A.V. LOSES ANOTHER AIR CARRIER; UNITED LEAVING APRIL 23.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

United Express will end its service out of Palmdale on April 23, joining the ranks of airlines that failed to gain a foothold in the Antelope Valley.

The decision leaves the Antelope Valley without a commercial passenger carrier, just as new talk is going on about using Palmdale to take some of the load off Los Angeles International Airport.

``We're distressed,'' said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. ``We need to try to solicit another airline.''

The loss of Palmdale service is the result of a decision by United Airlines to drop Mesa Airlines in favor of Skywest Airlines as its United Express carrier, which provides commuter servicing linking smaller communities to regular United terminals.

Skywest is picking up about 90 percent of the existing United Express routes, but it excluded Palmdale, where flights have been averaging just four or five passengers each.

``We're scrambling to pick up as many of the routes as possible,'' said Skywest spokesman Steve Hart. ``Those markets that are the least profitable are being left out.''

Skywest will look at the markets that were dropped to see whether service should be restarted. However, it will be late this year or early next year before the company will be able to do that, Hart said.

United Express offers five flights daily, except Saturday, from Palmdale to LAX. On Saturday, the airline offers four flights.

United Express, which began its Palmdale service in February 1993, flies 19-seat Jetstream turboprop aircraft. The airline has had about a 25 percent occupancy on its Palmdale flights.

Before the arrival of United Express, there was a parade of airlines that tried and failed to make Antelope Valley service profitable, both in Palmdale and at Fox Airfield in Lancaster.

The last two airlines, America West and Skywest, which had operated as a feeder airline for Delta Airlines in the early 1990s, dropped out of Palmdale after losing $2.6 million and $1 million, respectively.

Twice in the early 1990s, Palmdale had two commuter airlines for several months at a time, but United Express has been its sole service since February 1994.

The move to drop United Express service does not bode well for those advocating the use of Palmdale Regional Airport to relieve LAX.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, a proponent of studying Palmdale's possibilities to alleviate the need to expand LAX, said the loss of United Express symbolizes what is wrong.

``The city of Los Angeles' Department of Airports has not invested any significant resources at Palmdale, and in fact does not even know what it would take to make it a viable airport,'' Galanter said Thursday. ``The current master plan concentrates solely on expansion of LAX and is not adequately preparing this entire region for future air passenger and cargo transport.''

Cargo and aircraft maintenance activities are probably the best bet in terms of attracting spinoff work from LAX in the short term, Ledford said.

THE FACTS Total number of passengers annually for Palmdale Regional Airport:

1990 - 48,514x

1991 - 43,820x

1992 - 31,247

1993 - 38,380x

1994 - 35,125x

1995 - 20,322

1996 - 18,481

1997 - 19,387

Two airlines operated out of Palmdale all or part of these years.

Source: Los Angeles Department of Airports

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) A United Express commuter plane taxis along the tarmac at Palmdale Regional Airport.

(2) An airport employee inspects passengers and their baggage at a security checkpoint before they board their commuter flight.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News