Commercial Air Service at Palmdale to Resume

Los Angeles airport officials Wednesday approved an agreement to resume commercial air service out of Palmdale Regional Airport next month, ending a five-year absence of flights and raising hopes for future use of the little-known facility.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners formally granted America West Airlines, the nation’s 10th-largest air carrier, permission to operate four daily round-trip flights, starting Jan. 2, between Palmdale and Las Vegas. The Nevada city is one of the airline’s two hub cities.

The agreement marks the latest chapter in a more than 20-year struggle to operate a city-owned commercial airport in Palmdale, about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Airport officials called the agreement a new step toward making the Palmdale terminal an alternative to Los Angeles and Ontario international airports.

In the late 1960s, Los Angeles airport officials proposed Palmdale as the site of a major intercontinental airport for the region. Since 1970, Los Angeles city officials have acquired nearly 17,500 acres of land in Palmdale at a cost of nearly $100 million. In 1971, a small terminal was built as a start.

But the grand plan never advanced and a series of mostly small air carriers came and went through the Palmdale Air Terminal. The last one left in 1985 and the facility has been vacant since. This time, however, airport officials said they believe Palmdale will have service to stay.

America West Airlines Chairman Ed Beauvais said his airline was attracted to Palmdale by the potential for growth in the surrounding Antelope Valley. The area is one of the fastest growing in the state, with a population approaching 200,000, compared to about 120,000 in 1985. County and regional government estimates forecast a population of 300,000 to 500,000 by the year 2010.

The Palmdale facility could attract 1 million to 2 million passengers annually by the year 2000, enough for up 70 flights a day, officials predicted. They added, however, that also depends on establishment of a mass transit link between the Palmdale airport and the San Fernando Valley.

“We’re very excited about this,” Beauvais said. “We feel as the service develops and the passengers become accustomed to using the service, we’ll be at a point where we want to grow here.”

The air service renewal follows an agreement between Los Angeles and the U.S. Air Force, which has long opposed plans for a larger Palmdale airport. The Air Force leases the site of the Palmdale terminal to the city and allows city use of adjoining Air Force runways.

Travelers from Palmdale will have access to nationwide air service, since America West has connecting flights from its Las Vegas hub to about 50 other cities, Beauvais said.

Eventually, the airline may add service from Palmdale to Phoenix, its other hub. he added.

America West has a five-year terminal lease with the city through 1994, paying a minimal $733 a month. To prepare for the flights, airport officials have spent nearly $200,000 on taxiway upgrades and another $395,000 on the terminal.