Making Ontario the airport choice - The Press-Enterprise
A crowd of Inland leaders in industry and politics were implored to use Ontario International Airport for their traveling needs in order to boost the airport's dwindling passenger traffic and encourage airlines to add more flights and routes there.
The
request came from Bob Hazel with Oliver Wyman, a firm recently hired by
the city of Ontario and San Bernardino County to study the airport and
the region's efforts to regain control of the airport from its current
owner and operator Los Angeles World Airports. "What we need to do is reverse the cycle," Hazel told the crowd gathered for the third annual I-10 Corridor Economic & Transportation Summit on Thursday in Rancho Cucamonga. "Fly from Ontario. Don't fly from LAX," he said, encouraging business owners in the crowd to ask their employees to fly from the Inland airport, "unless there's a compelling reason not to."
Bill Ingraham, aviation director of San Bernardino International Airport, described both his airport -- which has used more than $94 million to convert the former Norton Air Force Base into a commercial airline terminal -- and Ontario airport as critical to the region.
He warned the audience, though, that when San Bernardino airport lands its first passenger airline -- currently it doesn't offer any scheduled service -- the number of flights and routes would be small.
Anchorage to Be JetBlue’s 65th Destination, with Service from Long Beach
JetBlue Airways is adding Anchorage, Alaska as the 65th destination in its network with the launch of seasonal daily service from Los Angeles-area Long Beach Airport (LGB) to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) on May 26, 2011.
Anchorage will become the northernmost city in JetBlue’s route network. JetBlue Airways will operate the service with Airbus A320s.
LAX up, ONT down
In a familiar scenario, passenger traffic at LAX was up in September and year to date totals show a gain of 4.3 percent over the same period in 2009.
Meanwhile, LA/Ontario Airport say a small decline in September and is behind for the year to date by 1.1 percent.
Long Beach Airport showing an upturn
September was the fifth consecutive months during which traffic at Long Beach Airport exceeded that of the same month in 2009.
After a sluggish start early in the year, traffic climbed to 2,226,731 passengers for the year to date, up 0.6 percent from the same nine-month period last year.
Passengers filled 79 percent of the seats available at LGB this year with JetBlue setting the pace as the airport's leading carrier.
Air Canada ending O.C. service this week - OC Register
Air Canada has informed John Wayne Airport that it will abruptly end service to and from Orange County after its scheduled flights this Friday. The shutdown comes just six months after the service began April 8.
The flights are the only non-stop international service to and from Orange County.
In an e-mail, John Wayne spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said Air Canada had told airport officials that the route "is not economically viable."
Air Canada is the second airline this year to announce it was leaving John Wayne Airport less than a year after starting service. Virgin America made a splashy entrance into the Orange County market in April 2009 only to announce in March 2010 that it was leaving to concentrate on service at Los Angeles International Airport. Virgin America gave the airport two months notice, ending flights May 26.
The quick departure of Air Canada from John Wayne Airport comes after a long courting period between the airport and airline. Air Canada rose to the top of John Wayne Airport's waiting list in 2008. It was offered a chance in January 2009 to start service as early as the spring 2009. But the bad economy apparently slowed the move. Airline observers at the time said Air Canada most likely wanted to start service to western Canada to tap into interest in the Winter Olympics that began in Vancouver in February 2010.
The airline brought in aircraft in the summer of 2008 and spring of 2009 to prove they could pass the airport's strict noise standards. But several months passed with no activity.
Finally, in late January of this year, Air Canada announced that it would start flying from John Wayne Airport. The destination was not, as expected, to a western Canada and it would not start until after the Olympics were over. Instead, Air Canada said it would introduce one-flight-a-day service to and from Toronto in April.
John Wayne Airport currently has only one independent airline on its waiting list for potential new service, Canadian discount carrier WestJet. Two other airlines are on the list: AirTran, which recently announced it will merge with Southwest Airlines, and Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. Both Southwest and Alaska Airlines already offer service from John Wayne Airport.
October 18 - October 24, 2010
British Airway starting service between San Diego and London this summer
British Airways announced October 6 that nonstop service between San Diego International Airport and London Heathrow Airport will start June 1, 2011.
The announcement was made at a special news conference at Airport Authority headquarters.
British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia Airlines recently formed a new partnership, and the new service will be part of a growth strategy resulting from that partnership. Airport Authority analysis shows there is a significant untapped market of people - from the business and leisure sectors - eager to take advantage of nonstop service between San Diego and London.
The new service will be aboard British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft, seven days a week.
President Obama's Friday visit to result in air restrictions - Daily Breeze
President Barack Obama's visit today to Southern California will lead to several air restrictions at local airports from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Pilots violating the restrictions could face criminal charges and sanctions from the Federal Aviation Administration.
During certain periods, only airlines, law enforcement and air ambulance aircraft will be allowed to fly within eight-mile radiuses of Los Angeles International Airport and downtown Los Angeles, along with a 10-mile radius of Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.
At times, private pilots will be unable fly in or out of LAX, Santa Monica, Hawthorne, Burbank, Van Nuys and Whiteman airports. Operations at Torrance Municipal Airport might also be affected, Gregor said.
Restrictions also will be in place within a 35-mile radius of downtown Los Angeles.
Website Editor: President Obama is on a four day political campaign trip. He will appear at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Friday, the third day of his swing. He is scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for Democrat Barbara Boxer before addressing a rally at Alumni Park on campus alongside Boxer and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown.
American Airlines adds LAX service - AA report
Beginning April 5, 2011, AA will have 33 more departures from Los Angeles International Airport, including nine new domestic routes on American Eagle; additional American Airlines flights to Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, Las Vegas and Orlando; and the recently announced LAX to Shanghai, China, service.
Website Editor: LAX continues to dominate the Southern California market with the only non-stops to Florida.
Largest bond sale in San Diego International Airport’s history receives considerably low rate - media release
The largest bond sale in the history of San Diego International Airport (SDIA) was recently announced by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Proceeds will provide continued funding for The Green Build Terminal 2 expansion program and a variety of programs in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for SDIA.
The Airport Authority was able to secure an interest rate of 4.38 percent for the bonds – one of the lowest rates to date in the nation for an airport-related long-term bond sale. It is estimated that the low interest rate will save the Airport Authority more than $40 million dollars over the 30-year term of the bonds. In addition, the Airport Authority projects that no additional bond issuances for The Green Build/CIP will be necessary until 2012.
October 11 - October 17, 2010
Council
candidate chides audience over airport expansion - OC
Register
JWA traffic is soft in September
For the fourth consecutive month, passenger volume at John Wayne lagged the same month in 2009. September traffic was off by 3.5 percent.
Commercial aircraft operations were down by 4.1 percent.
This website has long argued that Orange County airport management needs to induce more airlines to fly more planes to more destinations. With a large physical expansion in the works, JWA needs to provide more flights or its three terminals will be seriously underutilized.
For the first nine months of 2007, JWA handled 12 percent more passengers than this year, with only two terminals.
'50 secrets your pilot won't tell you' - USA TODAY
That's the attention-grabbing headline of a piece that's set to appear in the Reader's Digest that hits newsstands Tuesday.
The publication says: "We asked 17 pilots from across the country to give us straight answers about maddening safety rules, inexplicable delays, the air and attitudes up there -- and what really happens behind the cockpit door."
Check out the full list at Reader's Digest.
“The two worst airports for us: Reagan National in Washington, D.C., and John Wayne in Orange County, California. You’re flying by the seat of your pants trying to get in and out of those airports. John Wayne is especially bad because the rich folks who live near the airport don’t like jet noise, so they have this noise abatement procedure where you basically have to turn the plane into a ballistic missile as soon as you’re airborne.” -Pilot, South Carolina
“At
some airports with really short runways, you’re not going to have a
smooth landing no matter how good we are: John Wayne Airport; Jackson
Hole, Wyoming; Chicago Midway; and Reagan National.” -Joe
D’Eon, a pilot at a major airline who produces a podcast at flywithjoe.com.
Website Editor: While there once were
considerations of extending the
JWA runway to the north these have not been pursued. In 2006,
the
Board of Supervisors gave the City of Newport Beach a permanent veto
over any runway extension to the south.
October 3 - October 10, 2010
Living under a flight path may be bad for the heart: study - Yahoo News
(Reuters Life!) – Living with airplanes thundering over your head could put your heart at risk, according to a Swiss study.
After studying 4.6 million adults across Switzerland, researchers found that dying from a heart attack was more common among people with increased exposure to aircraft noise.
"The effect was especially evident for people who were exposed to really high levels of noise, and was dependent on how long those people had lived in the noisy place," researcher Matthias Egger of the University of Bern, told Reuters Health.
This isn't the first time that noise has been linked to negative health effects, including cardiovascular risks.
But this study could help determine whether the sound is really exerting the effect, or if it is something else tagging along with the noise, such as air pollution.
Website Editor: We thought this was settled years ago during the debate over El Toro.
Regional air travel recovered through August
Preliminary information shows that air travel at the six airports comprising the Southern California Association of Governments region was up 2.5 percent for the eight months ending August 2010 over the same period in 2009.
The number of passengers remained 9.5 percent below the total of the eight months ending August 2001, just prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
September 27 - October 3, 2010
Newport Beach City study: Particulate at low levels - Daily Pilot
Planes flying out of John Wayne Airport emit potentially harmful particles, but at levels lower than federal clean-air standards, according to a study released Monday.
Commissioned by the city, the $60,000 study looked at air quality in six locations and identified certain emissions that come from aircraft.
City officials hoped the report would provide some evidence of the airport's impacts on Newport Beach residents. They are gearing up for negotiations over the airport's operations; an agreement will expire in 2015 that limits when planes can fly and how many can depart, among other controls.
"It seems things are within standards for now," Councilwoman Leslie Daigle said after the presentation to the Citizens Aviation Committee. "Our concern is that an airport expansion would exceed the standards."
The state and federal government set the limits for fine particulate matter, the most harmful type of matter to human health, at 35 micrograms per cubic meter. The study found that the highest concentration was at 20 micrograms, and that was to the north of the airport — downwind of the runway and next to the San Diego (405) Freeway, which is also a source of these pollutants.
The highest levels found south of the runway were at the Santa Ana Heights Fire Station, which saw 16 micrograms. However, while the study distinguished auto emissions from aircraft emissions, it did not draw a distinction between emissions from commercial aviation and general aviation flights.
Alaska Airlines is launching service between Maui, Hawaii, and San Diego. Beginning Friday, October 1, Alaska will offer daily roundtrip service between San Diego International Airport and Kahului Airport (OGG) on Maui.
Updates on three Southern California airports - OC Register Travel
John Wayne and other airports around the country are expanding at a time when the airline industry seems to be in a flurry of contraction and consolidations.
A few years ago, all the slots at the airport were filled and the waiting list was truly a list of those eager to break into the Orange County market. It's unlikely that AirTran [No. 1 on the JWA waiting list] will exercise its option, leaving only Canadian discount carrier WestJet and Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air on the waiting list.
There are open slots, but because of the recession, none of the airlines on the list has stepped up to start up new service.
The Southwest-AirTran merger comes after United and Continental hitched up earlier this year and Delta and Northwest tied the knot the year before. True, Air Canada added a single flight this year, but it didn't make up for the flights lost when Virgin America left. The number of airlines listed on the direction boards on the off-ramp leading to the airport is getting smaller and smaller.
There is still a year to go until the new third terminal opens at John Wayne Airport, but an economic rebound is going to be the real development that the airport will need to fill up those new gates. One silver lining: Southwest is likely to retain AirTran's routes to Mexico and perhaps even expand its transborder service. Southwest already has been named as the main tenant of the new terminal, which will include the airport's first customs and immigration screening areas.
S.B. airport looks to serve 2 million by 2030 - Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino International Airport doesn't have an airline yet but officials estimate 2 million passengers could depart from its terminal by 2030, according to a forecast.
The airport's leaders also want to expand the finished, but so far traveler-free, terminal in the next 20 years, potentially tripling the number of gates for parked airlines.
It has cost $94.4 million to make the terminal ready for commercial airlines. The airport has offered incentives to the first two airlines that agree to land there, but so far none have signed on.
The forecast estimates that 500,000 passengers would use the airport this year. That's not going to happen.
