAA claims that:
The TAA lawsuit asked the Court to:
The City filed an answer to the TAA complaint and, as a result, TAA filed an amended complaint to include the City's discriminatory exclusion of Robinson Helicopter Company from paying landing fees.
The City later requested that the suit be removed to Federal Court. TAA agreed. The Federal Court set a Scheduling Conference which determined that a hearing would be held on 2/2/2026.
It appears that, because of the large amount of documents in the administrative record that is common to both the TAA and ZAPS lawsuits, that the two judges are coordinating their reviews.