Valley airline departs

Palmdale loses United to profit...

That observation by Steven Hart, vice president of market development for SkyWest Airlines, came Thursday, even as Los Angeles World Airports staff assured the Valley Press that talks are under way with more than one airline for continuing air service between the Antelope Valley and LAX.

Jack Driscoll, director of Los Angeles World Airports, was reportedly in contact with airlines Thursday in an attempt to secure alternate service for Palmdale after United Express ends here on April 22.

Nancy Castle, spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports, read an e-mail she'd received from Driscoll when asked to comment on the status of the search:

"We are working hard with United Airlines, SkyWest and other airlines to ensure that service at Palmdale continues."

However, SkyWest executive Hart told the Valley Press Thursday that SkyWest has no interest in returning to the area.

Hart said not only is ridership too low in Palmdale for a SkyWest operation, but SkyWest's planes are too big.

The airline uses planes accommodating 30 passengers to serve small airports in the Western United States, offering flights to every major airport from Seattle to San Diego.

United Express uses planes with capacity for 19 passengers on its Palmdale flights and can't even keep them half-full, Hart said.

Hard numbers like that, Hart said, will prevent a commuter airline from offering service in Palmdale.

"Maybe at some point in the future we could look at coming back," he said. "We have to be choosy which markets to serve. If the market's there, we'll be back or somebody else will."

Hart said, from a market standpoint an airport like Palmdale, with four flights to and from Los Angeles each day, isn't very lucrative.

"With so few flights, people don't have a lot of options and would rather drive to Burbank or Los Angeles," he said. "You have to offer flights frequently enough that people will opt not to drive."

He suggested Palmdale offer at least six flights per day to discourage people from driving to other area airports, which offer numerous flights on many airlines.

"But a circular argument results," Hart said. "Airlines say if the demand was there, they would offer the service, and people say if the service was offered, they would stop driving to Burbank and LAX. That simply hasn't happened in Palmdale."

Hart said at least 15 of 30 seats on SkyWest planes must be occupied every arrival or departure to make a market profitable.

United Express Airlines, the only carrier to offer passenger flights from the Antelope Valley, will depart April 22 because United Airlines, which had contracted with Mesa Airlines of Gallup, N.M., decided not to renew the service contract.

Mesa Airlines officials said they don't know why the contract wasn't renewed. They referred questions to United Airlines, where offices in Los Angeles and Chicago did not return phone messages.

SkyWest is taking over 10 of 11 of United's Southern California air routes April 23 - everything except Palmdale.

Hart said low ridership forced SkyWest - which initiated Palmdale-to-Los Angeles service in June 1990 - to end service in February 1994.
"We do not have any plans to return to the Palmdale market," Hart said from SkyWest headquarters in St. George, Utah.

"We're happy to serve any market we can, profitably," Hart said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to apply to the market right now in Palmdale."

Hart said recruiting a new carrier will be a big problem for the Antelope Valley with the loss of United Express.

"It's a tragic situation," he said. "Once United Express pulls out, it becomes a much bigger task to get another carrier to come in. There is no current record of demand."