Aviation commission 'makes room to fly'
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Thursday, October
16, 2003.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
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PALMDALE - The Palmdale Aviation and Aerospace Commission has found
a seat at the table on issues that concern the Palmdale Regional Airport
by working with the airport's owner and operator, Los Angeles World Airports.
"They found us a spot; we will be in the mix," said Commission Chairman
Allen Baumann.
Since its inception nearly a year ago, the commission has been working to form a closer relationship with the Los Angeles city agency to address attracting an airline to the Palmdale airport to provide commercial passenger service.
Now, members of the commission will be involved in meetings to provide input on a number of issues that affect Palmdale's airport.
"We are, in fact, part of the team effort," Baumann said. "The commission has made great strides … in being part of the process."
LAWA also owns and operates Los Angeles International, Van Nuys and Ontario airports.
The Palmdale airport, like Ontario, is seen as a possible link in a system of regional airports that will handle the burgeoning Southern California air travel market, taking pressure off LAX.
This regional approach is supported by Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, as well as many civic and economic groups from El Segundo to the Inland Empire.
While the city and others support this regional approach, "airports can't tell airlines where to go," said LAWA spokesman Dennis Watson. "We do not decide where (airlines) add flights."
Many airline industry analysts are predicting a shift to such regional airports as a more effective business model for the faltering airline industry.
"They're looking for more regional airports because it is more cost effective for them," Baumann said.
However, this trend is not yet evident for the outlying regions of Southern California, Watson observed.
"The proof is where airlines actually set down more flights," he said. "They're not going to set up unless they think people are going to fill flights."
Data on possible use and forecasts are needed to convince airlines to set up shop at a particular airport.
At their Oct. 7 meeting, commission members received an update on the efforts of URS Corp., a consulting firm hired by LAWA to update the airport's master plan.
As a first phase, the consulting group is gathering data and creating forecasts.
Similar studies on how much business an airline could expect at Palmdale have been done in the past, but the data is now out of date.
"No matter how much we want new service, we have to justify it," Watson said. "That's the most important element to attracting air service."
So far, the URS study has found a desire by local businesses to support air service in Palmdale.
According to a phone survey conducted by the consulting firm in July, more than 90% of residents and businesses in Palmdale and Lancaster polled support returning commercial air service to the airport.
"All the businesses are very much interested in having airlines up here and would support it," Baumann said.
The airport has not had commercial airline service since 1998.
The city, Los Angeles County and various community organizations have been working for several years to bring commercial air service back to Palmdale.
Five carriers were targeted two years ago with a marketing package compiled by Tri-Star Marketing of Long Beach, which included information on the number of businesses and residents in the area, its labor force, amenities and income levels, as well as the number of potential customers ready to use the Palmdale airport.
However, the post-Sept. 11 aviation slump came just after the package
went out to the various airlines. Uncertainty in the future caused those
airlines to put off decisions regarding new or expanded routes and services.
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