Palmdale Airport gets face lift

Spruce-up attempts to woo carriers

Brandon Eaton, who managed the United Express operation at the now-vacant terminal in the mid-1990s and now is superintendent of operations at the airport, is overseeing its revival.

"We're going to build the demand for air service from zero to as much as it can be," Eaton said during a tour of the facility.

Airlines served Palmdale from 1993 to 1998, but rarely offered more than an expensive trip to Los Angeles International Airport.

Reasons the airport code PMD never took off are easy to find. That Burbank and LAX are reasonably close, and offer myriad flights from which to choose, seems to be the most obvious.

Eaton isn't alone in his effort to bring airlines back.

Los Angeles World Airports, the branch of L.A. city government that runs Los Angeles and Ontario international airports, Van Nuys Airport and Palmdale Regional Airport, recently signed an agreement with the city of Palmdale to promote the Palmdale site.

So when it comes to putting the hard sell on the airlines, Eaton won't be in the board room - business-hardened executives of Los Angeles World Airports will be.

Eaton's job is to make the place presentable. It's not much to look at just yet, but he's decided to start with the thing everyone will notice first: landscaping.

Spiny Joshua trees and bleached boulders used to make up most of the terminal's landscape design. There's also a concrete and asphalt island between the parking lot and the terminal that was painted green.

While the Joshua trees and boulders will stay, the concrete island is already gone, dug up in preparation for irrigation pipes that will keep real greenery alive in the desert's summer heat.

Palm trees also are part of the plan, Eaton said. Their graceful lines are expected to enhance the Palmdale Regional Airport brochures marketeers are sure to send to airlines in their efforts to bring them to 41000 20th St. East.

Improvements are under way inside the terminal as well.

The lobby smells of fresh paint, and estimates for new carpet will be collected soon.

"Technically, this is a one-gate facility," Eaton said.

Though there are eight counter stations, there's only one way out to the tarmac. That screening area doesn't have the metal detector or baggage inspection equipment required for security. Those are the responsibility of the airlines, Eaton said.

Just how many airlines L.A. hopes to bring to Palmdale is still being thought through. Historically, the terminal has had two, Eaton said.

So what happens if four, or six, airlines are interested in Palmdale?

"We'll build a second terminal," Eaton said. "Just like this one, but on the north side."

Such a move would easily accommodate four airlines.

Los Angeles already has looked ahead to the days when the existing terminal and its possible twin are filled to the brim with passengers.

Plans have already been drawn for a 600,000-square-foot terminal to be built along Avenue P, between 20th and 25th streets east, Eaton said.

"We want to make this place ready to go first," Eaton said. "Then, when it's obsolete, we'll go bigger."

For now, Eaton will stay busy making the terminal and its parking lot picture-perfect, and Los Angeles' marketing experts will develop a plan of attack. No time line for either has been set, Eaton said.

And none is required, according to the marketing agreement Los Angeles signed with Palmdale.

While passenger service may have been on the minds of Antelope Valley residents when the agreement was signed in December, Los Angeles has broader plans for Palmdale.

It sought and landed an aircraft maintenance operation, SR Technics America Ltd., which is set to begin modifications of Boeing passenger jets for cargo as soon as June or July.

And Los Angeles has visions of Palmdale as an air cargo hub as well. Plans have already been drawn for a cargo ramp near the terminal building large enough for two Boeing 747s to sit side-by-side and be unloaded at the same time. Eaton said he's just waiting for the Air Force to sign off on the project.

"Things are happening now," Eaton said. "L.A. World Airports is committed to making Palmdale Airport work."