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Week of September 29 - October 4, 2008

In Chicago, Private Firm Is to Run Midway Airport
- The New York (NY) Times

Midway Airport is poised to become the first large privately run hub airport in the country, officials said Tuesday, after an investment group bid $2.52 billion to win rights to a long-term lease.

The deal, with Midway Investment and Development Company, requires final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Chicago City Council, which is set to vote Oct. 8.

Almost all commercial airports in the United States are owned and operated by local or state governments, and Midway is no exception. But Midway is eligible for leasing because the city applied to the F.A.A. to take part in an experimental program begun about 12 years ago to explore privatization as a means to generate capital for improvements.

Congress has allowed the agency to permit up to five airports to take part in the program, and if the Midway deal is approved, it will be the first.

Website Editor: In 2004, former Orange County Supervisor Chuck Smith proposed to sell John Wayne Airport to raise money for the county but his idea was shot down.



Cities unite for talks on airports - Daily Pilot

In an unprecedented meeting of the city councils of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, the two cities agreed to share the cost of fighting John Wayne Airport expansion and hold annual meetings to discuss airport issues among other actions.

Council members at the meeting Tuesday night called it “historic” and “monumental,” saying that presenting a united front to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Federal Aviation Administration and other decision-making bodies would give the cities more bargaining power.

The night’s other order of business was to hear a presentation on the results of a study commissioned by both cities using $200,000 in funds from the Orange County Transportation Authority.

The study included a survey of about 2,500 John Wayne travelers who were asked where they were coming from, where they were going and why.

Lead consultant Peggy Ducey determined that most passengers come from three pockets: the Disneyland area in Anaheim, Newport-Mesa and a portion of South County. Getting the Newport-Mesa and South County travelers to shuttle out to Ontario Airport instead of John Wayne might be difficult, but the Anaheim demographic could be swayed, according to the study.

People headed to the pocket around Anaheim are mostly vacationers headed to Disneyland or the Anaheim Convention Center that could be convinced to fly into Ontario if there were an easy, low-cost way to get from the airport to Anaheim, according to Ducey.  More below. . .



NPB-CM hear "Go Local" presentation -
El Toro Info Site report

The Newport Beach and Costa Mesa City Councils received a presentation Tuesday on a study of whether Orange County passengers could be induced to use some airport other than John Wayne. Click here for the Power Point slides.

Much of the demographic data collected on JWA passengers duplicates other studies done by the airport. This study found that 6 percent of those who use the Orange County airport are from other counties, a slightly higher figure than observed previously.

That's still not a large number of outsiders who can be encouraged to go away. Any significant diversion of demand at the airport would require that Orange County business and pleasure travelers be shuttled somewhere else. Where?

The principal alternate airport used by those surveyed was LAX, an airport whose neighbors also want passengers to go someplace else.

A Costa Mesa blogger commenting on the study said "The idea is that you'd go to John Wayne Airport, enter the terminal and get on a train (or bus) that would take you to an airport in San Bernardino or Riverside."

Those who drive to JWA, or take the study's suggested Metrolink to JWA, may want to board a plane right then and there rather than be taken to San Bernardino or Riverside.


The study concludes (slide 15) that the estimated trip time incorporating rail transit is approximately 60 percent longer than by driving. Subjectively, I expect that driving from home to a transit link at JWA, parking, and waiting for a train from there to another airport would take much longer than that.

The report suggests transit service to shift Disneyland visitors and North County residents to other airports in the short run, and creating a rail link to Las Vegas in the long run, all  ideas that have received favorably comment on this website in the past.



Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to join in opposing JWA growth


The City of Newport Beach has historically maintained firm control over efforts to limit John Wayne Airport. NPB now is allowing Costa Mesa a seat at the table.

The two city councils are poised to sign a Memorandum of Understanding at a joint meeting this Tuesday, designed to establish a set of cooperative practices and enumerate objectives regarding the future of the airport. The objectives include:
Other than in general terms regarding protecting "quality of life", the agreement is carefully vague regarding limiting the number of passengers that can be served. A new third-terminal is being designed and built at JWA with additional gates and parking. While it is referred to politically as an "improvement" rather than an expansion, the project will increase the airport's physical capacity.

The existing agreement between Newport Beach and the county that limits the number of passengers and flights is scheduled to expire in 2015. The MOU seeks to increase Newport Beach's bargaining power in negotiations for an extension of the agreement.



Blow to airport regionalization
- Pasadena Star News Opinion


Considering the state of the economy, the cost of fuel and the loss of a federal grant, it's not a huge surprise that United Airlines decided to stop flying out of L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport in December.

Not surprising, perhaps, but truly unfortunate to the greater goal of regionalizing Los Angeles' heavy air traffic. This is a blow to air-traffic regionalization, but it shouldn't be its death knell.

Regionalization of air traffic is not just a good idea; it's the right way to grow air traffic in Southern California, where the main airport is already congested.

The economy will recover, and when it does, airport officials must again encourage a major air carrier to return to Palmdale.



Week of September 22 - September 28, 2008

Palmdale traffic not giving encouragement

Those who hope that Palmdale airport can rise again if given the opportunity will draw little cheer from August traffic figures. After five months where the airport saw over 2,000 passengers, August usage dropped to 1,935.

The hopeful will have to wait to see whether the doubling of the number of daily flights in September yielded any uptick in travel.



LAX and Ontario were down in August

Los Angeles International Airport saw 3.8 percent fewer passengers this August than in the same month last year. Both domestic and international traffic decreased by over 3 percent.

Year-to-date, LAX was down 1.56 percent.

Ontario Airport was harder hit, with August volume down by 18.4 percent. Year-to-date, the airport has lost 7 percent of its business.

The trend is likely to worsen now that ExpressJet has folded after less than a year of trying to provide non-stop service from Ontario and Long Beach to mid-sized destinations..




Fiscal concerns delay bids for construction at airport
- Daily Pilot

Taking into account the state of the economy, the Orange County Board of Supervisors has postponed an expected approval that would allow big lenders to submit bids to finance construction at John Wayne Airport.

Board members said the list of qualified lenders might require amendments because of all that has happened since its creation a few years ago. The list includes large companies like Goldman Sachs, De La Rosa & Co., and the recently troubled Lehman Brothers.

Chairman John Moorlach wanted to ensure that no qualified lenders were left out of the competition.

Officials’ desire to build more parking and another terminal, which they hope to finance through a bond issue this spring.

JWA spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said she does not think the setback will prevent the bond issue from going out on schedule.



'Hope' found at former Marine Corps base
- OC Register, Frank Mickadeit

Two Orange County Marine Corps bases have closed within the last several years. The civilian managers of one [El Toro] have spent about $100 million of the public's money and so far have a giant airborne orange goiter to show for it. The civilian managers of one slice of another [Tustin] have spent mostly private money and have produced something that actually benefits mankind.

I toured the 5-acre piece of the former Tustin helicopter base they now call the Village of Hope. More . . .



Newport - Costa Mesa Councils to hear JWA study report next week


The draft report of a $200,000 OCTA funded study of how to get John Wayne passengers to other airports will be presented to a joint meeting of the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa City Councils on September 30 at the Costa Mesa Community Center.

The study is late but city officials who snagged the taxpayer funded OCTA "Go Local" grant were reportedly unconcerned.

The goal of the project, according to a NPB council report is to make "a preliminary determination of whether an effective transportation means is feasible for Orange County residents to utilize in traveling to airports other than JWA ."

This website's editorial policy strongly favors improved ground access to other airports, including LAX and Ontario. To us, the problem with public transportation is that it still requires travelers to drive from their homes or offices - to a parking lot - and then wait for a bus or train to the airport. Improved roads may be a better solution for Southern California's airport access needs.



Week of September 15 - September 21, 2008

Three Antelope Valley Press reports review the failure of LA/Palmdale Airport

Area's airport service comes crashing down


United is the fourth airline to start and stop Palmdale service since 1990. United's announcement Thursday was met with dismay by supporters of Valley air service.

United Airlines' service out of Palmdale was backed by a coalition of supporters dubbed "Wheels Up Palmdale," which came up with a package that included $2 million to underwrite United's operating losses over an 18-month period; about $900,000 came from a federal grant to Palmdale.

"Overall, LAWA has spent more than $5 million underwriting this service with expenditures covering maintenance and operations, staffing, security and marketing. But the service simply has not been supported by customers," a Los Angeles World Airports statement said.

LAWA officials calculated that the combined financial investment in support of the service totaled approximately $235 per passenger, with 22,449 Palmdale passengers during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Website Editor: A year and a half ago, the Wall Street Journal predicted costs in this general range.

"We believe that no other U.S. airport or community has ever made this level of investment into air service," the LAWA statement said.

Officials vow to fight for flights


Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said late Friday the county would "take appropriate steps" to keep flights available. Those steps may include having L.A. County and the city of Palmdale oversee flight efforts at Palmdale's airport terminal, which is owned by the city of Los Angeles, said Tony Bell, Antonovich's assistant chief deputy.

In a letter to Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, Antonovich said plans by United Airlines to end flights from Palmdale was the result of LAWA's failure to live up to the terms of a 2006 agreement to settle state and federal lawsuits filed over the planned expansion of Los Angeles International airport.

According to Antonovich, LAWA failed "to engage in a serious regional strategic planning effort" to encourage the distribution of flights away from LAX.

Palmdale Flyer service falls on takeoff 

Since April, the county has funded a free bus and shuttle service, ferrying passengers between the Van Nuys Flyaway Terminal and the L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport. The bus service, dubbed the Palmdale Flyer, was funded through 5th District County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich's office as a way to attract passengers to the airport. The program was originally set to run through the end of the year and had a budget of $240,000.

The county has spent $75,230 on the program thus far, but only 80 passengers have made use of it. That's a price tag of $940.38 per person. Website Editor: Last month, this website was the first to disclose the low usage of the bus versus its high budget.  Actual expenditures were not available at that time.

Starting Sept. 3, the county switched to a reservation-only service using a van. Passengers could call a Palmdale Flyer hot line and get a free ride between the airport and Van Nuys.

Since the switch, the Flyer van service has carried one passenger at the cost of $120.



United halts service out of Palmdale
- Daily Breeze

See companion article below for additional details: United Airlines will pull service from LA/Palmdale Regional Airport on Dec. 7, dealing a massive setback in the effort to divert air traffic from Los Angeles International Airport to outlying facilities.

"I'm not surprised at all because this wasn't a lucrative route to begin with," said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents LAX and is a longtime supporter of spreading air traffic to other local airports.

"United took a big gamble with Palmdale," Rosendahl said. "I never saw the market for passengers flying from Palmdale to San Francisco, but it was a good, sincere effort."

Additionally, more than $5 million was spent on maintenance, staffing, security and marketing at Palmdale, with funds provided by Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that operates LAX and Palmdale airports.

Still, travelers did not warm up to the idea of flying out of Palmdale.

"Even with the grant and financial incentives, there wasn't enough customer response to profitably offer the service," said Jeff Kovic, a spokesman for United Airlines. "We made our schedule more convenient by adding flights and experimenting with fares, but there was not enough interest from the public."

The city of Los Angeles agreed to financially support the concept of "regionalization" under the terms of a settlement reached in 2005 with the county, three neighboring cities and a community group over a proposed $11 billion airport expansion project.

At the time, city and airport officials vowed to reduce traffic at LAX and increase operations at its sister airports in Ontario and Palmdale, but the effort is proving to be futile.

"The sad reality is that until we add transportation infrastructure to Palmdale, it will never go anywhere," Rosendahl said. "For regionalism to be real, you need to have a way to get to these outlying airports."

Aviation consultant Jack Keady of Playa del Rey advised that Los Angeles city and airport officials should give up the idea of attracting air carriers to Palmdale - at least for now. He agreed with Rosendahl that efforts should focus on improving ground transportation routes to other local airports.

Website Editor: Too bad that they didn't think of these things before they spent the money.



United to halt service at Palmdale airport - LA Times

Dealing a setback to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan for a network of regional airports, United Airlines has decided to halt its service out of LA/Palmdale Regional Airport starting Dec. 7, city officials said Thursday.

Los Angeles World Airports general manager Gina Marie Lindsey said United, the only major carrier at LA/Palmdale, was losing "significant money" on the initiative despite receiving government subsidies.

The pullout comes 15 months after Villaraigosa and other Los Angeles politicians stood on the tarmac in Palmdale to welcome United, hailing it as a sign that they were making headway in redistributing the passenger load away from LAX.

The push to add flights at LA/Palmdale had been supported initially by a $900,000 grant from the federal government, airport officials said. That grant was not renewed this year.

Website Editor: Local government agencies and taxpayers added millions of dollars to subsidize the project which was seen by this website as having little chance of success.


Villaraigosa was not immediately available for comment. But in his letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation seeking more grant money, Villaraigosa said LA/Palmdale was off to a "promising start" and was pivotal to the effort to create a regional airport network.

"I consider the reopening of the LA/Palmdale [airport] to commercial jet service by United Airlines on June 7, 2007, one of the top accomplishments of my administration," he wrote.

Lindsey said "I think it will be a while before there's another viable try at commercial service in Palmdale."




FAA head says Chicago could need new airport
- Associated Press

A new Chicago airport or a vast expansion of one of the city's existing airports will be necessary to keep pace with booming demand for air travel in the coming decades, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said.

That's in addition to an ongoing $15 billion expansion of O'Hare, Robert Sturgell, the FAA's acting administrator, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Other cities like New York and Atlanta will also need new airports or ambitious expansion projects, he said.

More than a dozen new runways have opened in the United States since 2000, with three more opening this November, including at O'Hare.

But Sturgell said that won't suffice over the long run.

Despite a drop in flights this year as high fuel prices cut into airline profits, the number of air travelers could double to 1 billion annually over the next decade, Sturgell said. And since newer, streamlined planes will carry fewer passengers, the total number of planes flying in and out of airports could increase at an even faster rate, he said.

The FAA noted that just two major airports have opened in the last 40 years — Dallas- Fort Worth and Denver International. As many as four would have to be built over the next 20 to 30 years, Sturgell said.

New airports and runway expansions would have to happen in conjunction with implementation of a new satellite-guided air traffic system, dubbed NextGen, Sturgell said. That would replace the current, radar-based system, which deploys 1950s-era radar technology.



Campaign takes flight. Bob Hope Airport wants customers to know it flies to more places than they thought - Burbank Leader

The staff at Bob Hope Airport want you to know there’s “More airport than you thought” in Burbank.

Airport staff conceived the new advertising slogan to help generate new business as Burbank’s slumping passenger levels mirror a national trend.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority’s new campaign comes on the heels of recently released July passenger levels that showed a decline of nearly 13% compared with a year ago.

At the Operations and Development Committee’s Sept. 2 meeting, commissioners directed staff to brainstorm ways to help offset the lost revenue.

The first phase of the plan, which will go into effect immediately, includes promoting four direct flights to cities that locals may not be aware that the airport provides, [spokesman Victor] Gill said. The newspaper ads read “More Airport Than You Thought,” and include information about flights to Albuquerque, Chicago, Reno and Pittsburgh.



FlyAway bus routes for LAX approved
- Daily Breeze

The Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday approved $8.5 million worth of contracts with Coach America Los Angeles to oversee operations of two FlyAway bus routes out of Los Angeles International Airport to Van Nuys and Westwood.

In a related move, the airport commission delayed a decision on whether to increase fares on the FlyAway shuttles. The proposal calls for raising one-way fares from $4 to $7 on the Van Nuys and Union Station routes, and from $4 to $5 for the Westwood route. Airport employees who use the bus to get to work would see increased fares of $2 to $4.

The airport commission is expected to reconsider the fare hikes next month.



Palm Springs Airport sees slowdown

Palm Springs International Airport saw a slowdown with August traffic 9.0 percent below the same month in 2007. Year to date, the airport is off by 2.48 percent.

However, the PSP has had a solid string of up years and despite the slowdown, August was the airport's second best August ever.

Palm Springs, in 2008, is 24 percent ahead of its 2001 volume.


Lanes to close at airport for parking garage demolition -
OC Register
Traffic tie-ups expected through Tuesday, officials at John Wayne Airport say.

Two lanes will be blocked on both the arrival and departure levels of the terminal roadways starting  Monday night. The closures, which should end by Tuesday night, are needed because crews are preparing to demolish a parking structure at the airport.

Periodic lane closures will probably occur occasionally in coming months because of the demolition work, said airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.



Week of September 8 - September 14, 2008

Anaheim mayor proposes airport solution
- Daily Pilot

A regional transportation hub in Anaheim could prove to be the solution to Newport-Mesa residents’ concerns about noisy airplanes flying into John Wayne Airport, according to a presentation by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle in Newport Beach Friday.

The mayor told a gathering of anti-airport expansion activists, including city politicians and staff members, that a mass transit center hosting high-speed trains and buses would help reduce the demand on John Wayne Airport.

He said that thanks to a recent infusion of government funds, the process of seriously studying the feasibility of trains connecting Anaheim to Ontario and Las Vegas and also connecting it to Los Angeles and San Francisco is soon to be underway.



Palmdale property tax bill tops $30 per ticket

The Los Angeles City Board of Airport Commissioners will be asked to approve the annual property tax payment at Palmdale airport of not-to-exceed $800,000. 

The City of Los Angeles is required to pay property taxes on city-owned land and improvements located outside the city limits.

With passenger traffic running at roughly 25,000 travelers per year, the city property tax subsidy tops $30 per ticket. It's one more example of how taxpayers are footing the bill to keep the airport on life support.




June 2008 Airline Traffic Data: Six-Month 2008 System Traffic Down 0.4 Percent from 2007 and Down 2.7 Percent in June -
Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines during the first six months of 2008 declined by 0.4 percent from the same period in 2007, dropping to 378.2 million, 1.5 million less than a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported in a release of preliminary data.

BTS reported that U.S. airlines carried 1.1 percent fewer domestic passengers and 5.1 percent more international passengers during the first six months of 2008 than during the same period in 2007.

LAX ranked 5th in total and domestic passengers and eight in international travel according to BTS statistics which count only U.S. carriers.

Data collected by this website includes actual arrivals and departures for all airlines. It shows SCAG regional airport traffic down 2.8 percent for the six months and below the volume seen seven years ago, prior to September 11, 2001.



AA's domestic cuts are permanent, CFO says -
USA Today

American Airlines recent U.S. schedule cutbacks will be permanent, even as oil prices retreat from July's record-high cost of $147 per barrel. Like many other carriers, AA has been making significant cuts to its domestic flight schedule as rising fuel costs have made it harder to turn a profit on marginal routes. As part of its  cuts, AA says it will ground dozens of aircraft and drop several cities from its domestic route network.

"The airplanes that we're grounding are older generation planes," AA CFO Tom Horton tells The Associated Press. "They burn 35% more fuel per seat than the new generation planes. So, when you ground those planes, it would be very difficult to bring them back, not just in operations cost but also in maintenance infrastructure." Horton adds:  "I would characterize those as permanent capacity reductions."




SCAG studies remote terminals (FlyAway stations)

On Thursday, September 11, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Aviation Technical Advisor Committee will discuss a new study of remote terminals similar to the existing Van Nuys FlyAway facility.

The draft report is posted here for those who will not be in attendance at the meeting.

The report notes that Flyaway/Remote Terminal service can boost demand to smaller airports and re-direct some traffic away from the more congested urban airports. However, it cannot provide significant congested relief to capacity-constrained urban airports by moving significant portions of air passengers to suburban airports with limited flight service. (Emphasis added)

Nevertheless, the Remote Terminal system could help remove vehicles from congested freeways and arterials and as the system expands become more effective in achieving decentralization goals. 



Week of September 1 - September 7, 2008

JWA has 10th straight down month

Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in August 2008 as compared to August 2007. In August 2008, the Airport served 833,655 passengers, a decrease of 11.9% when compared to the August 2007 passenger traffic count of 946,426.

For eight months, year-to-date, JWA passenger traffic is down by 9.0%.

Commercial carrier flight operations decreased 9.7%, while commuter carrier (air taxi) operations decreased 29.9% when compared to the same levels recorded in August 2007.



LA/Ontario International Airport Announces New Flights
- LAWA press release

In the wake of airline scheduling cutbacks, Great Lakes Airlines is adding flights at LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT). Beginning Sept. 8, Great Lakes starts service to Visalia and Merced in California, and Prescott and Phoenix in Arizona. The airline will use Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.



Obama backs LAX service workers - Daily Breeze

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama announced his support Thursday for airline service workers at Los Angeles International Airport -- six days after those employees put down their picket signs and returned to work.

"Today, I stand with the airline service workers on strike at Los Angeles International Airport. The demands they're fighting for aren't unreasonable -- access to health care, adequate training, proper equipment, wages that can support a family -- that's what America's workers deserve," the senator said in a statement.

"Their efforts send a strong signal that it's not good for workers, passengers or the industry when business fails to live up to its end of the bargain," he said.

Website Editor:  This sounds more like a community activist speaking than a President of the United States. Presidents generally get involved only when the national interest is at stake.



John Wayne Airport parking structure closes for demolition
- OC Register

One of John Wayne Airport’s four parking structures closed this week and will be demolished soon, airport officials said.

The demolished parking structure will be replaced by an expanded terminal and a new structure expected to be complete in late 2011.



Palmdale airport expands service
- Antelope Valley News

L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport initiated expanded service to San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday, with double the number of flights, but using smaller, turboprop airplanes.

The first flight to arrive from San Francisco on the new schedule came in to land about 10 a.m. on Wednesday and carried only one passenger - an engineer from Idaho in town to work on the Palmdale Water District's water treatment plant project. Six passengers awaited departure on the flight back, scheduled to depart at 10:15 a.m.

The expanded schedule, with four flights each way daily between Palmdale and San Francisco, is an effort to meet passengers' requests for increased schedule flexibility and should better meet the needs of government, military and business travelers, officials said.



March Inland Port neighbors count gains in effort to silence the airport

The March Joint Powers Authority met and heard that one DHL International 767 flight will no longer operate at March as of November 1 and that Polar Air is moving its cargo flight to LAX.
 
This leaves four DHL flights at March until a DHL deal with UPS is approved.  Airport neighbors count this week's news as a "victory" in their fight to end night flights at the cargo airport..




Oakland airport flies into trouble -
Oakland Tribune
Destination proves hardest-hit in Bay Area by economic downturn as travelers migrate

The wobbly economy has delivered a bigger jolt to Oakland International Airport than to the other passenger airports in the Bay Area, with the East Bay airport suffering a nearly 19 percent decline in daily departures and a net loss of carriers.

The airports in Oakland and San Jose have both lost daily departures over the last 12 months, according to officials at the transportation hubs.

The big beneficiary? San Francisco International Airport. That airport can offer direct flights to a growing number of major cities that no longer can be found via the airports in Oakland and San Jose.

Air carriers apparently want to focus more on the big jetliner hubs in a quest to curb fast-rising expenses such as fuel costs.

Website Editor: Bureau of Transportation Statistics lists Oakland as the #1 destination from Bob Hope Airport, #2 from Orange County and #3 from Ontario. San Francisco International is the #1 destination for LAX passengers who are less likely to fly to Oakland.



Major airlines, including American Airlines, begin flight cutbacks - Dallas Morning News

Fewer flights will be available to U.S. travelers this month as airlines begin trimming their schedules to cope with high fuel costs and growing losses.

But the real hit won't occur until November and December, as major carriers make the deep cuts in capacity that they've been promising.

Aviation consultant Boyd Group estimates that flights by U.S. airlines will decline 9.3 percent in November compared to a year earlier, which translates to 9.6 percent fewer seats.

Boyd Group president Michael Boyd said the capacity reductions should be completed by the end of 2009, but with an airline industry much different and smaller.

"It'll find its level by the end of 2009," Mr. Boyd said. "That level will probably be 15 to 18 percent less capacity and about 15 to 20 percent higher average fares" compared to 2008.



Air service in SoCal slides in 2008

Total air travel in the six airports comprising the SCAG region was down by 3.1 percent for the first seven months of 2008 when compared to 2007. Each airport - LAX, SNA, ONT, BUR, LGB and PSP - experienced a loss of traffic. 

The smallest year to year decline, 1.2 percent, occurred at LAX where international travel was up slightly and domestic airlines tended to concentrate service as they cut back elsewhere.  The hardest hit airport was Orange County's John Wayne where service was down by 8.5 percent - a possible result of the airport's history of turning away airlines' requests to add service.

Total traffic also was less than in the same months of 2001, prior to the 9-11 attacks.

In Southern California, only San Diego's Lindbergh Field had passenger volume running ahead of last year.



Bob Hope Airport traffic down in July

Bob Hope airport traffic slipped in July to 12.8 percent below July 2007. The principal factor was a decline in passengers for the airports #1 air carrier, Southwest Air.

Year to date, BUR is down by 4.4 percent.




Airport doubles flights from Palmdale
- Antelope Valley Press
Smaller airplanes to save fuel, lower costs

Passengers will have twice as many flights to choose from at L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport starting Wednesday, as United Airlines moves to a more frequent flight schedule using smaller, 30-passenger airplanes.

The change is an effort to meet passenger's requests for increased schedule flexibility and should better meet the needs of government, military and business travelers, officials said.

To accommodate the increased frequency, the airline is switching from the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 jets currently in use to 30-seat Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprop airplanes.

The Brasilia cruises at up to 362 mph, compared to 488 to 534 mph for the Bombardier CRJ-200, according to their manufacturers, so flights to San Francisco will take about 92 minutes, or 23 minutes longer than with the jets.

SkyWest Airlines will operate the flights as United Express.

The change would give passengers the opportunity to connect with 113 flights rather than the 68 they now can make, officials said.

Palmdale officials said an independent analysis by two aviation consulting firms said the new pattern of service will provide the optimum flight schedule for long-term development of Palmdale air service.



Click here for previous news reports