February 24 - March 2, 2014
JWA Posts 2.9% Gain in Traffic - OCBJ
Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport was up 2.9% in January from a year earlier to 718,549, according to the latest numbers from the airport.
Southwest Airlines and its subsidiary AirTran Airways served a combined 301,776 passengers, the most for the month.
United Airlines served the second highest (104,162) followed by American Airlines (90,159).
International traffic, which comes from the airport's service to Canada and Mexico, was off about 7.4% for the month to 27,845.
February 17 - February 23, 2014
Southwest, JetBlue: DCA slots will be weighted toward new markets - Bloomberg
Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways plan to focus on new markets with their newly acquired slots at Washington's Reagan National Airport (DCA). John Kirby, senior director of network planning for Southwest, said "It's going to be a mix but it will be slightly weighted towards new markets." John Checketts, director of route planning for JetBlue, also said "it will be more on the side of new destinations." In addition, Southwest announced plans to return one pair of slots for Sunday flights at DCA to federal regulators.
Website Editor: John Wayne Airport has sought to obtain direct flights to D.C.
February 10 - February 16, 2014
Airport traffic increased 4% across the globe in 2013 - Airports Council International
Passenger traffic at airports around the world rose by 4% in 2013, according to the Airports Council International. Asia-Pacific airports reported growth of more than 7% for 2013, while European airports reported growth of 2.6% for the year. Meanwhile, North American airports reported modest growth of 1.3% for 2013.
February 3 - February 9, 2014
LA-Ontario airport lawsuit back on after no deal - Associated Press
A two month cooling-off period in the fight over Southern California's Ontario International Airport has yielded no deal. The city of Ontario's lawsuit against Los Angeles for control of the airport will now move ahead. A hearing is scheduled for June.
Judge Gloria Connor Trask told attorneys Wednesday she was disappointed two months of talks didn't lead to a settlement, but urged further negotiations.
Ontario attorneys said outside court the main issue is how much the city would pay for the airport, suggesting that assuming its debts should be sufficient.
The lawsuit says Los Angeles poorly marketed the midsize airport 50 miles to its east, which has lost nearly half its passengers since 2007.
Los Angeles argues the drop was inevitable in the slow economy.
Airline consolidation helps larger SoCal airports - OC Register
Cutbacks and consolidation in the airline business are beginning to show up at the gate as Southern California's larger airports showed strong growth in passenger traffic last year, while most of the smaller facilities suffered losses.
Los Angeles International Airport continued to dominate the region, with 4.7 percent year-over-year growth, topping 66 million passengers in 2013. John Wayne Airport ranked second, with a 4.2 percent increase, followed by San Diego International, up 2.7 percent. Palm Springs International, the single exception among smaller airports in the region, saw passenger traffic edge up 1.5 percent.
The strength of those four airports was won at the expense of Long Beach Airport, Burbank Bob Hope Airport and LA/Ontario International Airport. Long Beach had the most severe decline in passengers, down 8.2 percent over 2012, with Ontario close behind, falling 8.1 percent. Burbank traffic was off by 5.2 percent.
“Airlines are thinking, ‘Maybe we don't need to service all these airports in the Los Angeles Basin,'” said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, a Colorado-based aviation consulting firm.
Website Editor: This trend is one more reason why El Toro Airport would never have gotten off the ground and why Palmdale and San Bernardino airports failed to secure a viable level of airline service.
Passenger numbers slip at Bob Hope Airport - Burbank Leader
Bob Hope Airport saw a roughly 5.2% decline in passengers last year, however, officials were cautiously optimistic to see December numbers rise about 1.2%, according to the latest report.
The airport handled about 3.88 million passengers last year, down from slightly more than 4 million passengers in 2012, according to figures released Monday by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.
There were 334,878 travelers in December, up from 330,966 in December 2012, making it one of three months that saw slight increases in passenger counts last year.
Passenger statistics at other airports in the region varied considerably. At Los Angeles International Airport, the number of passengers rose by 9.3%, while they ticked up 1.5% at Ontario International Airport, which reported passenger declines throughout most of last year.
John Wayne Airport saw passenger numbers rise 7.3% in December, while Long Beach Airport reported its number of passengers slid 3%.
Southwest to offer direct flights to Dallas Love Field - OC Register
John Wayne and Los Angeles International Airports are among the 15 new destinations that will get direct service to Dallas Love Field on Southwest Airlines this fall.
Since 1979, Southwest has been restricted by federal law from providing expanded service out of Love Field, the more centrally-located Dallas airport, to help protect the much larger Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Dallas and Fort Worth city officials, as well as DFW and the airlines, agreed eight years ago to allow the so-called Wright amendment restrictions to expire this year.
Southwest said it will begin direct service to five new locations Oct. 13, the day the law expires, and add 10 other destinations, including John Wayne and LAX, on Nov. 2.
January 27 - February 2, 2014
San Diego International Airport breaks international passenger record for second consecutive year
International passenger traffic at San Diego International Airport set a record in 2013 for the second consecutive year, increasing 21.5 percent over 2012 with 627,596 total international passengers served.
In addition, total passenger traffic at SDIA in 2013 reached its highest level since 2008, with 17,710,241 passengers served. That represents a 2.7 percent increase compared to 2012.
See last week's report below on LAX foreign travel.
Area's removal from Superfund site clears way for Great Park homes in Irvine - OC Register
Nearly 2,000 acres of the former El Toro Marine base are being removed from the federal Superfund cleanup list, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday.
The 1,900-acre area, once contaminated by military use in past decades, is now fit for the planned construction of thousands of homes as well as commercial and retail properties, the EPA statement said.
The cleanup began in the late 1990s and cost the U.S. Navy $165 million. Some 650 acres remain to be cleaned up, and that will cost $50 million more, EPA officials said. That area will likely take several more years to be cleaned up.
Gold Line Authority Studying Extension To Ontario Airport - LA.Curbed.com
The Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority is determined to get that light rail line to beleaguered Ontario Airport. The authority, currently stretching the line to Azusa with hopes of a 2015 or 2016 opening, has published the final environmental impact report for a further extension to Montclair and is now starting the environmental study process on an approximately $950-million extension to Ontario Airport.
The $1.5-million study will look at the best way to get the transit line into the small airport—a process that should be a lot less complicated than getting train service to massive LAX. This advance is tempered by a move by a subcommittee of the San Bernardino Associated Governments, which placed a Gold Line extension low on their list of rail priorities.
SanBAG, involved in the Montclair and Ontario extensions because they cross into San Berdoo County, think extending the Metrolink commuter line to Redlands and double-tracking Metrolink lines near Upland, Claremont, and Fontana are both more important projects than the Gold Line, mostly because there is zero money earmarked for construction of the Montclair or Ontario spurs.
Metro also placed the extensions low on its list of priority projects for the next three decades, and while this could change if voters extend the Measure R transit/freeway tax at the ballot, SanBAG is reluctant to even pay for studies at this point. The Gold Line Authority is spearheading the airport study with their own reserves and sent out a statement saying they will work with SanBAG to convince them of the Gold Line's importance, especially in getting more fliers to Ontario.
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