Passenger-Miles Up for AirCal in January

AirCal, the Newport Beach-based regional airline, said passenger-miles flown in January were up 20% from January 1985. A passenger-mile is the basic measure of an air carrier’s volume and is the equivalent of one paying passenger flying one mile. AirCal said it flew 149.6 million passenger-miles in January, up from 124.6 million passenger-miles a year earlier.

The carrier’s load factor--the percentage of seats filled by paying passengers--was 52.7%, up from 48.1% in January 1985. Boardings--the actual number of fare-paying passengers carried--were up 14.7% to 367,708 from 320,540.

AirCal also said that its service between Seattle, Wash., and Anchorage, Alaska, originally scheduled to begin March 1, has been postponed until late spring because of “operational considerations” that include delays in readying the necessary operating facilities.