In a message dated 10/29/2003 5:46:04 AM Pacific Standard Time, exatc@xxxxxxxxxx writes: << Is the issue that weather restriction reduced the traffic into and out of these airports or the fact that the TRACON has been evacuated? If it had not been evacuated would there still be restrictions. ANd yes there was a vocal element that felt the same as you about ACF's versus the smaller facilities. But is the combined facility more efficient and less expensive to operate? >> I think that this is one case where spending a bit (not much) more is worth it. The main factor was that the TRACON was evacuated. Since LA Center took nearly all of the traffic, it had to operate under the more strict, center rules (more separation, more visibility, and in a facility with not enough controlers to do both jobs at once. The smoke may have caused some delays, but if SoCal was kept open, or there were more redundencies, this would be minimal