Ontario traffic drops 4.2% in February - The Press Enterprise
Passenger traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped in February by 4.2 percent compared to a year ago. A total of 320,012 passengers used the airport in February, according to statistics from Los Angeles World Airports, the Los Angeles city agency that owns and manages Ontario airport as well as Los Angeles International and Van Nuys airports. The number of travelers using Ontario airport has dropped every month for 11 consecutive months when compared to the same time a year prior.
Traffic at LAX increased 8.2 percent to 4.46 million last month compared to a year ago.
Elsewhere in Southern California in February, traffic increased 11.1 percent at Long Beach Airport and 7.8 percent at San Diego International Airport. Passenger traffic remained virtually unchanged at John Wayne Airport in Orange County. At Palm Springs International Airport, traffic jumped 23.3 percent.
March 19 - 25, 2012
JWA traffic continues down slightly
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in February 2012 as compared to February 2011. In February 2012, the Airport served 605,040 passengers, a decrease of 0.1% when compared to the February 2011 passenger traffic count of 605,390.
This continues the slight down trend observed in January.
Commercial aircraft operations increased 2.6%, while Commuter aircraft operations decreased 30.3% when compared to the levels recorded in February 2011.
Southwest Airlines debuts larger craft Boeing 737-800 - AP
Southwest Airlines celebrated the addition of Boeing's 737-800 to its fleet with a launch party in Dallas. The airline plans to add 33 737-800s this year and 41 next year to replace smaller, less-fuel-efficient 737-700s.
Website Editor - Southwest is the largest carrier at John Wayne Airport. It currently uses only 737-700's at JWA. Data for Alaska Airlines, Continental and United, which use both aircraft, shows that the 737-800 generates more noise than its smaller cousin.
March 12 - 18, 2012
787 Making New Routes Economically Viable - Aviation Week
Until recently San Diego International Airport could glumly admit to being the gateway to the largest U.S. market without nonstop service to Asia, and the only major West Coast city never to have had direct flights to Japan.
The problem has been the airport’s 9,400-ft.-long runway. Though capable of supporting nonstop Boeing 777 direct eastbound service to the U.K., Runway 9/27 is too restrictive for longer-haul westbound operations flying against headwinds across the Pacific.
But now all this is set to change. Japan Airlines (JAL) will start flights to San Diego in December [with] the impending arrival of the 787 and, with it, the ability to serve routes with the long-haul capability of the 777 but with the capacity of the 767 at around 10% lower operating costs.
Bob Hope poll findings boost terminal proponents - LA Times
By a margin of roughly 2 to 1, residents in the tri-city region favor a new terminal at Bob Hope Airport, that is farther from the runway, according to a recent poll. The poll also revealed a major knowledge gap about just how old the existing facility is.
The survey found that among those polled in Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and portions of Los Angeles near the airfield, 67% favored a replacement terminal that was further from the runway - a move long pushed for by the Federal Aviation Administration - but that remained the same size as the current 80-year-old facility. Just 24% opposed it.
The FAA has repeatedly said it is too close to the runway. Also, portions of the terminal do not meet current seismic standards.
All of the funding for a replacement terminal would come from the airport, which is self-sustaining through parking revenues, rental fees and
passenger-related charges, said Dan Feger, the airport authority's executive director.
March 5 - 11, 2012
Bob Hope Airport faces tough times - Glendale News Press
Thanks to the loss of an airline, declining parking revenues and fewer passengers using the airfield, Bob Hope Airport is facing one of its roughest budget years ever, officials reported this week.
Airport officials also are staring at a multimillion-dollar bond debt that will be needed to construct a transit center — a move that will be watched closely by credit rating agencies that have taken notice of the falling passenger and revenue numbers.
“These are difficult times for us,” Dan Feger, the airport's executive director, said at meeting on Monday of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. “[It's] perhaps the most difficult budget year we've seen.”
Lawyer: JWA curfew likely to survive - Daily Pilot
A lawyer negotiating John Wayne Airport noise restrictions said Wednesday evening that the airport's nighttime curfew would likely be preserved during this round of deliberations. Barbara E. Lichman, executive counsel for the Airport Working Group, told the activist organization's members that the curfew did not appear to be a point of contention.
The sleeping-hours ban is among John Wayne Airport's unusual operating restrictions, many of which are set to expire in 2015.
While the curfew doesn't expire until 2020, it is one of Newport residents' most cherished protections and some residents were concerned it could become a bargaining chip for airlines and FAA regulators. Planes depart over many Newport homes.
Lichman said she doesn't believe the curfew was at "serious risk"… "We don't believe it is going to be an obstacle at all."
The other key limits under review include a cap on passengers at 10.8 million per year, a limit of 20 gates, and constraints on the types and numbers of planes allowed to depart.
Discussions . . . could last up to two years, Lichman said, as they will likely require an environmental review.
Voters killed El Toro airport 10 years ago today - OC Register
The passage of Measure W set a new course to transform the Marine base into the Great Park, and more homes and businesses.
What is becoming a large regional park, neighborhoods, businesses and offices at the old El Toro Marine base was once on track to become a large international airport.
But 10 years ago today, on March 5, 2002, the passage of Measure W in effect killed the airport.
The vote was the climax of a divisive and intense decade-long political and legal battle about the future of the military base.
The fight, in essence, pitted a pro-airport coalition of county government, north county residents and the city of Newport Beach against south county residents who passionately opposed the airport with a grass-roots campaign, their supportive city governments and Irvine politician Larry Agran.
Leonard Kranser, one of the anti-airport citizen activists involved in the struggle, says, "With air travel volume as low as it is now, the airport would have been a financial disaster for the county."
February 27 - March 4, 2012
JWA passenger traffic flat in January - OC Register
Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport in January was virtually unchanged from January 2011 after travel at the facility declined year-over-year every month last year.
"Considering the passenger levels are nearly flat, we are pleased," said Jenny Wedge, airport spokeswoman.
Air passenger traffic was up across the region in January, with LAX growing by 5.4% to 9.4 million over the same month in 2011. Even more encouraging for the economy, LAX's domestic travel outperformed foreign service 5.72% to 4.62%.
Long Beach airport traffic was up 9.6% in January.
JWA begins new year down slightly
Airline
passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in January 2012 as
compared
to January 2011. In January 2012, the Airport served 636,573
passengers, a
decrease of 0.026% when compared to the January 2011 passenger traffic
count of
636,742.
Commercial
aircraft operations decreased 2.1%, while Commuter aircraft operations
decreased 34.6% when compared to January 2011.
