Flying the friendly skies of Palmdale

United Express offers five flights a day to and from Los Angeles International Airport Sunday through Friday. It offers four flights each way on Saturday.

Each 35-minute trip is via a 19-passenger, turbo-prop Beechcraft 1900. There are no connections with other major airports in the region such as Burbank, Ontario or John Wayne International.

Flights leave Palmdale for LAX at 6 a.m., 8:45 a.m., 12:05 p.m., 4:25 p.m. and, except on Saturdays, 8:35 p.m.

They return from LAX at 7:55 a.m., 11:15 a.m, 3:30 p.m., 7:45 p.m. and, except on Saturdays, 10:15 p.m.

Since June, many passengers flying in or out of LAX on United Airlines flights have been able to shuttle to or from Palmdale on United Express for as little as $10 extra.

The extra fee is added to the price of United Airlines' tickets to or from many other cities, United Express station manager Kathie Beatrice said.

But some flights from some cities do not allow for the discounted connection fee, Beatrice said.

In that case, passengers connecting with ineligible United Airlines flights or those offered by other air carriers such as Delta, Southwest or Pan American typically pay $87 one way, she said.

Before April, commuters had to pay a basic rate of $153 for oneway service in either direction and to connect with any airline. Now, United Express has dropped its rates to counter a continuing decline in passenger service.

Between January and May this year, 6,809 people caught flights on United Express, compared to 7,538 during the same time period a year ago, a decrease of 9.7%.

That decrease followed a 10% decline in passenger traffic between January and December 1995.

This year, outbound passenger service seems to be steadily increasing, rising from 500 in January to 1,012 in June, Beatrice said.

The reasons for the increases are because "people are finding out that we're here and because they know the fares are going down and it is more convenient for them" to fly United Express than to drive themselves or take a ground-based shuttle service, she said.

United Express has offered its commuter service to LAX since January 1993.