December 27 - January 2, 2011
LAX traffic continues to show recovery, lead the region
LAX passenger traffic for November was 5.9 percent ahead of November 2009. For the year-to-date, the airport volume was up by 4.5 percent.
We project that for the full year 2010, LAX will lead the region to an overall gain in air travel, despite decreased volume at other local airports with the likely exception of Long Beach.
Delaware North Says its Offer for John Wayne Airport Food Contract Won't Rip Off Consumers, Like Rival Bid - OC Weekly
Last month, the county's Airport Commission unanimously recommended that the Supes go with HMSHost--which currently has the contract that currently curses passengers with such bad food-- on January 11, when the issue is up for a vote. But rival Delaware North isn't taking that recommendation kindly.
In a Dec. 21 letter to the Board, Delaware North president Matthew R. King disclosed his company is willing to up its bid, from $24 million per year for the right to rent the concession stands, to $34 million, an offer that still falls short of HMSHost's $39 million proposal. King offered a novel argument to try and convince the supes to give his company the contract: that his rival's higher promise of rent means HMSHost will likely increase prices at restaurants to make up the cost.
"The JWA terminal is a phenomenal asset and traveling experience," King wrote. "It seems to be lost in the discussion that these very customers will be paying the loft rent promised by Host. This is a flawed business model, and will surely result in an increase in customer complaints."
JWA vendor hopeful raises its offering price - Daily Pilot
The company looking to unseat the main concessionaire at John Wayne Airport has offered the airport $10 million more in rent compared with its first proposal.
Delaware North Cos. of New York is hoping to sway the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which will decide on Jan. 11 which company controls the county-owned airport's restaurants, cocktail lounges and snack shops.
At stake is the right to sublease about 28,000 square feet of commercial space in the main terminal and in the under-construction Terminal C. After 20 years with the same concessionaire and an expiring contract, the airport sought proposals for new restaurant concepts and new revenue projections.
Delaware North last week increased the minimum amount it would agree to pay the county over 10 years from $24 to $34 million.
Current concessionaire HMSHost Corporation of Maryland offered the county $39 million, and the Airport Commission voted unanimously Dec. 15 to recommend the county stay with HMSHost.
Website Editor: The focus continues on concessions and food service at the expanding JWA. Meanwhile, there is little discussion regarding filling the added 282,000 square feet of terminal with new air service.
December 20 - December 26, 2010
Airport terminal groundbreaking unites adversaries - Long Beach Press-Telegram
As she
celebrated the groundbreaking of Long Beach Airport's terminal project
Wednesday, City Councilwoman Rae Gabelich - a one-time opponent of the
expansion - could not help but revel in the irony of this moment. "Whoever thought that this moment was going to arrive and that we would all be sitting together beginning a celebration of a new day for the Long Beach Airport?" said Gabelich, who was part of LBHUSH2, a neighborhood group that represented residents living near the airport.
Then she and two other LBHUSH2 members presented to airport director Mario Rodriguez an unusual gift: a framed protest poster that read "Say No to Airport Expansion."
To many of the 250 people present at Wednesday's ceremonial event, the gesture symbolized how long and how hard-fought the process was to bring about the highly anticipated airport modernization project.
Work will soon begin on the airport's new $45 million passenger concourse, set to open in 2013.
When completed, the terminal will feature a streamlined passenger screening area and a 34,750-square-foot boarding lounge with comfortable seating and upgraded concessions.
December 13 - December 19, 2010
WestJet will need to push into OC market - OC Register Travel
There were two pieces of good news last week at John Wayne Airport, one expected and one totally unexpected.
The first was the resumption of Continental's nonstop service from John Wayne Airport to Maui. The seasonal flights had disappeared in September. Continental, going through a merger with United, says it will keep the service in 2011, though at a reduced frequency.
Part two started Tuesday, when a WestJet 737-700 flew into John Wayne Airport for test flights to see if the aircraft meets the airport's stringent noise standards.
It's the first step that could lead to new service as early as May by the Canadian discount carrier. There hasn't been any announcement of destinations, but my best guest is that WestJet would offer service to its hub in Calgary, Alberta, or perhaps to Vancouver, British Columbia. WestJet is going through an expansion of its service, so other options are possible.
WestJet sets sights on the OC - Calgary Herald
WestJet is hoping to start flying into Orange County's John Wayne Airport next year, after sitting on its waiting list for four years.
WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said he couldn't provide any further details until the end of January, including whether flights to John Wayne would affect those already flying into neighbouring airports, such as Los Angeles, which is about 35 miles north.
Douglas Reid, a strategy professor at Queen's University, said smaller airports such as Orange County's is a good fit for low-cost airlines such as WestJet.
"This is kind of an old story within the airline industry. The strategy really is to bypass main airports where you have congestion. What you really want to do is find secondary-market airports, like Wayne, and turn your aircraft around quickly," he said. "This was the operational insight that was pioneered by Southwest Airlines and it was hugely successful for them, worth literally millions of dollars on a net basis for them to have this right.
Air Canada was flying a daily flight to Orange County from Toronto earlier this year, starting in May. But spokeswoman Angela Mah said in an email that service was discontinued this fall because "the route did not meet the commercial performance targets."
Reid said Air Canada doesn't benefit as much from quick turnarounds, adding "there's any number of reasons that things don't work. There's no guarantee WestJet will make a go either. It's intriguing to see what they are trying to do.
"It isn't going to be the big thing that changes the game for them. But it's playbook Southwest Airlines."
JWA has sixth straight down month in November
John Wayne Airport served 690,859 passengers in November, 1.3 percent fewer than in November 2009.
The decline came as commercial aircraft operations decreased to 6,507, a 5.1 percent drop for the month.
WestJet's request to fly one or two flights per day - 60 to 120 operations per month - will have a small positive effect.
Commuter flights were down by 53.8 percent for November at a time when the airport is expanding the number of loading gates for smaller aircraft.
Deal is struck on LAX noise - Daily Breeze
More El Segundo homes may be eligible for soundproofing under new compromise plan.
A section of El Segundo that was disqualified from the town's residential soundproofing program could again be considered for home improvements that help muffle noise from nearby Los Angeles International Airport.
The shift comes as city leaders, Los Angeles World Airports and the Federal Aviation Administration work out the terms of a deal that would make soundproofing money again within reach of blocks of homes that had previously been entitled to it, Mayor Eric Busch said.
December 6 - December 12, 2010
New airline applies to serve John Wayne Airport - OC Register
WestJet applies to fly from JWA
After four years on the waiting list to serve John Wayne Airport, discount airline WestJet has formally applied to operate out of Orange County, officials said Friday.
The Canada-based carrier could premiere in May with one daily departure and might later offer two, airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said.
WestJet has 71 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, but it's not yet known what service it would offer from John Wayne.
Website Editor - WestJet provides service from LAX, San Diego and Palm Springs to Canada.
Calif. high-speed rail gets $624 million more - SF Chronicle
California received an additional $624 million to start building the $43 billion statewide high-speed rail system in the Central Valley - money that will likely be used to take the initial stretch of rail south to Bakersfield.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that $1.2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds allocated to Wisconsin and Ohio would be rerouted to other states. Wisconsin and Ohio elected Republican governors who oppose high-speed rail and have asked to spend the funds instead on highway projects.
The new funds bring to $3.2 billion the amount of federal funds awarded to California. Federal railroad officials have said they want their money spent in the San Joaquin Valley. The state's High-Speed Rail Authority last week selected a 54-mile segment from Borden, north of Fresno, to Corcoran, about midway between Fresno and Bakersfield, as the initial section.
Which side of the Bay gets more JWA flights - OC Register contributing columnist
As long as John Wayne Airport exists, they'll be Newporters looking upward, swearing planes are off course flying over their homes and feeling their area's bearing the worst of the noise. But is our perception from ground level accurate? First, there was flight path DUUKE One, then Two. I've lost track. Are we up to eight yet? Seems folks living along the upper Back Bay notice a difference every time the FAA changes the path even slightly.
But the controversy over which side of the bay – East or West – bears the brunt of the latest flight path changes was the point of an exercise Dec. 3 at 7 a.m. and the brainchild of retiring Newport Councilman Don Webb.
Don, with the help of City Manager Dave Kiff, airport consultant Tom Edwards and JWA's Eric Freed, gathered a small group of residents to track plane flight paths taking off from 7 to 7:45 a.m. West-siders were on the East Side of the Back Bay and East-siders were on the West side to see what their neighbors experienced.
The results weren't surprising. The groups realized that more flights go over the West Bay than East-side folks had suspected. Only one flight was even marginally over their heads as they stood at the tip of Eastbluff.
Ten months' air travel shows recovery - El Toro Info Site
Air travel for the six commercial airports comprising the So Cal region reached 67,796,436 passengers through October. This was 2.6 percent ahead of the same ten months in 2009.
2010 travel lagged its 2007 record level by 9.8 percent and has yet to reach pre-9-11 levels.
November 29 - December 5, 2010
John Wayne Airport panel approves ousting McDonald’s - OC Register
Looks like Carl's Jr. will replace McDonald's at JWA. A John Wayne Airport commission has voted unanimously to oust McDonald’s from the airport and replace it with a Carl’s Jr./Green Burrito restaurant.
Carl’s Jr., initially recommended by a staff committee, would serve travelers in Terminals A and B.
The committee has also recommended adding a Sbarro and Panda Express to Terminal C, a new airport space that will open late next year. However, in a unanimous vote held earlier this week, the airport panel rejected the proposal to add the two fast-food concepts to the new Terminal C food court. The commission did not chose alternate restaurants to replace Sbarro or Panda Express, airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said. Other concepts vying for Terminal C space included Carl’s Jr./Green Burrito, McDonald’s , Firkin Pubs and Great Wraps.
The Board of Supervisors will have final say on the fast-food contracts. That vote is slated for Dec. 14.
Website Editor - Instead of all this attention to new restaurants with Airport Commission action and Board of Supervisor approval, how about more effort to recruit new airlines and flight service to new destinations?
With a new terminal of almost 300,000 sq. ft, there should be space to accommodate travelers who want to fly to Florida to catch a Caribbean cruise without going to LAX. Or how about nonstop service to our nation's capitol?
JWA traffic down in October; LAX and LGB are up
Orange County's John Wayne Airport saw passenger traffic drop in October by 4.8 percent when compared to October 2009. The decline came with a 4.9 percent reduction in the number of air carrier flights.
It was the fifth consecutive month in which passenger volume fell below that of the prior year.
Meanwhile, domestic passenger volume at LAX rose by 5.4 percent for the month and passenger volume at Long Beach airport was up by 7.0 percent.
Long Beach recently secured Allegiant Airlines as a new carrier. Allegiant and Jet Blue are introducing increased service from Long Beach to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas run has been one of the main components of traffic from JWA. We predict that many North Orange County travelers soon will opt to fly from Long Beach, further cutting into JWA business.
This does not bode well for Orange County where the waiting list for new airlines seeking to serve JWA is dwindling while the airport is undergoing a major facilities expansion. There has been more news coming out of the airport about new food service vendors than about new air carrier service to justify the addition of a third terminal.
JetBlue Ups Long Beach-Las Vegas Service to Five Flights Daily
JetBlue Airways is adding two more daily flights to its Long Beach-Las Vegas schedule from February 1, 2011.
The airline, which has the most flights to the most destinations from the Los Angeles-area Long Beach Airport, currently operates three daily flights on the Long Beach-Las Vegas route. From February 1, JetBlue Airways will increase its schedule to five daily round-trips in the market to cater to strong demand between Los Angeles, Orange County, and Las Vegas.
The sound and the fury - Glendale News-Press
Bob Hope Airport continues to retrofit neighboring houses for free to ease noise.
Even as soundproofing work is slated for another 470 residential units, airport officials are gearing up for a study to redraw the map of where they must address so-called noise pollution from flights.
Mark Hardyment, the airport's director of noise and environmental programs, said his staff has recommended an outside firm to do the more than two-year study and is awaiting approval from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority board of directors.
The factors that will determine the dimensions of the covered area include the size of aircraft using the airport, and the frequency and times of landings and takeoffs.
The current map is shaped like a T around the airport, stretching west from Hatteras Street on the Burbank-North Hollywood border to neighborhoods near Interstate 5 in Sunland. The zone also includes a few North Hollywood blocks directly west of the airport.
Hardyment declined to say whether he thought the new map will be smaller or look different than the current one.
But upgrades in aircraft make flights quieter, he said, which might reduce the size of the affected area. American Airlines is in the process of retiring McDonnell-Douglas M-80 planes — once among the quietest of commercial craft, Hardyment said — for even quieter Boeing 737 800s.
Hardyment said overall traffic at the airport has dropped over the years, even as commercial traffic has picked up. In 1978, the airport saw 300,000 takeoffs and landings. Fewer than 50,000 were commercial flights, Hardyment said.
Today, commercial flights account for about 60,000 takeoffs and landings a year, but the total number of operations is only 109,000.
"We have seen a tremendous reduction in general aviation aircraft," Hardyment said, adding that private pilots have nearly disappeared from Bob Hope Airport, using more remote regional landing strips instead.
