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August 23 - August 29, 2010

Mexicana Airlines Halts Flights Indefinitely

Mexicanan Airlines, which is the biggest foreign carrier at Los Angeles International Airport, canceled all flights Saturday, and passengers were being being accommodated by American Airlines on a standby basis, the airport reported today.

Grupo Mexicana, the parent of Mexicana Airlines, filed for bankruptcy Aug. 3 after being unable to win union concessions, and the company's future is uncertain.

The last Mexicana flight departed LAX at 6:45 a.m., according to a statement from Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX.

Six other flights, which had reservations for a total of about 300 passengers, were canceled.



JWA eyes $24 million modernization
- OC Register
 
In the latest example of John Wayne Airport's modernization, officials are set to approve a nearly $24 million project to install new ticket counters, speed up passenger check-in and give airlines flexibility to move quickly among gates and ticket counters.

Some of the more conspicuous elements of the plan would create a uniform appearance at ticket counters, which now vary significantly by airline, and swap out airline-specific self-serve kiosks for ones standardized for all carriers.




LAWA posts July results at LAX and ONT

Los Angeles International Airport saw a 1.6 percent increase in passengers in July 2010 compared to the same month last year.   For the seven months ending July, traffic was up 4.5 percent.

At LA/Ontario, there was a 1.4 percent pickup for the month versus last year.  For the seven months, traffic lagged 2009 by 1.2 percent.



August 16 - August 22, 2010

New feather in JWA's cap
- Daily Pilot

Construction crews from McCarthy Building Cos. on Aug. 2 laid down the last piece of structural steel on JWA's Terminal C, a new 280,000-square foot, three-level facility with six more gates for commercial airliners.

Crews began constructing the walkway connecting the terminal to Terminal B in May. Dubbed an airport "improvement" instead of expansion, the airport's remodeling costs about $540 million and includes more than just the new terminal. Construction crews are upgrading and renovating the airport's existing terminals to the tune of $102.3 million.

Terminal C's construction costs $195.9 million. There will also be three more baggage carousels, concession stands and additional security checkpoints for domestic and international flights.

About $180 million of the airport's upgrades are paid for by revenue from a $4.50 federal Passenger Facility Charge.



Roof added to new John Wayne Airport terminal
- OC Register

The latest milestone in the half-billion-dollar expansion is an addition of a roof on the 280,000-square-foot terminal addition. Once complete, it will be a "mirror image" of the existing terminal, said Khatchig Tchapadarian of general contractor McCarthy Building Cos.  (Newspaper article includes photos.)

The interior of the new terminal will be almost identical to the existing one, although the roof is higher.

The new terminal and a 2,000-space parking structure will open in late 2011.

Website Editor:  The huge new terminal will include only six passenger loading gates. In our opinion, the decision to include only six gates was an attempt to limit the capacity of the airport.



Long Beach Airport to get $2.2 million to upgrade jet ramp


Federal authorities have approved a $2.2 million grant to help upgrade Long Beach Airport's passenger jet ramp, which is being electrified to power waiting planes.
The grant goes toward a $136 million, four-year modernization plan encompassing the airport's main terminal, parking areas, passenger concourse and ramps.



August 9 - August 15, 2010

New concourse will bring updated look to Long Beach Airport -
Signal Tribune

Without sacrificing the classic, Art Deco-style terminal, the airport is continuing to move forward with its long-awaited modernization plan, which includes: restoration of the existing terminal; a new passenger concourse; a 2,236-space parking garage; and air-carrier ramp improvements.

Currently, the parking structure is the only project in progress, and it has added 450 jobs to the market– the groundbreaking for the new passenger concourse is set for this December.




Chamber efforts to oppose airport curfew successful
- LA Business

Curfews at local airports would cost jobs, hurt businesses and increase congestion at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is why the Chamber recently joined other stakeholders to oppose an attempt to ban — for the second time — all overnight flights at Van Nuys and Bob Hope Airports.

This latest attempt to insert language for a ban in the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill failed. Commercial airlines already observe a voluntary curfew at Bob Hope Airport. Any new curfew would directly impact cargo carriers and business aircraft, forcing them to reroute operations to LAX. The FAA denied an earlier administrative request by Bob Hope Airport.



Losing Virgin hurts JWA numbers - Daily Pilot

Since Virgin America pulled its four-times-a-day service from John Wayne Airport to San Francisco International Airport in May, the overall number of passengers has declined, particularly in July, which saw a 3.6% drop in passenger volume compared with July 2009, Jenny Wedge, a spokeswoman for the airport, said Wednesday.

"Passengers still have access to the San Francisco Bay area," Wedge said, "but it's not as busy as it's once been ever since they pulled out. But it was to be expected."

So far, since January, the airport has served 5 million passengers and looks to be on track to serve more than 8 million customers in 2010, if the fall and winter months are good to Orange County, Wedge said.

In 2009, the airport saw 8.7 million passengers land and take off from the airport, Wedge said.

The busiest year for the airport ever, Wedge said, was in 2007, when 9.9 million passengers passed through its gates.


Wedge told the OC Metro, "We continue to work with our existing air carriers and reach out to other interested airlines to let them know we do have additional operational capacity if they are interested."



JWA traffic decreased in July

 
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in July 2010 as compared to July 2009. In July 2010, the Airport served 792,532 passengers, a decrease of 3.6% when compared to the July 2009 passenger traffic count of 821,905.

Commercial aircraft operations decreased 6.3%, while Commuter aircraft operations decreased 71.8% when compared to the levels recorded in July 2009.



How did L.A. come to own ONT? Slowly
- Inland Valley Daily Bulletin


Manhattan won't be returned to the Indians and L.A./Ontario International Airport won't be returned to Ontario. Not because Ontario lost the receipt but because Los Angeles wants to keep the airport.

However, L.A. officials last week said they're willing to consider letting Ontario, or a consortium of agencies, or a private company, run the L.A.-owned airport in an attempt to turn it around.

Traffic dropped from 7.2 million passengers per year to 4.9 million.

All of which raises a question: How did L.A. come to own Ontario's airport, anyway?

Bulletin staff writer David Allen provides a report, archived here, on how Los Angeles slowly obtained control over the Inland Empire airport that some now want to shake free of LA.



August 2 - August 8, 2010

John Wayne makes list of 10 "scariest" airports
- USA Today

JWA approach from inlandStrict noise reduction requirements may not seem scary at first, but if you're not expecting engine cutbacks during takeoff you might be spooked. According to Jenny Wedge, public relations manager at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, "Due to its close proximity to nearby communities, JWA has one of the most stringent aircraft access and noise monitoring programs in the United States, if not the world." Pilots begin their takeoffs at close to full power, then incline quickly and steeply before reducing engine power. "It's like a space shuttle liftoff," says Facebook follower Elizabeth Conrad. Smith notes that passengers contact him about this airport all the time, some even claiming the pilots turn off the engines after take off. But although the procedure seems unusual, he says "there's nothing that the plane does that is not within its capabilities."

Website Editor:  Once upon a time there was a plan put forward to extend the runway into the grassy area in the foreground of this photo so that departing flights would take off further back from the Newport Beach end of the runway. The county did not pursue it. The county also gave Newport Beach a veto over any extension of the runway at the far (south) end.



[BUR] Passenger numbers keep dropping
- Glendale News Press

Passenger traffic at Bob Hope Airport was down 2.4% in June compared with the previous year, dragging the year-to-date figure down by more than 3%, airport records show.

Last year, the number of passengers fell to 4.6 million, the lowest in eight years, and down 13% from 5.3 million in 2008. Passenger volume peaked at more than 5.9 million in 2007.

The latest figures indicate continued drops in passenger traffic, a trend that is in line with what airport officials say they have planned for.

Passenger traffic forecasting is mostly a financial planning tool, and the airport has expected lower numbers since the peak in 2007, spokesman Victor Gill said.





Burbank Airport turns to Congress in noise restriction fight
- LA Times

After years of painstaking studies, millions of dollars and one failed federal application for nighttime flight restrictions, Bob Hope Airport officials are turning to Congress.

Three representatives whose districts are most affected by curfews signed a letter seeking legislation to bar flights from arriving or departing between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. at Bob Hope and Van Nuys airports.

The effort comes one year after the Federal Aviation Administration rejected the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority's request to impose a ban in what has become a decades-long effort to dampen aircraft noise.

Commercial airlines have agreed to a voluntary curfew at Bob Hope Airport, but freight carriers and others oppose a curfew they say would hurt business.



July 26 - August 1, 2010

Airport deal at crossroads 25 years later -
OC Register

Twenty five years ago this month, Newport Beach residents became the envy of anyone who's ever lived near an airport, winning one-of-a-kind noise protections and flight caps that remain the nation’s strongest.

“Nobody – no population, no community – has a more restrictive regimen than we have here,” said Barbara Lichman, a key participant in securing landmark limits on John Wayne Airport in August 1985.

The so-called settlement agreement was unprecedented, and it had remarkable timing, coming just before federal legislation largely eliminated the legality of such local control.

Residents were “very fortuitous,” said Dave Kiff, Newport Beach city manager. A quarter-century later, they are counting on more than luck to keep the deal in place. With the pact to be renegotiated in coming years, the city spends no small amount of time and money to head off adversaries who say its rules went too far.  

Website Editor:  The article quotes this website editor's position that the million annual passenger MAP cap leads to higher ticket prices and that airplanes make noise, people do not, so forcing airlines to fly empty seats makes no sense.

Yet to be discussed is the reasoning behind Orange County spending a half billion dollars on an expansion - including a huge new third terminal - when powerful forces, including at least one county supervisor, oppose expanding passenger service.  The current caps expire in 2015, soon after the new terminal is completed.



JWA ought to look at San Jose's new terminal
- OC Register Travel

San Jose's Terminal B opened June 30, and I had a chance to stop by on the way home late last month. It's the kind of place that we can only hope the new Terminal C at (deep breath) Thomas F. Riley Terminal of John Wayne Airport will resemble, even just a little bit.

Website Editor:  Register Travel Editor Gary Warner lists a lot of wonderful architectural features and amenities in San Jose's new Terminal B that he would like to see in John Wayne Airport's new Terminal C.

I would add one more: - gates.  In an attempt to minimize the utilization of JWA, county officials decided in 2001 to limit the passenger gates in its new terminal. JWA is adding a 282,000 square foot terminal with only 6 gates.  San Jose's new terminal measures 380,000 square feet and hosts 12 passenger gates.  It has one-third more space but twice the number of boarding locations where passengers can access flights to more locations..

We previously noted that 
LA/Ontario Airport's Terminal 2 has 265,000 square feet and 12 gates. Ontario Terminal 4 has 265,000 square feet and 14 gates.



Delta to launch OC-JFK service
- OC Register
 
Delta Air Lines will begin flying non-stop between Orange County's John Wayne Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sept. 7.

Initial fares are as low as $259 round trip, including tax. The airline will use a single-aisle Boeing 737-700 aircraft in both directions.

The airline announced the service Wednesday as part of a large-scale reshuffling and expansion of routes throughout the world.

Jenny Wedge, spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport,said service to New York's largest airport has been a top request of Orange County customers.

Delta also announced it will end service from Orange County to Detroit.

Currently, Orange County residents can fly non-stop on Continental Airlines from John Wayne Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport. Another option is to fly out of Long Beach to JFK on JetBlue.




Irvine Councilwoman Christina Shea Speaks Out on Environmental Mess at El Toro
- Salem-News.com

The old Marine Corps air base in Orange County, El Toro, is a huge political liability, that isn't necessarily a big secret, but new attention is being drawn to this fact by one of Irvine's city leaders, Councilwoman Christina Shea. She is coming out swinging with allegations of cover ups, wasted taxpayer funds and major concerns about the health of people who once lived on the base, or today live near it.

This means a lot to those of us who were once Marines at this place. MCAS El Toro was for half a century, a vibrant base that was a strong defensive point for all of Southern California.

It is a complicated and twisted tale that begins with this military base's listing by BRAC, the Base Realignment and Closure Committee, back in 90's.

Then came a years long fight between two ideas: turning El Toro into an airport to relieve stress on Orange County's John Wayne Airport, or transform the base into a park and housing community. The park idea won, now it is losing fast.

We have been bringing the story of El Toro forward for three years now; Salem-News.com crews have spent a good deal of time on the base documenting the different sites, and continually learning more and more from hundreds of former and current Marines who write to us, telling us about their service at the base and often, all too often, details on the illnesses they suffer from.

There really are no secrets about El Toro, the base has been an EPA 'Superfund' site since the contamination was first studied by the Dept. of the Navy several years ago. As we have revealed in our reports, all of the damning evidence is available for the Public to see in the Woodbridge Irvine Public Library in the at Heritage Park.



California Fare Sale 
- Lifestyle.com

Southwest Airlines is offering $59* one-way airfares for travel within California. These southwest.com-only airfares are available with a 21-day advance purchase for Customers in Burbank, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento, Ontario, and San Diego. Fares are available seven days a week. Orange County's John Wayne Airport is not included in this sale. To book these fares available only at southwest.com, go to: http://www.southwest.com/jp/luvhome.shtml?src=PR_interCal_120205

Website Editor:  How many times have we seen "John Wayne Airport not included" in fare sales?  There must be something about the airport or the way that it is managed that produces this result.  Send us your thoughts.



Repairs to Los Alamitos airfield to start in fall
- Long Beach Press-Telegram

A recent influx of military aircraft using Long Beach Airport is expected to subside by late fall after repairs are completed to the battered main runway at nearby Los Alamitos Army Airfield.

The repairs, scheduled to begin in the fall, will fix a heavily used 8,000-foot runway that was closed to most large aircraft and fighter jets - including Air Force One - in January 2009, when significant deterioration was discovered.

The runway is suffering from cracking and loose debris along vast stretches of the asphalt portions of its runway, creating serious hazards during landings and takeoffs.

Since the closure, military and cargo pilots have been diverting en masse to Long Beach Airport, which sits just several miles northwest of Los Alamitos.

Even Air Force One, which for decades used the closely guarded base for presidential visits, was forced to divert to Long Beach in March 2009.



Airport hub moves forward
- Burbank Leader

A large $120-million transit center that would combine bus, train and rental car traffic into one hub at Bob Hope Airport took a step closer to reality Tuesday after the Burbank City Council voted 4 to 1 to settle a number of land-use issues.

One of the key selling points for the transit center was to cut down on traffic generated by airport operations. Rental car companies must make 700,000 yearly trips to an off-site facility to service their fleets because there is no room at Bob Hope Airport, officials said.

The so-called Regional Intermodal Transportation Center would solve the space issue, as well as provide enough room for 14 buses with a transit lounge and a new parking structure for airport patrons.

Bob Hope Airport train station passengers would have access to an elevated pedestrian bridge over Empire Avenue to connect to the parking lot. An elevated pedestrian walkway with a moving sidewalk is planned to connect the parking structure to the air passenger terminal.




Ontario International Airport reports June decline
- The Press-Enterprise


Traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped by 5.2 percent in June compared to the same month in 2009 and a 37.4 percent decrease since June 2007.

LAX has had 28.3 million travelers in the first six months of the year, a 4.9 percent increase compared to the same period a year prior. Last month, traffic increased 4 percent compared to the same month a year prior.

Since 2008, Ontario airport lost service from JetBlue, Aeromexico and startup airline ExpressJet as well as suffered cuts in capacity at remaining airlines including the airport's largest, Southwest Airlines.

Upset with steep passenger declines at the airport, officials with the city of Ontario have recently begun lobbying Los Angeles City Council members and agency leaders to consider giving control of the airport back to the Inland city.



Ontario continues in slump

In June, LA/Ontario International Airport served 408,800 passengers, none of them on international flights.  That was 5.24 percent fewer than in June 2009.

Year-to-date, ONT saw 2,337,880 passengers or 2.61 percent fewer than last year. 54 percent of all passengers flew on SouthWest Airlines.

If the six-month trend continues, the airport will see fewer than 5 million passengers this year.

That is a sad position for an airport built to handle at least 10 million passengers and planned to expand and serve 30 million by 2025.

LA/Ontario International Airport has three terminals including a small international terminal. The terminal numbering scheme is designed to accommodate future growth. The airport's master plan calls for five terminals to be spaced adjacent to and in between the existing Terminals 2 and 4.  Terminal 2 has 265,000 square feet and 12 gates. Terminal 4 has 265,000 square feet and 14 gates.

By comparison, Orange County supervisors chose to limit John Wayne Airport's capacity and opted to build a third terminal that will have approximately 282,000 square feet but only 6 gates.



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