Bill to Start State Airline Gets a Surprising Boost

An unorthodox plan to put the state of California in the business of operating its own passenger airline in competition with commercial air carriers took off on its maiden flight in the Legislature on Tuesday.

In a surprise action, the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, known as a graveyard for bills, narrowly endorsed the legislation by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and sent it to an uncertain future in the Appropriations Committee.

The bill would create a nonprofit corporation to run the state government’s proposed Golden State Air. Torres said the airline would chiefly connect Northern and Southern California cities and provide “safe, convenient and affordable” airline service.

Since the bill was introduced last winter, it has been widely scoffed at as having no chance of becoming law. It is generally viewed as a legislative needle to poke the airline industry into lowering air fares in California, improving schedules and expanding service.

Defeat of the bill by the Governmental Organization Committee had been viewed as a foregone conclusion. The Air Transport Assn., the national trade organization of the airline industry, did not send a representative to testify at the hearing.

“They didn’t think we had a chance and they didn’t even show up,” crowed Torres. “That’s the kind of arrogance they have for the people of California.”

Likewise, no representatives of consumers testified.

Later, Allan Wayne, an Air Transport Assn. lobbyist, said he saw no need to testify because his organization had sent the committee a letter raising questions and concerns about the substantial costs if the state created its own airline. One Boeing 737-300 aircraft costs $30 million, he pointed out.

“We think the Legislature will find better purposes for the expenditure of limited monies than for the massive start-up costs,” Wayne said, insisting that the industry was neither for nor against the bill. “We welcome the competition, if (the state) can get the financing and proper certification from the (Federal Aviation Administration).”

Critics have contended that since the airline industry was deregulated by the federal government under the Carter and Reagan administrations, fares have skyrocketed, safety has deteriorated, flights are inconvenient and undependable, and some regions have inadequate service.

In the Legislature, anger directed at airlines has been stewing for years, especially among Southern California lawmakers who commute between Sacramento and their home districts as often as two or three times a week. Most pay a discounted rate.

Last year, the state Public Utilities Commission reported that since deregulation, air fares in California have increased an average 40% after inflation.