After 5 Years, Commercial Flights Resume at Palmdale

Back in June, 1971, when the first commercial flight took off from the new airport in Palmdale, Joan Lewallen was there to snare the first ticket of the day. She saved it as a souvenir of what she thought was an auspicious beginning for an airport with a bright future.

It was a future that never materialized.

After 18 years of waiting, Lewallen was back at Palmdale Regional Airport again early Tuesday to once again snare the first ticket of the day, this time for a trip to Las Vegas. And once again, she had no intention of making the trip. But that wasn’t what mattered.

The little-known airport returned to life Tuesday, with its first commercial passenger flight in five years. The flight not only marked the return of daily air service to the area but boosted residents’ ardent hopes for the growth of the airport and their community.

Souvenir hounds, aviation fans, a flock of real estate brokers and others boarded a 37-seat Boeing de Havilland Dash 8 turboprop Tuesday morning, making them the first passengers out of Palmdale on America West Airlines’ new service to Las Vegas. The airline, the nation’s 10th largest, plans four daily round-trips.

“Today is an excellent day for this area. This is just marvelous,” said Lewallen, who celebrated the start-up with about 50 others at the terminal. The 60-year-old Palmdale resident stayed behind, though, preferring to save her $79 one-way ticket as another souvenir.

America West flight 1017 took off at 11:05 a.m., 10 minutes behind schedule and carrying 30 passengers. After a relatively smooth flight of 47 minutes, the twin-engine airplane touched down in Las Vegas at 11:52 a.m., eight minutes ahead of schedule.

Although the Palmdale airport offered commercial service from 1971 to 1985, it never became well established and when the last carrier ceased operations there the airport fell into disuse. It was a letdown for Los Angeles airport officials, who envisioned Palmdale as an alternative to the city’s busy international airport.

America West’s decision to start service out of Palmdale had area residents and airport officials predicting Tuesday that the airport is destined to expand with the surrounding Antelope Valley, one of the fastest-growing areas in the country.

“I think it’s just the beginning of things to come,” said Bob Van Dyke, a Quartz Hill resident who was on the first flight. “We see it as a coming of age for the area.”

The initial flight got rave reviews from passengers who praised the convenience of the terminal for its free parking and lack of congestion.

“This is terrific. I’ve been waiting for service to come out of Palmdale for years,” said passenger Dale Harrison, an engineer with Rockwell International Corp. He predicted many people involved in the region’s booming aerospace industry will opt for Palmdale over Los Angeles International and Burbank airports.

Among the passengers Tuesday was Ron Rafferty, an aircraft mechanic and Mojave resident. Rafferty was accompanying his wife, Beverly, to Travis Air Force Base, where she was scheduled to have surgery.

“To go to LAX is a real . . .” Rafferty said, trailing off. “It’s hard to get in and out of there. They needed something like this up here.”

Woody Weber, America West’s new station manager in Palmdale, said the airline is committed to staying in Palmdale, even though routine flights out may be only one-quarter full until the service becomes better known. But he predicted higher passenger volumes would come within three to six months.