HOTELS/TOURISM

Trans World Express had a short flight to Big Bear.

The Costa Mesa commuter airline announced in February that it was launching two nonstop flights daily to the ski resort area. The flights were billed as the first year-round, regularly scheduled commercial service to the Big Bear slopes from Orange County.

But the service didn’t take off. It was halted after about a month because of a shortage of customers. “The snow wasn’t so terrific this year. . . . It wasn’t profitable enough to keep it going,” explained Diane Slemons, wife of James B. Slemons, TWE’s chairman and chief executive.

Plans are up in the air now about whether the service will start again. “We’ll have to analyze it,” Diane Slemons said.

Trans World Express is continuing its flights to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Catalina and a handful of other California cities.