Week of April 28 - May 4, 2008
Bob Hope Airport off to a good new year
Bob Hope Airport served 431,289 passengers in February, an increase of 5.8 percent over February 2007.
Traffic for the first two months of 2007 was up 3.13 percent.
Top flight destinations - Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics data lists the top five air travel destinations from LAX as Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco International, Honolulu and New York's JFK airport. Each was the destination for over a million passengers in the past 12 months.
Phoenix was the top airport served from Orange County, Ontario and San Diego.
The top destination from Burbank was Oakland.
Public scoping meetings on LAX draft EIR
Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates Los Angeles International Airport, has scheduled two public scoping meetings in May to discuss the Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study.
The first meeting is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 7th, with presentations at 6:15 and 7:30 p.m. The second meeting is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 10th, with presentations at 9:15 and 10:30 a.m.
The meetings will be held in the Proud Bird Restaurant, 11022 Aviation Blvd., Westchester.
Big financial headache if El Toro Airport had been built - El Toro Info Site report
Had Measure W not passed in March 2002, we would not have the Great Park project - which is becoming a financial challenge in the city of Irvine. Instead, we would have the costlier El Toro Airport project and a bigger financial headache for the entire county.
By now, the airport project could have consumed up to $5 billion - unless it ran behind schedule or over estimates.
But where would OCX get the 38 million annual passengers upon which the county's original economic justification for the second airport was based?
Only recently has regional air travel recovered back to pre 911 levels. LAX still is seeing 5 million fewer passengers per year than it served in 2000. Ontario is operating 23 million annual passengers below what's projected as its eventual capacity.
If El Toro was open now, and a pro-El Toro Board of Supervisors was still in office, they might employ financial incentives to coax some airlines to move from John Wayne. Shrinking service at JWA and shifting flights to El Toro was part of the county's plan in both Environmental Impact Reports 563 and 573..
But, the county and its two airports would be burdened today with huge payments on additional debt while sharing approximately the same amount of business as we have with one O.C. airport.
O’Hare Airport expansion deadline moved to 2014 to beat Olympic rush - Chicago Tribune
An ambitious new fast-track timetable could enable Chicago to complete a $15 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport two years before it anticipates hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. Challenges include the city's attempt to acquire properties under eminent domain laws, extending the airport's people mover system and building a satellite terminal.
Website Editor: Los Angeles competed with Chicago for the right to host the Olympics but lost out. Last year, L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa expressed the hope that more flights at Ontario Airport might help his city to win the selection process.
Week of April 21 - April 27, 2008
Authority passes on air traffic mission - LA Daily News
Just when you thought it was dead, the Southern California Regional Airport Authority briefly re-emerged Thursday to complete some unfinished business.
The on-again, off-again panel approved a $70,000 contract with RRM Design and former Los Angeles City Councilwoman, now consultant, Ruth Galanter, who will examine measures aimed at diverting air traffic from Los Angeles International Airport.
Specifically, RRM Group and Galanter will interview politicians and airport executives from San Diego to Santa Barbara to hear suggestions about how to improve ground transportation between Southern California's airports.
A final report, due in July, will also list which existing agencies could take up SCRAA's mission to spread airline traffic to the region's airports, rather than concentrating the burden on LAX.
The three remaining members of SCRAA agreed to disband on Jan. 31, mostly due to a lack of participation from Orange and Riverside counties.
Website Editor: Hey, if there is some money left, the bureaucrats feel compelled to spend it.
SM backs off on jet flight bans - LA Daily News
Santa Monica officials are backing down in the face of federal pressure, suspending the implementation of a ban on high speed jets at the city's airport until a federal court decides whether the restrictions are legal.
The city had planned to begin enforcing the ban Thursday for jets that have approach speeds of between 139 and 191 mph, including aircraft popular with executives, such as the Gulfstream IV, Bombardier Challenger 604 and Cessna Citation X. See report below.
FAA moves to block ban on fastest jets at Santa Monica Airport - LA Times
The Federal Aviation Administration took legal action Wednesday to overturn a ban on the fastest jets that fly out of Santa Monica Airport, including aircraft popular among business executives.
FAA officials served the city of Santa Monica with a cease-and-desist order challenging a municipal ordinance passed in November -- and effective today -- that bars jets with approach speeds of greater than 136 mph.
Citing safety as its paramount concern, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously passed the ordinance last year in defiance of the FAA, which contends the city cannot legally ban the aircraft.
City officials said Wednesday that they intend to implement the ban despite the cease-and-desist order, which could expose the city to a federal lawsuit.
Peace's Presence Rocks 'Last' Lindbergh Push - Voice of San Diego
It is hailed as the be-all, end-all. The final study. The last look. A multi-million dollar examination aiming to answer a generations-old question: What to do with Lindbergh Field?
If those claims sound familiar, it's because the same superlatives were given to the Airport Site Selection Process, a $17-million effort to find a site for a new international airport in the San Diego region. That three-year-long exercise culminated in a failed ballot initiative to move the region's air hub to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
But the question of Lindbergh Field's future has resurfaced, and the city of San Diego, airport authority and San Diego Association of Governments have convened a group of regional leaders who aim to find an answer to the 661-acre airport's space constraints, once and for all. They swear.
That group of regional officials met for the first time Wednesday but made little progress. Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Teresa Sessom, the Sandag chairwoman, walked out of the meeting, citing concerns that San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders appointed former state senator Steve Peace to the group. Peace, who works for Padres owner John Moores, a downtown developer, is the only sitting member who does not hold government office.
Sessom said afterward that she believed the agencies had agreed to appoint policy makers -- not members of the public.
If the process gets back on track, its participants say they believe they can develop a plan that outlines a way to make the most of Lindbergh's 661 acres. At its heart, the process aims to find ways to link the downtown airport to nearby Interstate 5 and rail lines. It has been dubbed "Destination Lindbergh: The Ultimate Build Out."
As the latest effort unfolds, it will touch on sensitive subjects: What role the military's nearby land may play and whether Lindbergh can accommodate a second, shorter runway. Parts of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, adjacent to Lindbergh Field, have been eyed for an airport taxiway expansion.
The airport authority has budgeted $4.5 million for the process, which aims to be finished by February 2009. At its conclusion, the committee expects to reach consensus on a plan the airport authority could pursue -- and finance.
Average Fourth Quarter Air Fares Rose 4.0 Percent from 2006
Average air fares in the fourth quarter of 2007 were up 4.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, reaching the highest fourth quarter level since 2001 but remaining 2.7 percent below the high set in 2000 for any October-to-December period, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported Wednesday.
Fare increases for the Los Angeles region were above the national average, led by increases of 6.04 percent at LAX and 4.86 percent at John Wayne Airport, the region's two busiest airports.
Fares for the fourth quarter of 2007 over 2006 were up 3.64 percent at Bob Hope, 0.73 percent at Ontario and 0.39 percent at Long Beach.
Interpretation of the data requires careful review of the BTS methodology. Fares are based on U.S. domestic itinerary fares, round-trip or one-way for which no return is purchased. Averages do not include frequent flyer fares.
Buckle In: It's Going to Be A Rough Summer for Flying - WSJ
Yes, It Can Get Even Worse As Congestion and Fares Rise; Packing Them In at Peak Hours
Summer fliers may encounter even more turbulence this year.
Travelers are likely to face another season of packed planes. Facing enormous financial strain because of high oil prices, carriers have cut domestic capacity. So planes are likely to be even fuller than last summer, when empty seats seemed as rare as in-flight meals.
Commission postpones vote on LAX concourse - LA Daily News
The Board of Airport Commissioners delayed a decision Monday on whether to approve more than $80 million worth of contracts to design LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse and several airline gates on the back of the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
However, the commission spent more than an hour discussing a broken promise to build the $1.3 billion concourse, which was expected to have eight to 10 new gates capable of handling super-size jetliners by January 2012.
Airport officials on Monday publicly reneged on the deadline and shifted their focus to expanding the Bradley terminal.
Panel may shift flights at Burbank -- LA Times
Airport authority proposes moving overnight operations to Van Nuys to answer concerns about noise.
It's taken eight years and $6 million for Burbank airport officials to come up with a proposed solution to ease sleep-depriving aircraft noise that has frustrated nearby residents for decades: Shift some overnight operations to Van Nuys Airport.
The recommendation by the Glendale-Burbank-Pasadena Airport Authority is the latest chapter in what has been among the most acrimonious homeowner battles in the San Fernando Valley.
The proposal, part of an effort to ban all overnight flights at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, also represents a new front in the "airport wars" erupting around Southern California. Noise-weary residents increasingly are seeking to limit operations over their skies in part by attempting to get communities near busy airports elsewhere to shoulder more of the burden. Website Editor: Examples are Newport Beach seeking to move jets from John Wayne to El Toro, Los Angeles pushing flights from LAX to Ontario.
The proposal would send about 16 private and corporate jet flights each night to Van Nuys -- already the world's largest general aviation airport.
New gates should ease LAX crunch - LA Daily News
The bad news is that the Midfield Satellite Concourse at Los Angeles International Airport will not be built by January 2012, breaking a promise made just eight months ago by airport executives.
The good news is that the airport will still be able to accommodate the Airbus A380 and other superjumbo jetliners by building more contact gates on the back side of the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
"I think the Midfield Concourse will be done in late 2012 or early 2013 now, but we'll have those new gates built at the Bradley Terminal by January 2012," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who heads the council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee.
City and airport officials are painting the rosy picture as the Board of Airport Commissioners is set to consider on Monday a pair of architecture and engineering contracts totaling more than $80 million to design the Midfield Concourse.
The Los Angeles City Council agreed last August to build the $1.3 billion Midfield Concourse, which is expected to be equipped with eight to 10 new gates capable of handling super-sized airlines at LAX.
Week of April 14 - April 20, 2008
LAX gets more customs agents - Daily Breeze
Twenty-five additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents will be assigned to Los Angeles International Airport this summer to deal with an anticipated increase in overseas visitors, federal and city officials said Friday.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also agreed to fill 22 vacant customs agent positions at the airport under a deal struck this week.
LAX served more than 2.6 million international passengers during the first two months of 2008, a 4 percent increase from the same period last year, according to airport officials.
Airport officials and industry insiders are cautiously optimistic for a record-setting year for international travel at the airport.
LAX will use body imaging scanning - LA Times
Some travelers at Los Angeles International Airport will be searched for weapons and explosives using a new scanner that peers through their clothes and creates an image of the person's body, federal officials announced Thursday.
The sophisticated technology, called millimeter wave imaging, may prove to be a more effective way to check travelers for guns, knives, bombs and other dangerous materials than pat-down searches. But it has raised questions by privacy and civil rights advocates, who say the screening process is extraordinarily invasive and amounts to a virtual strip search.
Cities’ JWA studies a step forward - Daily Pilot, The Bell Curve
Columnist Joseph Bell writes: Some weeks ago, speaking at a dinner sponsored by the Airport Working Group, County Supervisor John Moorlach allowed as how I was “whipping up issues when there aren’t any.”
He was referring to a column I wrote urging that the people deeply concerned at the prospect of future growth of air traffic out of John Wayne Airport need to step up efforts to fight that growth long before the expiration of the current cap on capacity in 2015.
Like, we need to start right now. And when that extra effort begins to happen, it should be recognized and applauded.
So three cheers for the city councils of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, who are planning a joint meeting in the next few months to talk about funds to explore the alternatives to the inevitable pressures to expand JWA.
MTA-LAX link gets first OK - Daily Breeze
A proposal to extend the Green Line to LAX overcame its first hurdle in Sacramento this week, when it passed through the Senate Transportation Committee.
The bill, by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, still faces significant obstacles: most notably, the likely opposition of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Oropeza's bill, SB 1722, would create a separate construction authority with an independent mandate to build a two-mile link to Los Angeles International Airport.
The MTA has opposed such efforts in the past - most recently when Assemblyman Ted Lieu proposed the same idea last year - because a new entity would compete with the MTA for funding and control of the county's transit agenda. Lieu's bill died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last summer.
‘Orange County’ likely to be part of JWA name - OC Register
John Wayne Airport is likely to add the words “Orange County” to its logo, airport officials said Tuesday, potentially defusing a contentious plan to rename the
aviation hub. Local tourism leaders, saying they wanted to add geographic clarity to the airport’s moniker, last year revealed efforts to rechristen it “John Wayne-Orange County Airport.”
The idea was blasted by Ethan Wayne, one of the late actor’s sons and the head of Wayne Enterprises, who accused tourism officials of pandering to Orange County’s pop-culture prestige and sullying a celluloid icon in the process.
Supervisor John Moorlach, a name-change supporter, said that simply altering the logo might work to placate all sides.
The original logo – a jet departing from the letter “W”, above the airport’s name – would have the words “Orange County” added to the bottom.
Updating it could prove to be a “huge financial undertaking” in some instances, airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said.
Forty-five concrete benches, for example, are engraved with the logo, and would cost $3,000 apiece to replace, she said, adding that the logo might only be updated in select instances.
Website Editor: It's a no-win compromise with American Airlines' reservation system still calling the airport "SNA - Santa Ana". I'm not placated.
JetBlue's expansion has rivals scrambling - LA Times
The low-fare carrier faces strong competition as it adds West Coast routes from Long Beach to San Jose, Seattle and Austin.
Even as rising fuel costs are grounding weaker airlines -- including three this month -- airline competition is heating up for travelers flying the Pacific coast.
On the runway is JetBlue Airways Corp. with new 100-seat jets that will begin flying next month from Long Beach up and down the coast in a move that financial analysts say may be bold but risky.
Next month, the low-fare carrier, popular with Southern California leisure travelers, is adding six flights from Long Beach to San Jose, Seattle and Austin, connecting some of the nation's top tech-heavy cities. Long Beach passengers can fly one-way to San Jose for $39.
Another West Coast fare war of sorts might be in the works. Last week, Virgin America began service from Los Angeles International Airport to Seattle with $77 one-way fares while Alaska announced that this month it would offer hourly flights from LAX to Seattle. And Southwest added four flights from LAX to San Francisco and was offering $79 one-way fares from LAX to Austin.
Website Editor: The article makes no mention of John Wayne Airport where restrictive regulations on airlines and passenger service discourage price competition. While one-way flights to Austin next month from LAX on SWA and from LGB on JetBlue are offered at $79, the best price from SNA on American is $105.
Developer
decides to change name of Great Park housing development - OC
RegisterLennar drops Heritage Fields for Great Park Neighborhoods.
Housing developer Lennar Corp. announced Monday that it had finalized a fresh brand name for its three planned residential districts to encircle the Great Park. Heritage Fields, a title bestowed upon the 1,387-acre plot of land (the former El Toro Marine Corp Air Station) by the U.S. Department of Defense while still in military hands, will now be known as Great Park Neighborhoods, according to a news release.
Signs around and outlying the park will soon be replaced to compensate for the change.
The first of three neighborhoods is called the Lifelong Learning District and will comprise both residential and educational features, including several school campuses.
Palm Springs Airport traffic little changed from 2007
Passenger volume at the Palm Springs airport was down 0.23% in March compared to the same month last year. However, total traffic for the first three months of the year combined was little changed - up by 0.26%.
Merger makes Delta world's largest airline - Daily Breeze
Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., squeezed by record high fuel prices and a slowing economy, are combining in a stock-swap deal that would create the world's biggest carrier.
The merger will create the fourth-largest air carrier at Los Angeles International Airport, behind American, United and Southwest, according to airport figures.
Delta served nearly 4.8 million passengers at LAX last year, while Northwest served more than 2.2 million. There isn't much duplication in the routes offered by either airline, which means that the combined company could potentially make up 11.3 percent of the market share at LAX, according to airport officials.
Trains beating planes - Aviation Watch from the Pennsylvania Patriot-News
Imagine what gains high-speed rail service could offer if it were given national priority
Europeans already have figured out that high-speed trains are a better option than planes for intermediate distances of up to 250 to 300 miles.
And now that lesson has come home to central Pennsylvania. Colgan Air, which flew under the US Airways banner, is dropping its service from Harrisburg International Airport to LaGuardia Airport in New York City on April 6 after six months of weak ridership.
The service never caught on in part because of flight delays caused by the heavy congestion in the air space around the New York region's three major airports. Taking the plane was little faster than taking Amtrak, which was cheaper, more comfortable, more predictable and delivered passengers into the heart of Manhattan without a lot of security hassle.
But this is hardly the first time that train service has beaten air service. Ridership on Amtrak's high-speed Acela service in the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington increased 20 percent last year.
France's high-speed trains are replacing air service between Paris and other major French cities. Air France estimates that in 2020, 80 percent of the French population will be linked by train to Paris in less than three hours. The airline expects to lose 40 percent of the traffic on the affected routes.
Imagine what high-speed rail service could accomplish in terms of ease of travel and energy conservation in this country if it were a priority instead of an afterthought. Website Editor: It would erase much of Southern California's anticipated shortage of airport capacity.
Week of April 7 - April 13, 2008
U.S. housing crisis stifles Great park - LA Times
Nearly three years after the city approved a massive residential and commercial development at the closed El Toro Marine base in exchange for a grand park in the heart of suburban Orange County, Irvine officials and struggling home builder Lennar Corp. are in talks about revising the landmark agreement.
No homes or businesses have been built. No grassy fields have been planted. And the runways -- so hated by opponents of a proposed regional airport at the base -- still sit mostly intact.
In a mailer in 2003, city officials boasted that "children will be playing in the county's largest sports park" by summer 2008. But for now, no timeline exists for when each park feature will be developed.
"To have nothing more than a balloon and the possibility of a 27-acre park is disappointing," said county Supervisor Bill Campbell, whose district includes Irvine. "They're spending a lot on engineers, PR people and other things, and they're not delivering."
Lennar has begun to rethink some of its promises. Lennar officials first suggested specific changes to the development agreement late last year.
Emile Haddad, chief investment officer for Lennar, which is based in Florida, called the talks "fine tuning." "Land deals of this size are always alive," he said.
Lennar plans to break ground on some part of the development by the end of this year, Haddad said.
Word that the city and the developer are reexamining the deal has renewed local and state officials' concerns about the lack of progress six years after voters approved a measure preventing the base from becoming an airport.
State Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), who as an Orange County supervisor was one of the chief architects of the deal to turn El Toro into a park. Spitzer blasted the city for not building recreation facilities that could be used by the public, while wasting money on "a ridiculous, oversized balloon and free rides."
The bulk of the $52 million the city has spent to date has gone to hire a team of dozens of design, engineering and public relations consultants, to build the balloon ride and to pay administrative staff.
Frontier Airlines files for bankruptcy
Frontier Airlines sought bankruptcy protection Friday, the fourth carrier to do so in the past several weeks as exorbitant fuel prices eat into earnings and a weak U.S. economy keeps more people grounded.
Frontier says it will continue operations as it reorganizes.
The low-fare
carrier said it was forced into bankruptcy after its principal credit
card processor said it would begin withholding a greater share of
proceeds from ticket sales.
LAWA post February air traffic
Los Angeles International airport served 4,362,510 passengers in February, a 1.33% increase over February 2006.
Ontario Airport served 519,626 passengers, a 4.32% increase over the prior year.
Palmdale saw 1,605 passengers during February. It did not operate in February 2006.
JWA sees 1% annual passenger increase - Daily Pilot
Despite small bump, neighbors still concerned about indirect effects of traffic, apart from noise.John Wayne Airport experienced a mere 1% increase in annual passengers this year, but neighbors still worry about the airport’s effect on their quality of life.
About 9.85 million passengers used the airport from April 2007 to March 2008 — about 500,000 less than the cap of 10.3 million established in 2003.
That number is up from the 9.76 million passengers identified in the airport’s 2006-07 figures, spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said.
In spite of the incremental growth, Wedge said airport officials estimate the facility could manage only 10 million passengers a year before passenger services were adversely affected. More below. . . .
San Diego air travel is up
San Diego's Lindbergh Field served 1,386,875 passengers in February, a 7.8% increase over the same month last year.
Year to date travel at the airport is up 6.2%.
JWA keeps passenger load below legal limit - OC Register
John Wayne Airport during the last year accommodated significantly fewer passengers than it is allowed under a legal agreement, figures released Tuesday show.
The annual passenger load – capped by a legal pact that aims to limit noise in surrounding neighborhoods – is based on the number of travelers who used the airport from April 1, 2007 through March 31.
Roughly 9.85 million people went through the aviation hub's gates in that time frame, comfortably below the maximum allotment of 10.3 million passengers.
Growth in passenger volume will probably be minimal until a new terminal and gates are added, a project that is at least three years off, said airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.
"I imagine it will kind of stay close to this number until we get the new facility built," Wedge said.
See report below.
JWA ends "plan year" in slump; well below allowed MAP cap - El Toro Info Site report
John Wayne Airport served 819,638 passengers in March, 5.6 % fewer that in March 2007. It was the fifth consecutive month in which the level of JWA passenger service fell below that of the prior year.
Commercial carrier flight operations decreased 4.1%, while Commuter Carrier (air taxi) operations decreased 12.4% when compared to the same levels recorded in March 2007.
The airport operates on an access control plan year that ends each March 31st. The airport concluded its plan year operations well below the negotiated MAP cap of 10.3 million annual passengers. A total of 9,855,800 passengers were served.
After a big start to the year - with utilization up almost 6% over the previous year - the MAP cap seemed likely to be reached. Airport management contacted the airlines to prevent that possibility.
The brakes appeared to slam on; passenger traffic slumped and the airport concluded the year barely up, by less than 1%.
Click for a report of the number of passengers actually served versus the number allowed by the MAP cap for the past several years.
‘Power in numbers’ - Daily Pilot
Costa Mesa and Newport Beach city officials are putting past disagreements aside and joining forces to keep a lid on growth at John Wayne Airport.
The two cities plan to hold a joint city council meeting within the next few months to discuss funding for a study on using public transportation to divert passengers from John Wayne to other airports. The cities also will discuss how the two cities can better work together on airport issues, Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said.
An agreement that sets annual passenger limits at John Wayne at 10.3 million is set to expire in 2010 and a subsequent cap of 10.8 million passengers will end in 2015.
Concerns are growing in both communities over possible expansion when the passenger cap agreement expires.
The Newport Beach City Council will vote tonight on hiring a new consultant at its meeting [this week] to work with community groups on the John Wayne Airport issue.
[El Segundo] Candidates push for airport regulations - Daily Breeze
For such a small town, El Segundo's election this week appears focused on one big issue: noisy neighbor Los Angeles International Airport.
All seven candidates - including two incumbents - vying Tuesday for three City Council seats have emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to minimize disturbances from the travel hub.
Bob Hope airport report
BUR reports a 0.6 percent increase in January 2008 passengers over the same month in 2007.
Total passengers for January were 438,464.
BUR's smallest and newest carrier, Skybus, discontinued operation last week. The startup economy airline served 7,264 Bob Hope passengers during the month.
Week of March 31 - April 6, 2008
Developer Floats Offshore Airport Concept - KNSD-TV Ch 7, San Diego
With the future of Lindbergh Field up in the air, a local developer is promoting his plan of putting a new regional airport offshore.
Adam Englund, an Encinitas attorney and CEO of Ocean Works Development, pitched the idea formally to the San Diego Airport Authority on Thursday morning. The floating airport would have two runways and four decks of support space with transportation to and from shore provided via an underwater light rail system.
The offshore airport approach is not a new idea. It was first suggested in the 1950s. Floating airports are already a reality in Japan, where five such airports are in use.
Ocean Works was invited to submit detailed proposals and return next month for further discussions. An offshore airport concept was considered and rejected by the authority's consultants two years ago.
Click to view the video:
Bob Hope Airport's proposed mandatory curfew brings in more than a dozen responses after only a few days. - Burbank Leader
More than a dozen residents have already chimed in since the 45-day public comment period began Monday for Bob Hope Airport’s proposed mandatory curfew.
“Most have been supportive, but one party took more of an airline approach,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said. “The general tenor of their letter was [that the curfew] tends to be an unfavorable development for commerce.”
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on March 17 unanimously approved the Part 161 Study, which included a mandatory 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew on all flights with an exception only for emergencies and a one-hour grace period for weather-delayed flights.
In order to gain FAA approval, the authority is pressing its three governing cities to support the curfew and is asking them to do their part to ensure its passage.
ATA Airlines files for bankruptcy, strands passengers at LAX - Daily Breeze
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ATA Airlines discontinued all operations Thursday, leaving passengers stranded at Los Angeles International Airport and elsewhere in the nation.
"Following the loss of a key contract for our military charter business, it became impossible for ATA to continue operations," according to a statement on the company's Web site.
"Unfortunately, we were not in a position to provide our customers or others with advance notice."
International traffic at LAX on the rise - Daily Breeze
More travelers from around the world are descending on Los Angeles International Airport than ever before, even though domestic service remains challenged by record fuel costs and the declining value of the dollar, airport officials said Monday.
LAX served more than 2.6 million international passengers during the first two months of 2008, a 4 percent increase from the same period last year and an overall record for the airport.
As a result, airport officials and industry insiders are cautiously optimistic for a record-setting year for international travel.
On the downside, LAX saw 6.4 million domestic travelers during the first two months of the year, a 2 percent decline during the same period in 2007.
A study released last fall by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. found that while most large airports had rebounded from the economic devastation following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, LAX had been slow to recover its international market.
LAX had lost out on opportunities to expand service because city officials spent more than a decade debating how to modernize the airport, which hasn't been upgraded since the 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, according to Clark.
In the meantime, other airports seized the opportunity by modernizing facilities while stealing away carriers from LAX. More below . . .
Foreign airlines from Rome to Dubai flock to LAX - LA Times
International flights are being added as a weakening dollar fuels demand from travelers overseas.
Domestic travel might be in a slump, but overseas flights are surging at Los Angeles International Airport.
Foreign airlines are turning to LAX again despite crowded, aging terminals -- frequent-flier surveys often rank it among the nation's worst -- that have made it the bane of airlines and passengers.
While U.S. carriers are cutting back amid a slowing economy and high fuel costs, international airlines are flocking to LAX as more overseas travelers look to take advantage of the weak dollar.
The boom is raising worries of overcrowding and long lines at U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoints, which some critics say are already understaffed. LAX is the nation's second busiest for international flights.
LAX officials forecast that the number of international passengers this year will be in the range of pre-9/11 levels. The number of international passengers was up more than 8% in January and nearly 11% in February.
For Emirates and other foreign carriers starting service at LAX, the airport was chosen for a simple reason: Although San Francisco has better and newer facilities, LAX has the larger potential passenger market.
Aloha Aloha and what now for JWA? - El Toro Info Site report - updated
Aloha Airlines termination of flights from John Wayne Airport to Hawaii caught many off guard. The Daily Breeze reports: At John Wayne spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said the announcement caught the airport by surprise. "I actually just received notice they will cease services tomorrow," Wedge said at 3:20 p.m. Sunday.
Loss of the airline's service to Hawaii and Reno leaves JWA serving only 19 non-stop destinations, the smallest number in years. At least for now, Orange County travelers are likely to have to drive to LAX for Hawaii flights and may use ExpressJet non-stop service from Long Beach to Reno.
This will impact the utilization of John Wayne. The airport is expected to finish it's current 2007-08 plan year about 400,000 passengers below the 10.3 MAP cap established between the county and Newport Beach.
The Board of Supervisors, acting on the recommendation of the airport manager, cut the number of seats allocated to airlines for the coming 2008-09 year by 300,000 below the 2007-08 number.
For the airport's 2008-09 plan year, which begins April 1, JWA management projected Aloha to carry over 300,000 passengers. Unless the Aloha seats are quickly reallocated to other airlines, and the overall cuts in seat allocations to carriers are reversed, we expect to see passenger traffic drop at the Orange County airport. It would not be surprising if the service level falls - as was the case in previous years - to nearly a million passengers below the MAP cap.
Update: The OC Register reports on April 1 that Air Canda, the next airline on the waiting list for slots at JWA, has "no plans at this time" to fly to Orange County.
Bankrupt Aloha lands last California flights - Daily Breeze
The final Aloha Airlines flights to California landed last night, as the airline prepares for a bankruptcy-induced shutdown.
United Airlines and other carriers were scrambling Sunday to accommodate passengers stranded by the sudden shutdown of passenger services by Aloha, the largest locally owned air carrier in the Hawaiian islands.
One Aloha flight from Honolulu was scheduled to land at 8:40 p.m. Sunday at John Wayne Airport. A flight from Maui was scheduled to land at San Diego at 10:15 p.m., followed by a flight from Kauai at 11:38 p.m., the airport's Web pages said.
Aloha Airlines had already ceased flying to Los Angeles International Airport, and maintained just a small number of daily flights to John Wayne, as well as San Diego, Sacramento and Oakland.
Aloha said Sunday it will operate its normal schedule today with the exception of flights from Hawaii to the West Coast. Flights from Orange County to Reno and Sacramento are also cancelled permanently, but the company did not specifically say if outgoing flights from San Diego and Orange County to Hawaii will fly.
See also the OC Register online.
