Palmdale Pops Up on Fliers’ Radar

It’s a big roll of the dice, but the potential payoff has given gambling fever to officials running the four airports in Los Angeles.

If their strategy works, a new air route between the Antelope Valley and the Las Vegas area will reverse the sagging fortunes of long-closed Palmdale Regional Airport and set in motion an aggressive plan to shift short-haul air traffic away from overburdened Los Angeles International Airport.

It depends on how many takers Scenic Airlines will get for tickets on its 19-seat DeHavilland Twin Otters.

“In a sense, we’re betting 19 people a day want to go to Las Vegas. But we’re hoping this service grows into something much bigger,” said Cheryl Petersen, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, which oversees both the Palmdale airport and LAX.

The key question facing Los Angeles officials and Scenic Airlines, which launched air service between Palmdale and North Las Vegas on Wednesday, is whether air travelers can be persuaded to fly out of Palmdale instead of LAX, Ontario, Van Nuys or Burbank.

“We have the land and the runways. It’s a question of matching that with the types of trips people would like to take,” Petersen said.

Regional planners have long wanted to have commercial service at outlying airports such as Palmdale. But airlines are generally resistant to the idea because of the high costs of opening gates at new facilities.

Palmdale airport is located about 90 minutes away from downtown Los Angeles, and some have questioned whether sufficient numbers of travelers are willing to use the facility.

Palmdale airport’s two 12,000-foot runways, surrounded by desert scrub, are capable of handling the largest commercial airliners. But for now, Scenic Airlines is operating 10 flights a week from the airfield using smaller aircraft.

Scenic Airlines is the lone occupant of the 9,000-square-foot terminal, which had been shuttered since 1998 because air carriers couldn’t make a go of passenger service from Palmdale after more than three decades of trying.

North Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines hopes to succeed where the others have failed. President Chad Dixon admits it will be a challenge, but he’s optimistic.

“I think we’re going to be an excellent test case to see what the demand is,” he said.

The city of Los Angeles, which owns LAX, Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, as well as Palmdale Regional, has much at stake.

“LAX is at its limits and overextended,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district includes Palmdale.

Antonovich and others have pushed heavily for regional flights to destinations such as the Bay Area, Sacramento, Phoenix and Las Vegas to be shifted away from LAX.

“This is a first step toward that,” Antonovich said after Palmdale airport’s reopening ceremony last week.

But while the Board of Airport Commissioners is intent on shifting some of the increasing traffic at LAX away from the Los Angeles Basin’s crowded skies, it has had to provide significant financial incentives. In September, the board approved large subsidies and fee waivers to start short-haul flights into and out of Palmdale.

Scenic Airlines -- and any other airline agreeing to start operating there-- will get free terminal space for a year and heavily discounted rent for two additional years. The city of Los Angeles will absorb airport maintenance, security and other costs normally shared by carriers, totaling an estimated $2.4 million this year.

“We’re getting excellent support from Los Angeles,” Dixon said of the subsidies. His 38-year-old airline also operates flights from North Las Vegas to Merced, Calif.; Ely, Nev.; and the Grand Canyon.

Although other carriers have yet to sign on, city officials hope airlines will follow Scenic Airlines’ example by offering service between Palmdale and Northern California, San Diego, Reno, Seattle, Albuquerque and other Western destinations.

The officials point out that Palmdale airport is already capable of handling 300,000 passengers annually. The city owns thousands of surrounding acres on which the current 65-acre facility can expand.

But before other carriers will set up shop, officials say, passengers have to fly Scenic Airlines’ planes in significant numbers.

Palmdale Mayor James Ledford is confident they will. “Just go to LAX or Burbank and see how many flights are going every hour to Las Vegas,” he said.

He believes recent projections of growth in north Los Angeles County give the airport far brighter prospects than it had in the past.

“We already have 600,000 people in the north county who will see this as a huge convenience,” Ledford said. “Plus, you have growing areas of Kern and San Bernardino counties and the whole area of Victorville to Ridgecrest that can feed into this airport.”

Last week, customers paying the $98 round-trip fare at the counter were as enthusiastic as the mayor.

“They should do very well,” said 30-year-old Travis Self of Quartz Hill, a surveyor who travels to Las Vegas about four times a year. “If they have discounts, it might be an incentive to go more often.”

Betty Etue, 64, of Palmdale, on her way to visit her daughter and grandchildren, sees a big advantage over making the 240-mile drive. “By the time you buy gas and pay for snacks and wear and tear on your car, it costs just as much to fly,” she said. “And flying is faster.”