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CAA: Airport News, "SFO tells Modestans: Don't fret"
Saturday, April 22, 2000
SFO tells Modestans: Don't fret
By ELLEN CHRISMER
MODESTO BEE STAFF WRITER
San Francisco International Airport's interest in slashing the number of
regional feeder flights it accepts is not likely to disrupt Modesto service,
an SFO spokesman said Friday.
In fact, the plan could ultimately help more Modesto flights get to San
Francisco on time, spokesman Ron Wilson said.
Earlier this week, San Francisco Airport Director John Martin presented
Federal Aviation Administration officials with a proposal to order United
Airlines to fly fewer, larger California flights into SFO.
In its petition, set for formal submission in the next few weeks, San
Francisco outlines a plan to restrict United to landing 50-seat or larger
planes at the airport. Martin wants to eliminate the number of 30-passenger
propeller planes that land there.
"I want to make it very clear that we want to continue to serve the
smaller communities," Wilson said. "It is not our intention to bother the
city of Modesto."
United Express offers five flights daily, Sunday through Friday, to San
Francisco, and four on Saturday. The number is not enough to make a
significant impact on runway congestion, Wilson said.
The cuts, if approved, would certainly affect Fresno, however, the SFO
spokesman said.
It is midsize airports like those in Fresno, Sacramento and Monterey that
Martin would like to see send larger jets to SFO.
The proposal would free up runway space for United, the airport's largest
carrier, and is likely to improve the airline's on-time performance, worst
in the nation at 64 percent. In bad weather, San Francisco's antiquated
runways can only hold 30 airplanes of any size, down from 60 in good
weather.
"When we're down to 30, we've got airplanes held all over the United
States," Wilson said. "There are five-hour delays here."
Modesto passengers are used to waiting hours on occasion for their planes
to simply get here from San Francisco, and then take off again for SFO,
Modesto Airport Manager Howard Cook said.
"In California, it's easy to put the valley airports on ground hold," he
said. "As the day goes on, the worse and worse the condition gets."
Whatever the consequences for Modesto Airport, Cook said he will not take
San Francisco's proposal seriously unless it is formally filed with the FAA.
"I don't think (San Francisco) is going to be able to move as fast as
they think they are going to be able to," he said. "The FAA isn't going to
approve this without some comments from people in these communities."
FAA spokesman Mitch Barker called San Francisco's request unusual.
"The tendency in the past few years is to get away from regulating (an
airline's) slots at the airport," he said. "The Congress hasn't been
continuing that program."
Steve Hart, spokesman for Skywest, which operates United Express for
United Airlines in Modesto and Fresno, called the San Francisco plan noble
but unrealistic. Skywest doesn't have enough jets.
The operator has ordered a fleet of 50-passenger regional jets, but they
are likely to go on new routes because it would be too expensive to displace
the existing planes, some of which have years left on their leases, Hart
said.
San Francisco's plan also would not be as convenient to business people
who like having flights available every hour, said Larry Willey, president
of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.
"We need all the air service we can get," Willey said. "It reminds me of
the big kid who is a bully."
Any cuts made in service are likely to be temporary, said Wilson, the SFO
spokesman.
San Francisco plans to add another runway within the next few years to
eliminate ground congestion, but first its plans must pass several
environmental reviews. Making space for a new runway could require filling
in more land on San Francisco Bay.
"There is a lot of controversy surrounding it," he said. "Ultimately we
are going to build it, but we are going to have to jump through the hoops."
Post your opinion on this story in the CAA Discussion Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8
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