Southern California airports had an up year in 2011
The six airports that comprise the Southern California Association of Governments region - LAX, John Wayne, Ontario, Burbank, Long Beach and Palm Springs - collectively had an up year.
The airports served a combined total of 83.9 million passengers, a 2.4 million passenger increase over 2010.
While John Wayne, Bob Hope and Ontario continued to experience multi-year declines in passenger volume, LAX picked up 2 million passengers, Long Beach had a record year and Palm Springs saw an increase in traffic.
San Diego's Lindbergh Field also saw a small increase in passenger volume in 2011.
Long Beach Airport has record year
Long Beach Airport served 3,115,433 passengers in 2011, up 4.6 percent over 2010.
It was the airport's best year ever.
JWA passenger traffic falls for 4th year - OC Register
John Wayne Airport had 54,000 fewer passengers last year than in 2010, a 0.6% drop and the fourth consecutive year the total number of travelers using the airport has declined, according to figures released by the airport Thursday.
JWA saw passenger traffic begin to decline in 2008 after peaking at just under 10 million in 2007.
“The aviation market and airports around the country continue to struggle to see passenger increases,” said Jenny Wedge, JWA spokeswoman. “We know some routes at JWA have struggled like Calgary and Maui going seasonal, rather than year round.”
She said JWA officials are hopeful the new Terminal C, which opened in November, will boost passenger traffic. Air Tran, which Southwest Airlines acquired last year, is scheduled to launch the airport’s first service to Mexico in June. It will operate out of the new terminal.
General aviation traffic at JWA also declined last year, dropping 4.6%. There were 169,870 operations by small planes in 2011, down from 178,045 in 2010.
Website Editor: Not every airport is "continues to struggle." Traffic was up in 2011 at LAX, Long Beach, San Diego and Palm Springs.
JWA finishes 2011 down slightly
John Wayne Airport served 8,609,008 passengers in 2011, a 0.6 percent drop from 2010.
It was the airport's fourth consecutive down year after traffic peaked at 9,979,699 passengers in 2007.
Palm Springs airport has up year
Palm Springs International Airport served 1,5111,150 passengers in 2011, a 1.1 percent increase over the prior 12 months in 2010.
LAX sees 4.73 percent gain in 2011
For the calendar year 2011, Los Angeles International served 61,862,052 passengers, a gain of 4.73 percent over 2011.
Domestic traffic was up by 4.63 percent and international travel rose by 4.99 percent.
The airport had its best year ever in 2000 when it handled 67,303,182 passengers.
Ontario has a disappointing year
Passenger volume at LA/Ontario International Airport sagged by 5.6 percent in 2011 to 4,542,488 passengers.
The City of Ontario continues to attribute the decline to high operating costs transferred to ONT from LAX by Los Angeles World Airports. Ontario also complains that Los Angeles has failed to adequately market the secondary airport.
January 16 - January 22, 2012
Alaska Airlines Expands California Flying With Three New San Diego Routes - Alaska Air media release
Alaska Airlines announced today it is adding daily nonstop service from San Diego to Monterey and Santa Rosa and twice daily service to Fresno, Calif. The new flights to Monterey and Fresno will begin June 4, 2012, while service from San Diego to Santa Rosa starts June 5. Alaska Airlines will also commence twice-daily service between Reno, Nev., and San Jose, Calif.
Poll: L.A. voters support local control of Ontario International Airport
A media release claims the "A clear majority of Los Angeles voters support transferring control of Ontario International Airport (ONT) to local control", according to results of a telephone survey conducted by FM3 Research for those who seek to wrest the inland airport from Los Angeles control.
The announcement of the survey results came as Ontario officials announced the launch of a public information campaign - "Set ONTario Free" - to educate Southland residents of how local control of regional airports is in the best interests of Los Angeles and the entire region.
For more information on Ontario's efforts to regain control of ONT, visit SetONTarioFree.com.
January 9 - January 15, 2012
Supervisor Moorlach elected Chair of the O.C. Board of Supervisors
John Moorlach was elected by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to chair the Board in 2012. He previously held the chairmanship in 2008. Supervisor Moorlach is a Costa Mesa resident and represents that city and Newport Beach.
He has addressed several meetings of groups opposed to increased utilization of John Wayne Airport and favors holding the airport to its current 10.8 million annual passenger negotiated limit. The Daily Pilot newspaper reported as follows in May of 2008.
County Supervisor
John Moorlach said he is working with as many local groups as he can —
including Stop Polluting Our Newport, Airfair and the Airport Working
Group — to create a strategy for stopping the airport from drawing more
than 10.8 million annual passengers.
“We need to do our best to present a unified front and renew the settlement agreement as it is,” Moorlach said
“We need to do our best to present a unified front and renew the settlement agreement as it is,” Moorlach said
In March 2011, he told the Airport Working Group: "Working on the settlement agreement will be my top priority," said County Supervisor John Moorlach. "We're just going to have a goal of 10.8 [million passengers] and go from there."
As Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Moorlach will be in a strong position to steer the County's negotiators in a direction favorable to that goal.
SCAG Draft Regional Transportation Plan out for public comment
The Southern California Association of Governments latest regional transportation plan for 2035 is available for public comment. The airport portion of the plan, entitled Meeting our Airport Demand continues SCAG's assumption that the artificial negotiated - not physical - constraints imposed on LAX, John Wayne and Long Beach airports will continue indefinitely. SCAG writes:
Although at a rate
much slower than those seen in previous decades, air travel in the SCAG
region continues to grow, and is expected to pick up the pace when the
region economically recovers. This RTP’s regional air passenger demand
forecast of 145.9 million annual air passengers (MAP) in 2035 is a very
conservative forecast compared to forecasts adopted by past SCAG RTPs,
such as the 165.3 MAP 2035 forecast adopted by the 2008 RTP. However,
like previous forecasts, this new long-range forecast is also based on
interim forecasts that show the urban capacity-constrained airports of
Los Angeles International (LAX), Bob Hope, Long Beach and John Wayne
airports all reaching their defined legally allowable or physical
capacity constraints well before 2035. The remaining air travel demand
is served by the other, suburban airports with ample capacity to serve
future demand, including Ontario International, San Bernardino
International, March Inland Port, Palmdale Regional, Southern
California Logistics, and Palm Springs airports. A small amount of
future air passenger demand would also be served by the two commuter
airports in the region, Oxnard and Imperial airports.
Click for previous SCAG aviation forecosts.
Click for previous SCAG aviation forecosts.
Bob Hope dealt blow by carrier's departure - Glendale News-Press
The decision by American Airlines to pull out of Bob Hope Airport might further harm an airfield that has been grappling with a yearlong slide in passenger numbers, which gained the notice of an important credit rating agency.
American, which made up 7.5% of passenger traffic at Bob Hope from January to November 2011, will stop flying out of Burbank on Feb. 9, the airline announced Monday.
A prolonged period of declining passenger traffic has hurt parking and other revenues, prompting the credit rating agency Fitch in November to warn that affirmation of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s AA- credit rating would be “unlikely” unless the financial picture rebounded or there was a change in scope or borrowing elements for a planned multimillion-dollar transit center.
Plans for the transit center, which will consolidate all rental-car operations under one roof, were scaled back in June after bids for the project came in $47 million to $69 million higher than the originally projected $112-million price tag.
American’s decision to exit Bob Hope was made before its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection. Los Angeles International Airport is too close to the Burbank airfield for a separate operation to make economic sense, an official said.
American Airlines to close operations in Burbank - LA Times
American Airlines, whose parent company filed for bankruptcy protection in November, is closing its operations at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and ending flights from Chicago to New Delhi.
In addition to closing operations at those two airports, the airline said it plans to cut 150 positions.
"Our objective is to make our company competitive and more efficient in an increasingly challenging industry," the airline said in a statement Monday.
The flights from Bob Hope Airport will end Feb. 9.
Conversation with LGB Director Mario Rodriguez - The Contra Costa (CA) Times
Q: You're not going to monkey with the terminal are you?
A: Oh, no. It's one of the most beautiful terminals in the country. It's a wonderful building. In fact, we're going to restore the WPA mosaics and rework the interior. We're spinning back the wheel to when it was brand new.
Q: Will I still be able to walk across the tarmac to board the plane, because I don't like jet tunnels that you go through at modern airports?
A: Yes, it's a great way to board a plane, especially in Long Beach when the weather is good. Your experience at most airports is all generic. You go
into a concrete building, then you go to a gate with a lot of glass, then you go through a tunnel to your seat. You never go outdoors or even see the
plane. Your contact with the airplane is a whole different experience at Long Beach.
Q: Do you ever fly out of LAX just for the sheer joy of it?
A: LAX? Are you kidding? Why do that to yourself? It's ... I don't even know what to call it. At Long Beach you pay less for convenience and at LAX you
pay more for inconvenience.
Southern California Logistics Airport: Ready for a financial overhaul? - Victorville Daily Press
Bond defaults, investigations cast shadows on bustling airport
For the first time since it was formed in 1997, charged with powering economic development for the entire Victor Valley in the wake of the closure of George Air Force Base, Victorville city officials say this year Southern California Logistic Airport Authority's operating revenues are expected to equal its expenses.
Boeing recently extended its lease agreement to test engines there, two companies fought for hangar space, M&M/Mars moved its candy factory to the
airport and United Furniture snagged the largest commercial space available in the area to build coaches and chairs.
But look beyond day-to-day business, and you'll find the airport is bonded to the hilt, defaulting on debt payments and facing investigations by local and federal authorities.
By 2008, SCLAA had racked up $330 million in bond debt, with lofty plans for a city-owned power plant, a railroad connection and an EB-5 visa investor
program that would generate additional capital.
Wall Street crashed and property values plummeted, slashing the tax revenues SCLAA receives. The power plant project fell apart after the agency had invested some $80 million and BNSF said the rail connection wasn't going to happen anytime soon, with $30 million sunk into preparations for the spur. Then Victorville's EB-5 program became the first in the nation to be terminated by the federal government, stripping away $25 million in loans proceeds the city had been counting on.
Further complicating the situation are questions about whether the city has mishandled funds, with SCLAA bond funds used to buy land near City Hall for
a library that never got built, for example. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the expenditures, with the San Bernardino County Grand Jury and FBI also sniffing around.
January 1 - January 8, 2012
JWA traffic up in November
Commercial
aircraft operations decreased 1.9%, while Commuter aircraft operations
decreased 27% when compared to 2010 levels.
Total passenger
traffic for the first eleven months of 2011 was 0.4 percent below the
2010 level.
