Oxnard Runway to Close for Repairs : Airport: Firms agree the resurfacing is needed. But some say the 10-day project in July will hurt business.

Oxnard Airport will be closed to airplane traffic for 10 days beginning July 1, while its only runway undergoes a $1.6-million resurfacing job.

The runway closure will force the airport’s only commercial passenger carrier, American Eagle, to halt its flights temporarily. Others at the airport say it will hurt them economically, and they question why the closure comes during a time of peak travel.

“It will put us out of business temporarily,” said Louise Schoenneman, co-owner of Venco Pacific Aviation, which services aircraft and runs a flight school. “But it’s nobody’s fault. The runway is in need of repairs.”

At Airport Travel Agency, located in the airport’s terminal, Manager Has Simm grumbled about the timing.

“Why in the world did they choose the July 4 weekend?” he said. Since airlines recently lowered their fares, he said, “a tremendous number of people would have flown out of Oxnard, but can’t do so now.”

The dates were chosen because of an FAA funding deadline and because American Eagle, which will be affected the most, had requested that time, an airport official said. Officials for American Eagle, which operates seven round-trip flights a day, could not be reached. American Eagle’s planes, which hold 19 or 34 passengers, fly between Oxnard and Los Angeles International Airport.

Car rental companies based at the terminal estimated that they would lose 35% to 50% of their business during the closure. However, businesses at the terminal will remain open, and helicopter flights will be permitted.

No one seems to dispute the need for resurfacing the 30-year-old, 6,000-foot runway, which handles about 300 takeoffs and landings a day. They view the project as a way to pump new life into the airport.

“We’ve got places where the pavement is cracking up,” said Jeffrey Rountree, airport supervisor.

Marshall MacKinen, administrator of the Oxnard and Camarillo airports, said he investigated the possibility of resurfacing the runway during evenings so it could remain open to daytime traffic. But that proved impractical.

There will be “minimal impact to users,” he said, if the runway is simply closed and crews work around the clock to finish in 10 days.

He said users have been given advance notice about the closure and there has been no opposition to the project. In fact, many have applauded it, he said.

“They see it as a positive thing,” he said.

Gary Petrowski, president of the Oxnard Airport Assn., agreed, but said the closure will have a substantial impact on users.

“Fixed-base operators are definitely going to get hurt,” said Petrowski, whose group represents businesses at the airport as well as fliers. “They are not going to pump any fuel.”

The airport suffered a slight downturn in business when United Express stopped its passenger service out of the Oxnard Airport in February, MacKinen said. He hopes that the rebuilding of the runway will attract another commercial passenger carrier.

“I’m looking to open up new cities,” he said. He plans to recruit another carrier with the possibility of providing service to Las Vegas, Sacramento and San Diego.

The new runway will show that Oxnard Airport is thriving, he said. “I envision it will be here a long time, but there are no plans to expand.”