LAX fees in holding pattern - Daily Breeze
accord. anything in return,” he before-mentioned. “Playing hardball with the airlines can but help Ontario’s action.”
However, the idea of subsidizing flights out of Ontario does not sit well by Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that operates LAX, Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys airports.
LAX already supports deficits incurred by operating Palmdale and Van Nuys airports, in company with the FlyAway bus a whole, Lindsey said.
Airport officials would rather conversion to an act the landing fees - which are generally used for day-to-day operations and fabrication - to help pay for a modernization project expected to cost about $10 billion over the nearest decade.
“If you utter that reality together, together with the large essential improvement program we’re implementing, it would be difficult for LAX to support the cost of modernization in addition to continuing to subsidize other airports and business operations,” Lindsey said.
Airlines share the require to be paid of operating LA/Ontario International Airport. As more airlines draw operations from Ontario, the remaining carriers have to pick up the slack and pay more to keep the airport’sitting doors open. But airlines are verdict it difficult to raise ticket prices at Ontario, which is frequented by more leisure travelers than business travelers.
“When the science of wealth of the travel industry gets tough, leisure journey takes a hit the fastest, still we are actively marketing with mien carriers to try to replace flights out of Ontario,” Lindsey said. “However, with fuel prices the way they are, I’m not sure we could create a subsidy that would be substantial enough that would make the airlines look at Ontario favorably.”
It is unclear whether the DOT’s unaccustomed rule will be useful at LA/Palmdale Regional Airport, which does not have an efficient transportation connection to downtown Los Angeles, located about 50 miles away.
United Airlines launched two daily round-trip flights between Palmdale and San Francisco in June 2007, except the test is proving to be a bust, according to Lindsey.
On average, the 50-seat regional jets are only 30 to 38 percent replete. Flights on major commercial airlines are usually 75 to 80 percent full, which means that United is loss money on the distribute, in like manner through the generous incentives already provided by the airport agency.
United’s contract with Palmdale is set to expire in December and airport officials are trying to keep the airline from pulling out.
“Even in a rough market, the airlines can’t make money on those kinds of loads,” Lindsey uttered. “I just don’t want to be overly optimistic when the numbers aren’t supporting the project.”
Officials in the Mayor’s Office did not completely dismiss the essence of using LAX landing fees to divert flights to Ontario or Palmdale airports. However, officials did say that Ontario airport should be dexterous to operate on its possess.
“This of the present day disembarking fee rule will have not one matter impression on the city’s efforts to regionalize air service in Southern California,” said Darryl Ryan, a spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
“LA/Ontario Airport needs to remain self-supporting and LAWA is looking at additional ways to last them self-sufficient so that they do not have to rely on additional landing fees as incentives to preserve and attract airline good,” Ryan said. “If further studies become visible this federal rule has tools to help achieve our regionalism goals, then we wait for LAWA to consider it.”
art.marroquin@dailybreeze.com
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