Las Vegas Airline Plans Flights From Palomar Airport to LAX

A Las Vegas-based airline has applied to San Diego County for approval to begin four nonstop daily commuter flights between Palomar Airport in Carlsbad and Los Angeles International Airport.

There is now no air service from North County to Los Angeles, and Grand Airways’ application to inaugurate flights comes two months after the previous applicant, Resort Commuter Airlines of Orange County, filed for bankruptcy.

Jackie Warner, marketing assistant for Grand Airways, said Monday that “everything has been applied for” to operate nine-passenger, twin-propeller aircraft from Palomar, starting March 1. Although a fare hasn’t been set, she estimated each 45-minute, one-way flight will cost $49.

“We did a great deal of marketing research” before selecting Palomar Airport, she said. “It was one of the points that could be utilized because people are darn tired of driving” to jobs in the Los Angeles area.

Since the airport opened in 1960, seven efforts to either begin or sustain commuter service have failed. Most recently, Resort Commuter contracted with Pan American World Airways to operate six flights daily from Carlsbad, but filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 17 before service could begin.

Warner said Grand Airways is seeking approval for six daily flights, but will begin with four trips using smaller aircraft until the public’s interest is known. “If the response is wonderful, we’ll put in as many (flights) as the market demands and the community needs,” she said.

Neighbors of Palomar Airport have insisted that Resort Commuter use quieter, propeller-driven aircraft as a condition for approval. Warner said Grand Airways would use either the Cessna 402 or Piper aircraft, which are smaller than the 19-passenger models Resort had planned to use.

“We fly props,” said Warner. “We’re not going into jets or larger aircraft until we see whether the market warrants it.”

She said Grand Airways started in 1980, has 35 employees, a fleet of 14 aircraft and runs charter flights from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. “We are in an expansion program” that not only includes possible Carlsbad-Los Angeles service, but also commuter flights from Ontario, China Lake, Apple Valley and Palmdale.

Grand Airways’ application goes before the Palomar Airport Advisory Committee, which will make a recommendation to the county Board of Supervisors. County offices were closed Monday, so neither county airport director Al Newman nor Palomar Airport manager Rick Severson could be reached for comment.