6-Bill Package Seeks to Lower State Air Fares : Transportation: Senate Democrats, angry over rising ticket prices, hope the legislation will spark competition among carriers. Airline spokesmen denounce the move.

Up in arms over rising airline ticket prices, Senate Democrats on Tuesday introduced a six-bill package to spark competition among airlines and, they hope, bring down fares.

With the cost of full-fare coach round-trip tickets between Sacramento and Los Angeles now up to $456, lawmakers declared that the days of the “friendly skies” in California are over.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and five other lawmakers said they want laws that will expand the state’s limited power over airlines, beef up the state’s antitrust laws, rescind the airlines’ coveted 2-cents-a-gallon exemption on fuel taxes and help out smaller carriers by making it illegal for their larger competitors to monopolize space at airports.

Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), carrying the bill to end the special tax break on jet fuel, said he hopes the airlines get the message, which is: “Your service stinks. Your prices are outrageous. And we’ve had it.”

Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), insisting that he is serious, even proposed that California own and operate its own airline. He released a letter asking the state legislative analyst to study the feasibility and costs involved in setting up its own airline, which he dubbed “Golden State Air.”

Airline spokesmen immediately denounced the onslaught.

Officials of the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. of America, an airline industry trade group, argued that air fares in California compare favorably to the rest of the country and said there is more competition here than ever before. In Los Angeles, they released an association-commissioned survey of 800 Californians showing that 89% of them were satisfied with airline service in the state.

As for Torres’ idea of starting up a state airline, Roger Cohen, a spokesman for the association, said during a telephone interview, “I think the state would have better use for its limited public funds than create a new airline.”

Cohen agreed that ticket prices are up, but he argued that “everything is up.” He also said the ticket prices cited by lawmakers represent “the highest absolute” cost for an unrestricted ticket not purchased in advance. Travelers can make big savings by purchasing their tickets days ahead, he said.

Ticket agents for both United Air Lines and USAir said Tuesday the cost of a round-trip same-day ticket from Los Angeles or Burbank to Sacramento was $456, $12 higher than the same ticket would have cost last week. A limited number of non-refundable tickets were available at $296 for those able to purchase their tickets three days in advance, and at $162 for travelers able to buy their tickets seven days ahead of time and stay over Saturday night.

One frequent traveler between Sacramento and Los Angeles said his full-fare tickets during February went from $404 to $444 to $456. (Legislators and other state employees get special round-trip fares of about $90 because of a volume discount.)

Roberti’s bill would prohibit California airports from discriminating among air carriers in allocating access to its airport gates. Airports would be subject to fines of $2,500 a day if found guilty of discriminatory practices.

The Senate leader also introduced a resolution asking Congress to amend the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 in a way that would allow states to enforce laws relating to rates, routes and services of any air carrier providing intrastate transportation.

“The purpose of deregulation was to stimulate competition, but the exact opposite has occurred in California. As a result of mergers, air traffic in California is now dominated by five major airlines, which has resulted in the decline in the quality of service, greater passenger inconvenience and higher air fares,” Roberti said.

Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill that would allow the California Public Utilities Commission to inspect the books and records of any passenger airline or air transit-related holding company doing business in the state and require officials of airlines to testify under oath about their business practices.

Legislation by Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) would beef up antitrust laws by making it illegal for anyone to monopolize or conspire with others to monopolize air carrier service in California.

Another bill, by Torres, would grant permanent status to the California Commission on Aviation and Airports. The commission was created three years ago to study air transportation in California. It is scheduled to be disbanded early next year.

Garamendi’s bill would rescind the 2-cents-a-gallon tax exemption on jet fuel for passenger airlines. The tax is levied on jet fuel purchased for freight carriers and other general aviation aircraft. The action would raise an extra $50 million to $60 million, and Garamendi proposed using the money to improve airline service and capacity at state airports.

Times staff writer Jesus Sanchez in Los Angeles contributed to this story.