OXNARD : Second Feeder Airline Links Oxnard Airport With LAX Flights

Plopped amid farm fields and a mishmash of industrial buildings, the Oxnard Airport lacks the string of hotels, lines of taxicabs and other urban surroundings that give Los Angeles International Airport an aura of excitement.

“It’s kind of hokey,” said Jeffrey S. Rountree, supervisor of the single-terminal Oxnard Airport. “It’s kind of like a bus terminal. But it works.”

Rountree said the Oxnard Airport will work even better for Ventura County residents now that it once again has a second airline offering shuttle service to Los Angeles.

United Express, operated by New Mexico-based Mesa Airlines Inc., began flying out of Oxnard on Sunday.

Using 19-seat, twin-engine aircraft, United Express will make seven round-trip flights on weekdays and five round-trip flights on Saturdays and Sundays to LAX, said David Weissman, United Express’ station manager in Oxnard.

Another airline, WestAir, operated United Express flights out of Oxnard until it withdrew from the market in February, 1992, leaving American Eagle as the only airline connecting Oxnard and LAX.

As with American Eagle, which operates mainly to funnel passengers into American Airlines flights, United Express functions primarily to connect passengers with United Airlines flights, Weissman said.

Passengers will pay no more than $20 for a round-trip flight between Oxnard and LAX if they are arriving from or departing for LAX on United Airlines, he said. But the price for the 30-minute trip is $150 one way for travelers stopping in Los Angeles or connecting with other airlines.

And in most cases, United Airlines passengers must book the United Express flight when they purchase their tickets to get the lower price.