John Wayne is on recovery path
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport increased in September 2012 as compared to September 2011. In September 2012, the Airport served 707,510 passengers, an increase of 0.9% when compared to the September 2011 passenger traffic count of 701,135.
Commercial aircraft operations decreased 1.1%, while Commuter aircraft operations increased 2% when compared to the levels recorded in September 2011.
October 15 - 21, 2012
Burbank Airport budget squeaks
ahead - LA Times
Despite
a precipitous drop in parking revenues and the loss
of American Airlines, Bob Hope Airport managed to squeak ahead of
budget projections for fiscal year 2012, according to a report released
this week.
According to the year-end fiscal numbers released to the
Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday, Bob Hope Airport
took in $4,677 more than what was anticipated, and was hampered mostly
by a major drop in parking revenues, officials reported.
Parking revenues traditionally made up about 40% of the airport's total
operating revenues.
The airport's current fiscal budget, which took effect July 1, included
a 21% hike in landing fees - the first increase in almost 10 years.
Capital improvement expenditures were drastically under budget.
More than $84 million had been allotted for projects, but only about
$26 million was spent.
The difference is primarily because of delays in construction of a
transportation center and installation of a system with which any
airline can use any boarding station in the airport to process
passengers.
Palm Springs Airport Commission OKs $50,000 for Virgin America -The Palm Springs Desert Sun
Palm Springs
International Airport will provide Virgin America with $50,000 in
marketing funds as an incentive to grow the carrier's newly announced
nonstop Saturday service between Palm Springs and New York City.
The
Palm Springs Airport Commission approved the measure Wednesday,
followed by official ratification by the Palm Springs City Council
later in the evening. The one-year allocation is the airport's 12th
under an incentive program, launched in 2010, and designed to grow
services in combination with other marketing funds provided by the
Palms Springs Bureau of Tourism and the Greater Palm Springs Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
Mexico's Interjet airline arrives at John Wayne Airport in Orange County - KPCC radio
The Mexican carrier Interjet just launched daily non-stop service from John Wayne Airport to Mexico City and Guadalajara. It’s the airline’s first West Coast destination in the United States.
Interjet CEO Jose Luis Garza said he chose John Wayne because it works well on both ends; Orange County has a large and growing Hispanic population that wants flights to Mexico - and those in Mexico find John Wayne a convenient starting point for Disneyland and many area attractions.
“It’s the closest destination to theme parks, entertainment, shopping, San Diego, and obviously L.A.,” said Garza. “As we say in Mexico, with a single flight we arrive into five different destinations.”
Interjet’s entire advertising buy for these new routes has been on Spanish language media. It’s the prudent thing to do, Garza said.
“The typical passenger is the Mexican who comes up in the Mexican carrier,” Garza said. ”And the residents of Latin origin going down to Mexico prefer a Mexican or Latin carrier.”
S.B. AIRPORT: A year after raid, few answers emerge - Press-Enterprise
On Sept. 21, 2011, law enforcement officers led by the FBI fanned out at San Bernardino International Airport and the rented Riverside home of Scot Spencer — the man who at one time was the airport’s developer and manager — searching for evidence of wrongdoing.
A year after the raid, the airport has seen more legal bills but the same number of commercial passengers: zero.
Before taking any big steps toward the dream of creating a successful commercial airport, officials are attempting to unravel a nine-year relationship with Spencer and settle, once and for all, what the airport may or may not still be owed in rent, fees and more.
Norton shut down in 1994, wiping out some 10,000 jobs. Since then, the Inland Valley Development Agency, governed by elected officials from eastern San Bernardino Valley, has been working to transform the former base into a business park and thriving airport.
The business park was developed by Texas-based Hillwood Development Corp. and now employs several thousand workers in various industries and warehouses.
The commercial airport has never gotten off the ground and, in fact, has become a money drain with a history of questionable agreements and broken promises.
When the airport authority hired Spencer, his aviation background was expected to help land an airline.
In 2007, elected officials were looking forward to close to 1 million departing passengers by 2009 — a number put forth by Spencer, according to a San Bernardino County grand jury that looked into the airport’s troubles.
When Mexican carrier Interjet decided to begin flying nonstop between Orange County’s John Wayne Airport and Mexico in October, there was no mention of where the airline almost landed.
San Bernardino had been courting the Mexican airline.
At the moment, airport officials aren’t talking with any other passenger airline. However, Wilson said he has been in contact with Chinese airlines about offering cargo service.
October 8 - 14, 2012
El Toro Info site marks 16 years of reporting airport news
The El Toro website posted its first report in October 1996 and has been blogging continuously ever since.
After the defeat of the El Toro airport project, the website has chronicled all of the Southland's other major airport issues:- local efforts to curtail the use of LAX, the demise of the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, the San Diego controversy over the possible reuse of the Naval Air Station at Miramar for commercial aviation, the repeated collapse of plans for a major Palmdale Airport and most recently, the Inland Empire's efforts to take back control over Ontario Airport.
Airports continue to be contentious - pitting those who see air service as an economic boon against those who hate living with the environmental impacts.
Shaping up next:- Newport Beach versus the airlines and flying public who seek to utilize the recently expanded John Wayne Airport.
L.A. might let go of Inland airport - The Press Enterprise
Los Angeles is finally ready to at least consider letting go of the Inland airport that fell into disuse under its stewardship.
The L.A. City Council voted 12-2 last week to have the city administrator and the director of Los Angeles World Airports negotiate with the new Ontario International Airport Authority to transfer ONT to Inland control.
Local-control advocates have been optimistic for months, but that was the first time I heard it from an L.A. elected leader.
City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey and the new ONT joint powers authority’s interim director (to be appointed Monday) have 90 days to negotiate and report back.
What caused the about-face? On Wednesday, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said there was no movement from L.A. until Congress got involved.
A vigorous campaign by Ontario to enlist cities, regional agencies, businesses and elected leaders throughout Southern California played a key role.
L.A. Councilman Dennis Zine visited ONT unannounced at the invitation of Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner. The airport’s deterioration, closed terminal wings, shuttered concessions and lack of police presence shocked Zine, who called for a review and action.
By the end of this year, ONT will be down 3 million passengers, serving the same number as it did in 1983.
Whatever happens, Wednesday’s council vote was a giant step forward.
October 1- October 7, 2012
JWA looking to add new service - OC Register
John Wayne Airport officials, holding out hope that an airline may want to provide service to a new destination or a new carrier may want to come into the market, set aside three daily departure slots just in case next year.
Website Editor: See the article below, . The County denied requests for Class A aircraft takeoff slots from Southwest and Alaska and is idling more than 4 daily departure slots.
Two carriers, Horizon Air and Sun Country Airlines, are on John Wayne's waiting list to provide service, but neither has applied for flights.
Website Editor: Horizon Air flies regional aircraft that do not need JWA's limited Class A spaces. Sun Country flies non-stop from Southern California only to Lansing, Michigan and Minneapolis - the latter, a destination already served from JWA by Delta. Airport management is withholding capacity for a carrier that has yet to ask to be on the waiting list.
Even a hoped for restoration of Hawaii service is unlikely to fill all of the capacity quota negotiated with Newport Beach.
This is how Newport Beach, with the cooperation of the county, limits service from JWA.
- Limit the number of average daily departures to fewer than the number agreed upon.
- Limit the space available for aircraft to remain overnight which reduces evening arrivals and morning departures - by saving space for general aviation aircraft parking.
- Limit the number of gates to fewer than the new terminal could have accommodated.
- Limit the number of passengers, keeping a cushion to avoid approaching the number agreed upon.
Bob Hope Airport continues to feel sting of American departure - Burbank Leader
Parking revenues and passenger figures at Bob Hope Airport continued to sink in August, each coming in more than 7% lower than a year ago, according to the latest report.
There were 362,763 passengers who traveled through the airport in August, compared to 392,826 in August 2011.
The airlines independently reported a mixed bag of passenger tallies in August with Southwest — which handles the majority of Bob Hope Airport flights — and United seeing increases, while Alaska, JetBlue and U.S. Airways saw fewer customers, Feger added.
Since January, the airport has handled 2.71 million passengers, a 5.2% decrease from 2.86 million passengers in August 2011.
Other airports in the region — John Wayne, Long Beach and Los Angeles International — reported passenger increases, except Ontario International Airport, where there was a 3.6% decrease.
Former county Supervisor Chuck Smith dies - OC Register
Former county Supervisor Charles V. Smith, a key advocate for the failed effort to put a commercial airport on the site of the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and an activist for the welfare of children, died Sunday morning in hospice care. He was 80.
Smith served on the Board of Supervisors from 1997 to 2005, including two years as board chairman.
Former Supervisor William Steiner, among Smith’s allies in the effort to develop a commercial airport at the former El Toro base, agreed that Smith stood by his ideals – and wasn’t a political showman.
“In working with him I always found him to be a low-key, easygoing individual who had the courage of his convictions – especially when he was the primary spokesman on the Board of Supervisors that encouraged the development of an airport on the El Toro base,” Steiner said.
Search this website for many details on Supervisor Smith's position on airports including El Toro and John Wayne.
JWA
management makes limited plan for 2013
John
Wayne Airport management will ask the Board of Supervisors, on October
2, to
allocate passenger seats and daily departures to airlines for
2013.
This is an annual procedure under the airport's complex Access Control
Plan
which seeks to keep passenger volume below the 10.8 Million
Annual
Passengers (MAP) limit negotiated between the County and Newport Beach.
The airport director projects that under the allocations to be made
this week,
the airport will serve approximately 9,222,121 passengers in 2013.
We note that the agreement between the County and Newport Beach allows
up to 89
Average Daily Departures (ADD) of Class A aircraft. These are the
larger
planes used by carriers for most of the passenger service out of
JWA. The
allocation granted 84.631 Class A daily departures.
Requests for two additional ADD's from Alaska and Southwest Airlines
were
denied.
Denying requests from airlines strikes us as a curious move given that
the
airport is operating at less than its negotiated utilization, has
recently
added a third terminal and is in the midst of secret negotiations with
Newport
Beach over extending the passenger caps.
In response to an email inquiry from this website as to why the
requests were
denied, spokesperson Jenny Wedge wrote that the airport "doesn't have
enough to allocate, specifically because we're setting aside three
Class A
ADD'S for a potential mid-year new entrant. This would bring the
total
ADD's up to 87+." We have yet to receive a reply to a follow up
inquiry as to why at least one of the airlines' requests could not be
filled
without exceeding the negotiated 89 ADD limit.
