Study: Commercial flight from Palmdale viable now

Stating that about 600,000 people live in north Los Angeles County within Palmdale's market area, a market study released on Thursday offers a comparison to similar markets around the country.

"Other airports serving markets the same size as the Palmdale Airport market average over 26 jet flights and 18 commuter flights per day," according to the study.

Commissioned by Los Angeles County, the study's authors used data from the Antelope Valley 2000 Demographic and Economic Study and interviewed 26 companies, including Fiberset Corp., BAE SYSTEMS Flight Systems, The Boeing Co., AVTEL, Rexall, SR Technics of America Ltd., Senior Systems Technology, Northrop-Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.

Long Beach-based Tri-Star Marketing Co. began work on the 80-page report last summer, according to the office of L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose 5th District includes the Antelope Valley.

Antonovich successfully passed a motion to have the report commissioned last year.

"The market study's conclusion that the Antelope Valley can support a regional airport is welcome news for the 3 million people who would no longer be forced to drive congested highways to Los Angeles International Airport," said Antonovich. The 5th District is geographically the largest in the county.

While the study was intended to market Palmdale Airport, one airline already has plans to offer service from Palmdale for one round-trip next month.

Pace Airlines plans to offer Boeing 737 service from Palmdale to Laughlin, Nev., leaving March 22 and returning March 25, as part of a package deal that includes three-night accommodations. The airline is running advertisements on the deal in the Antelope Valley Press beginning next week.

"Here's an opportunity to sell what the pot of the Antelope Valley is," Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said of the deal. "I would hope that those flights would be booked up."

According to Ledford, the study doesn't reveal anything new, but it confirms statistics being pushed by the Palmdale Working Group, an organization that's examining ways to utilize Palmdale Airport.

"I think it kind of restates some of the obvious," Ledford said. "You (have) to show potential carriers that there is an opportunity, that there is a profitable business by locating to Palmdale. We need to prove it to a carrier to help entice them to come out to this regional airport."

Ledford said efforts are already under way to entice carriers to the area.

"We've had discussions with some carriers," he said.

The problem is, those carriers believe potential passengers plan to connect with specific airlines that may not be served by destinations linked to Palmdale Airport, Ledford said.

The study's authors state that based on employers interviewed, their employees and visitors account for 129,000 annual round trip passengers to and from various domestic points.

Those interviewed stated preferences for service to Dallas, Denver, the San Francisco Bay area, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, New York and Sacramento, the report states.

According to the report, if an airline were to set up operations from Palmdale, 290 full-time jobs would be created locally and an estimated $64 million annually would be injected into the Valley's economy.

Bringing commercial service to Palmdale has grown from a local cause and has become a weapon in a fierce debate over expanding Los Angeles International Airport.

Los Angeles World Airports, which owns and operates several airports in the region including LAX and Palmdale, released a study earlier this month that outlines the findings of a five-year effort to map out LAX expansion in preparation for growth in air traffic demand on the area.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report has gone into circulation for a 180-day public review period.

Estimates show up to 157 million air passengers per year traveling in and out of the region by 2020. Currently, 67 million passengers fly in or out of LAX each year.

While the report doesn't call for adding a runway at LAX - an idea that's been staunchly opposed by many communities surrounding the busy airport - it does call for expansion of the airport itself.

Airport commissioners have said the LAX master plan would take a regional approach, calling for expansion and greater usage of outlying airports such as the one in Palmdale.

However, opponents of LAX expansion who read that report don't believe it does call for a regional approach, leaving airports like the one in Palmdale out of the loop.

Antonovich is using the report commissioned by the county to counter the plan being pushed by the world airports and L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. He said he'll also call for legal means to obtain the Palmdale Airport from the department of airports so it can be developed separately.

"It is time for Los Angeles City to fish or cut bait," Antonovich said. "Either build a regional airport to meet our 21st century need for air transportation or, through eminent domain, Palmdale, Lancaster and Los Angeles County ought to form a joint powers agreement to operate an airport to meet the transportation needs of our region."

Niki Tennant, a spokesman for L.A. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, an outspoken opponent of LAX expansion, also used the report to bolster her cause.

"This has been something that we have been saying all along," Tenant said, adding, "and we're glad that an aviation expert has found that Palmdale Airport right now can support regular commercial flight."

She added, "Now the ball is in (Los Angeles World Airports') court to really make this happen."