CITY ANGLING FOR AIRLINE AREA GROWTH FORCES NEED FOR AIRPORT SERVICE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - After a series of false starts in the 1990s, Antelope Valley officials say the market is now ripe for an airline to operate out of Palmdale Regional Airport.

Already working on a marketing campaign to bring in an airline, airport proponents were heartened when the city of Los Angeles' airports department awarded a $1.9 million contract to a consultant to develop a master plan for the Palmdale airport. The consultant, URS Corp. of Los Angeles, is expected to complete the master plan in 17 months.

``I believe things happen when they are ready to happen,'' said Larry Chimbole, Palmdale's first mayor and an advocate for the airport for nearly 40 years. ``This is a good sign.''

Work under the contract will include developing conceptual plans for airport development and land use; forecasts for airport demand, an airport layout plan and terminal area plan; and an environmental impact report.

``The development of the master plan for Palmdale Regional Airport is a leap toward providing the resources necessary to meet the air traffic demands of one of the fastest growing regions of Southern California, and without expanding Los Angeles International Airport,'' said Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn in announcing the contract.

``It will also support our efforts to serve the untapped air travel market in and out of the Palmdale area that is expected to increase from 1.5 million to 7 million in the next two decades.''

That market stretches from the sprawling Antelope Valley to the Santa Clarita Valley, the northern San Fernando Valley and to Bakersfield.

Operated by the Los Angeles airports department, the Palmdale airport has a terminal building and land leased at Air Force Plant 42. Under an agreement with the Air Force, Plant 42 can be used by civilian airlines offering as many as 50 flights a day, and there are provisions to expand to 400 flights a day.

Commuter airlines United Express, America West and SkyWest operated out of Palmdale in the 1990s - sometimes two airlines at a time. United Express, the last commercial carrier at the site, pulled out of Palmdale in February 1998.

With the High Desert's continued rapid growth, the market is now ready to support an airline, officials said.

``I think we're a viable market,'' Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said.

Ledford said he expects the master plan to incorporate previous suggestions for the airport, including plans to develop a cargo pad and to improve Avenue P-8 to allow for better access to the terminal.

Airlines came to Palmdale in the 1990s, but their operations failed to take hold.

At times it seemed efforts to develop airport operations were snake bitten - in the early 1990s, the Persian Gulf War sent fuel costs soaring, hurting fledgling operations at Palmdale; in 1991, 12 passengers and crew were killed when a Palmdale-bound aircraft was hit on the runway by a Boeing 737; and the recession of the mid-1990s and defense cuts also cut into passenger loads.

Passenger volume was greatest in 1990, the year both America West and SkyWest started service after a five-year lapse in Palmdale airline flights. Passengers traveling through the Palmdale terminal numbered more than 48,500 in 1990, but the number dwindled to fewer than 19,400 by 1997.

In a study commissioned by Los Angeles County, the consulting firm Tri-Star Marketing stated Palmdale can support a profitable passenger service linking the Antelope Valley with western cities like Las Vegas, Dallas, Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The market area from which the Palmdale airport could draw - about 600,000 people, taking in Santa Clarita as well as the Antelope Valley - is large enough to produce 1 million to 1.5 million airline passengers a year, the report added. Airports in comparably sized markets average 26 jet flights and 18 commuter flights daily, the report said.

Tri-Star identified five airlines most suitable for the Antelope Valley: America West, Delta Connection, United Express, American Eagle and Horizon Airlines.

In August, the cities of Los Angeles and Palmdale joined to start marketing the Palmdale to individual airlines. A delegation of airport supporters flew to Phoenix to meet with America West representatives in the first of what is expected to be a series of sales pitches to attract an airline.

The meeting was intended to provide the airline with potential customer information and to show community support for airliner flights in and out of Palmdale.

America West officials were receptive, but made no commitments.

America West planes flew out of Palmdale from January 1990 to September 1991 before pulling out of the market because of rising fuel prices during the Persian Gulf War and the nation's recession. The airline had flown passengers from Palmdale to Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Although the airline industry is still reeling from 9-11, Ledford said Palmdale Regional Airport supporters believe there are still business opportunities and that Palmdale service would fit in with America West's other service in California.

Through its America West Express operation, run by Mesa Air Group, the airline has a number of regional routes in California feeding into its main Phoenix hub. America West Express operates out of Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo and Monterey, among other cities.

Similar meetings with other airlines are planned.

Palmdale officials had planned last year to conduct a similar marketing effort, but those plans were derailed when the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon sent the airline industry into turmoil.