They Topped County Waiting List : Airlines Rejoice at Being Allowed Into John Wayne

Three lucky airlines were thrilled Wednesday by the Board of Supervisors’ action that gave them an opportunity to inaugurate operations at John Wayne Airport.

The three--America West, Continental and Jet America Airlines--were at the top of a list of seven airlines waiting for a go-ahead to begin operations at the airport. The plan adopted Wednesday increases total daily flights to 55 from 41, beginning April 1. Each of the newcomer airlines will get two flights a day at John Wayne.

Others with cause for rejoicing were the six incumbent airlines at John Wayne which together will get at least eight additional daily departures at the airport and bonus flights if they use aircraft meeting special low-noise criteria.

“Basically we are excited about the board’s action,” said Continental spokesman Mike Cinelli. “We worked very long and hard to get into Orange County.”

Continental and America West will be the first “discount” airlines to gain entry to John Wayne Airport, where air fares in some cases have been higher than at surrounding airports because of a shortage of competition. Although airlines currently operating at the airport offer some discounts, Continental and America West bill themselves as carriers that regularly offer low standard fares.

Perhaps most pleased was Jet America, which was given entry at John Wayne at the last minute when the supervisors decided to allow three new airlines, rather than the two originally proposed. Both Jet America’s chairman, Tom Talbott, and its founder and general counsel, George Chileum, were among the throng of onlookers in the Board of Supervisors hearing room. “We look forward to entering the community,” said Jet America President Donald C. Rhoads. But he said the airline has not had time to decide what routes it will fly out of John Wayne.

Left Out in Cold

Feeling left out in the cold, however, were the five remaining airlines that have applied for entry at John Wayne but were temporarily excluded by the county’s action Wednesday.

Alaska Airlines Vice President Ray Vecci was chagrined by the supervisors’ action. Alaska Airlines is fifth on the county airport waiting list. Vecci said his airline did not know about the waiting list until well after it had been initiated last October.

“There is no competition to speak of” at John Wayne, Vecci said.

After deciding to increase the number of allowable daily flights at the county-owned and operated airport and distributing the additional departures to the three newcomer airlines, the Board of Supervisors forbade further expansion for five years, unless an incumbent airline decides to leave the airport.

Meanwhile, William Lyon, chairman of Newport Beach-based AirCal, one of John Wayne Airport’s original airlines, said he was “pleased” that the Board of Supervisors “came to a final conclusion” about airport expansion, which has been fought by people living near the facility. He said that although he preferred an alternative proposal that would have raised the flight ceiling to 73, he would settle for 55 flights for the time being.

Lyon said AirCal will begin taking delivery this week on the first of a dozen Boeing 737-300s. The jets, a new generation of quieter planes, will make AirCal eligible for the 2-for-1 flight bonus, which will be allotted to airlines on a first-come, first-served basis.

A spokesman for Dallas-based Muse Air, which as the fourth in line on the waiting list just missed getting into John Wayne, said Wednesday that it still is holding out hope of gaining access to John Wayne. The spokesman said there might be an opening for Muse Air because of the possibility that Frontier Airlines may discontinue operations at the airport.

Frontier official Bob Schulman said that the airline’s future at John Wayne is clouded by Frontier’s recently announced plans to sell all of its jets that meet Orange County’s stringent noise standards to United Airlines for $96 million. Funds from the sale are planned to buttress Frontier’s shaky finances, he said. But Schulman added that Frontier hopes to negotiate with Orange County supervisors for an alternative method of staying in operation at John Wayne, which he described as one of the airline’s most profitable destinations.