"Palmdale airport service can't seem to get off the ground"

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Palmdale airport service can't seem to get off the ground
United Airlines faces a lackluster response to its San Francisco flights.
By Jennifer Oldham
The Los Angeles (CA) Times


As the L.A./Palmdale Regional Airport today marks six months of resumed
passenger service, officials are facing some sobering numbers: On average,
only one of every three seats is occupied.

United Airlines' June 7 launch of twice-daily service to San Francisco
marked more than the reopening of an airport that hadn't seen a flight
offered by a major carrier in nearly a decade. It also opened a front in Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign to relieve pressure on aging,
cramped Los Angeles International Airport by spreading out air traffic to
the region's other airports. 

But the so-far lackluster response to United's 50-seat-jet service at
Palmdale underscores challenges to further regionalizing air service. Among
them are enticing airlines to offer flights at smaller airports and luring
passengers, who also often must pay higher fares because of limited
competition.

"Some of these politicians think with regionalization that all they have to
do is pronounce the word and the airlines and passengers are going to switch
airports," said Jack Keady, an aviation consultant based in Playa del Rey.
"It's not that easy."

Even so, the Los Angeles airport agency that operates Palmdale and United
Airlines officials insist they are still bullish on the service's chances
for long-term success, saying start-up flights in new markets typically take
months to catch on with passengers. 

Officials hope Palmdale will play a pivotal role in taking up the slack when
air traffic in Southern California doubles to 170 million passengers a year
by 2030. Established airports in Burbank, Long Beach and Orange County are
unable to handle the crush of new passengers because of caps on operations
or limited land to expand. At LAX, Villaraigosa agreed to hold traffic to 78
million travelers a year to placate airport-area residents.

Repeated attempts by airlines to offer flights from the 35-year-old Palmdale
airport never got far off the ground. Scenic Airlines, a sightseeing company
with service to Las Vegas, left last February, saying it wasn't making
money.

United has agreed to stay at least 18 months.

Saying the market was finally ready to support daily flights, officials
unveiled the service with much fanfare.

They bought billboard space in the Antelope Valley and advertised the
flights on parking lot stripes in local malls and on gas station pumps.

Earlier this month, Los Angeles officials celebrated the 10,000th passenger
on United's Palmdale flights. But LAX serves this many people in about 90
minutes.


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