Ontario faces more traffic losses into 2012 - Press-Enterprise
There are a third fewer travelers using Ontario International Airport since 2007 and there's bound to be even fewer passengers using the airport in the coming months based on schedules that show how many flights and seats the airport's airlines are offering through July.
Southwest Airlines for one, which carries more than half of all of departing and landing travelers at Ontario, had 37 fewer flights in November versus a year ago and as a result, about 4,109 fewer seats to sell, according to statistics from research firm UBM Aviation Worldwide Ltd.
At least 150 fewer flights will be offered at the airport some months.
Local politicians have seen something sinister in the airport's shrinking traffic, with Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and Ken Calvert, R-Corona, most recently imploring the U.S. Transportation Secretary to help save the airport owned and operated by the city of Los Angeles.
Officials with the city of Ontario have spent two years blaming the airport's bleeding on the airport's owner saying LA has neglected the Inland destination in favor of its other airport, LAX, making it more costly for airlines to do business there and not spending any money on marketing. The city of Los Angeles and airline industry experts have countered saying Ontario's costs may be high but the decline is economically motivated with airlines hunting for profits at larger hubs.
The only Southern California airport to see an increase in passengers in the three years since 2007 was Long Beach Airport which grew by just 2.6 percent. John Wayne Airport's traffic out of Orange County dropped 13.5 percent, Palm Springs dropped 6.9 percent and Burbank dropped 24.1 percent. LAX in that time had 4.2 percent fewer passengers.
At 31.5 percent, Ontario's losses have been the steepest among its Southern California neighbors and similar sized airports that lost 12 percent to 18 percent of their passenger traffic.
The cost for airlines to do business at Ontario International Airport on a per passenger basis has been among the highest in Southern California. Latest cost per enplaned passenger figures at each Southern California airport:
Ontario: $11.76
LAX: $11.23
John Wayne: $11.13
San Diego: $7.54
Long Beach: $6.50
Palm Springs: $3.70
Burbank: $2.10
JWA passenger traffic down slightly in October; flight operations decrease.
Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in October 2011 as compared to October 2010. In October 2011, the Airport served 726,513 passengers, a decrease of 0.8% when compared to the 732,106 passenger traffic count of October 2010.
Commercial aircraft operations decreased 2.8%, while Commuter aircraft operations decreased 10.5% when compared to the levels recorded in October 2010.
General aviation activity, which accounted for 64% of the total aircraft operations during October 2011, decreased 8.3% when compared to October 2010.
Monday expected to busiest at LAX - OC Register
John Wayne Airport was declared by Orbitz to be among the least crowded with holiday travelers, while LAX bumped Chicago O'Hare off the No. 1 slot for busiest airports this year.
While LAX is expected to take in the bulk of Thanksgiving holiday travelers Monday, officials at John Wayne Airport projected Sunday as its busiest day.
Typically at JWA, it's the return days of Saturday, Nov. 26 and Sunday, Nov. 27 that see the most consistent busy periods, airport officials said. In 2010, 187,028 passengers traveled through JWA during the week of Thanksgiving.
Officials said that overall passenger volume at LAX has not yet returned to 2007 levels, when passenger volume reached its highest post-9-11 level before dropping again due to the past few years' economic difficulties.
November 21 - November 27, 2011
Congressmen want review of Ontario International's sharp decline - Los Angeles Times
Two California congressmen Monday urged U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to have the Federal Aviation Administration take action to reverse the severe decline at L.A.-Ontario International Airport.
Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) and Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) also wrote to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, demanding that Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Ontario, take immediate steps to either improve business at the airport or turn over control to Inland Empire officials.
Ontario had been one of the fastest-growing regional airports in the nation. Now, it is one of the fastest declining, having lost a third of its passengers since 2007. Flights have been reduced by 47% and destinations by 60%.
ONT continues to tumble
Passenger traffic at LA/Ontario International Airport fell by 10.27 percent for the month of October. Year to date, ONT volume was off by 5.25 percent.
With attention at John Wayne Airport centered on the planned addition of flights to Mexico, we note that Ontario holds its "international" designation by providing one daily AeroMexico non-stop round trip to Guadalajara, the most popular air destination from the Southland.
LAX traffic continues to rebound
Air travel from Los Angeles International Airport was up again in October. Year to date, LAX has served 51,968,302 passengers which amounts to an increase of 5.35 percent over 2010.
November 14 - November 20, 2011
LAX expects jumps in Thanksgiving holiday passenger traffic - Contra Costa Times
About 1.78 million travelers are expected to make their Thanksgiving pilgrimage through Los Angeles International Airport through Nov. 28, marking a 16.3 percent jump from the same period last year, officials said Friday.
LAX is bucking the turkey trend this year. Instead, the airport's busiest travel days will be the Monday after Thanksgiving and Saturday, said LAX spokeswoman Nancy Castles.
Last week, the Orbitz travel website predicted that LAX would be the nation's busiest airport during the Thanksgiving traveling season, overtaking longtime front-runner O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
Travelers looking to avoid crowds at LAX can drive down the San Diego (405) Freeway to Orange County, where John Wayne Airport is expected to be one the nation's 10 least busy airports for Thanksgiving.
Continental ending O.C.-Maui flights - OC Register
Continental Airlines will end non-stop service from John Wayne Airport to Maui after Jan. 2.
"The demand in the market is not sufficient to sustain the service for the long-term," said United-Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark in Houston. "We are contacting customers currently booked on our flights between Orange County and Maui and offering to either re-accommodate them on other flights or provide a refund."
The airline, which is merging with United Airlines, said it remains committed to its non-stop service between Orange County and Honolulu.
November 7 - November 13, 2011
Mexico service will make JWA truly international - OC Register
Orange County travelers no longer will have to make the trek to LAX or San Diego to fly to Mexico after John Wayne Airport starts offering direct flights to Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City next year.
Plans by Southwest Airlines to offer Mexico service through its AirTran Airways subsidiary were announced Sunday during dedication ceremonies for JWA's Terminal C, opening today.
County Supervisor John Moorlach, who attended the ceremonies, noted the Mexico flights will be a real boost for Orange County tourism.
Mexico ranks first among international visitors to Orange County. Last year, 890,000 Orange County tourists came from Mexico, according to CIC Research.
"Travelers from Mexico who come to Orange County stay about a week and spend a lot of money," Moorlach said. "This is really good."
Southwest officials said they would have to wait until they get Department of Transportation approval for the service before they will be able to announce the Mexico flight schedule or fares.
New JWA terminal set for takeoff - OC Register
When plans for the latest John Wayne Airport expansion were approved five years ago, the economy was booming and it was everything the two existing terminals could do to keep up with the nearly 10 million passengers passing through the gates each year.
But the economic boom times are over. The airline industry is consolidating and cutting flights and fewer people are flying. In fact, the FAA predicts air passenger traffic won't return to its 2000 record highs until 2030 – 19 years from now.
So as JWA officials prepare for the official opening of a new terminal, parking structure and other amenities on Monday, they face some rough skies ahead.
Critics like Leonard Kranser, a Dana Point resident and former El Toro airport opponent . . . are skeptical about whether JWA is getting its money's worth.
"A lot more seats in the terminal, a lot more spaces in the lot but no more seats on airplanes," he said. "No private business would spend that much on a project that big without planning how much physical capacity really was being added. If they can't generate a lot more revenue to pay for it, they probably should have saved their money."
"Len's wrong," responds Airport Director Alan Murphy, who sees the expansion as a necessary investment.
He noted that the 1990 expansion that included the iconic vaulted Thomas F. Riley Terminal was designed to handle 8.4 million passengers a year.
Even with the recent decline in traffic, nearly 8.7 million passengers used the airport last year. An amended airport noise agreement with neighboring Newport Beach allows a maximum of 10.8 million annual passengers.
"We needed to be out in front and build a terminal that could handle that load," said Murphy during a media tour last week.See also the LA Times: More room, more parking for travelers at John Wayne Airport
JWA to Mexico by the numbers
Having built an international arrival area at John Wayne, county officials have agreed to encourage airlines to use it.
The Board of Supervisors has approved an agreement with the Customs and Immigration Service to station 10 full time agents in Terminal C at an initial estimated cost of between 1.7 and 1.9 million dollars per year.
To encourage the airlines to bear this cost, the county has agreed to reimburse the airlines with incentives of up to $900,000.
Under the terms of the incentive agreements, a new or existing JWA air carrier will be required to fly non-stop from JWA to a Mexican city at least five times a week for a year. Three such incentives are available.
If the three incentives are earned, JWA might see a minimum of 3 x 5 flights per week x 52 weeks per year or 780 flights in each direction per year. Assuming an average of 100 passengers on each arriving flight, the 10 agents will process approximately 78,000 inbound passengers a year.
Further, assuming that there will be the same number of outbound flights and passengers, JWA will see an increase of 156,000 annual passengers:- a bump of about 2 percent in passenger traffic,
LAX currently handles a total of over 2 million annual passengers to several cities in Mexico.
Long Beach Airport traffic continues strong
Through September, Long Beach Airport served 2,329,851 passengers. The tally was 4.6 percent ahead of the same period in 2010 and was the best nine-month total in the airport's history.
October 31 - November 6, 2011
Readers hoping for JWA flights to Mexico - OC Register, Travel
Puerto Vallarta. Cabo. Mexico City. Jalisco.
[Travel Editor Gary Warner writes] I've spent a good amount of time over the past week talking and messaging with readers who are excited about the possibility of nonstop flights from Orange County to Mexico. A few readers would prefer to see no flights at all from Mexico, but that goes with territory anytime you open up a discussion about our neighbor to the south.
The wish list is appropriate because the county is trying to make the flights happen – and soon. This month, the Board of Supervisors will consider a plan for discounted rent at John Wayne Airport as a reward for any airline that starts flying to Mexico.
The reason: The new Customs and Border Protection facility at the airport will be idle when Terminal C opens Nov. 14.
Website Editor: The Customs area is not the only thing idle when the new terminal opens with lots more space and additional gates. So perhaps the Board of Supervisors should consider a plan of incentives to get flights going again to New York's JFK airport - Southern California's top out-of-state destination - and to Washington DC which is #10 on the list of destinations. It would be no surprise if Florida, a gateway to the Caribbean, would also be more popular than some of the suggested Mexican destinations.
In 2009-10, 417,497 passengers flew from LAX to San Jose del Cabo. Just how many of this small number does Orange County expect to capture? If JWA got 10 percent of this number that would come to a bit over 100 seats per day; enough to half fill one flight in each direction. Does that justify the expansion or put JWA volume back where it should be?
Ready for Takeoff! - OC Metro
Your first look at the upgrades to John Wayne Airport
(They're so cool, you'll hope your flight is delayed.)
John Wayne Airport is about to get bigger - by a bunch - and no doubt better. More gates, more parking. More staff, more food. More room. More conveniences, airport officials say.
Website Editor: In case anyone forgets what an airport is for, how about more flights to more destinations?
"our surveys show us that more places to eat has been a major priority for Orange County travelers," say [public information officer ] Wedge. "We are going to give it to them, first class."
"This is not really an expansion at all" [County Supervisor] Moorlach says, :It's really a remodeling; one that came at a fortuitous time in our economy. We were smart to remodel when we did."
