“There is no viability in service at Palmdale,” said Mike Molina, senior director of government affairs for LAWA, which operates Los Angeles International, Ontario, Palmdale and Van Nuys airports.

“There’s no population up there to support it, and there’s no ground transportation linking the desert to downtown,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX. “Until those things happen, Palmdale won’t work out.”

Wow, they sound shockingly wise with these quotes. The Mayor’s office tried to jump around the issue by saying that “the mayor has not backed away from Palmdale, but the national economy has.” Yeah, right. There has yet to be viable service at this airport. I don’t dispute that one day it will occur, and with the building of a new high speed rail line beginning, they have the opportunity to make this airport relevant again. But for now, it’s just not going to happen.

Now LAWA can refocus on putting its efforts toward LAX and Ontario, where spending money on service development is less likely to be a complete and total waste.

This year, 10 applications either did not meet the basic criteria for participation outlined above and were determined ineligible for selection, or the application itself was deemed incomplete. Most often, the applicant sought additional funding for the same, or essentially the same, project that was funded in a previous grant.

Yep, that’s you, Palmdale. So guess what, the last day of flights is December 6, 2008 . . . 18 months after they started. I know this source isn’t confirmed, but see if you can book the flights past December 6. You can’t, and that’s proof enough for me.

I can’t say I’m sorry about this. The only thing that bothers me is that so much money was wasted in trying to force this service to work. Hopefully now LAWA will move on and focus back on the local airports that matter.

So what is it that’s so incredible it’s going to reshape the landscape of Los Angeles aviation? Well, not much. The big Ontario announcement is that ExpressJet is going to make Ontario its largest operation when it launches in April. That’s not really news though, because it was already announced last week by the airline. It is really nice for the people that live out that way, but I’m not convinced it’s going to do much to relieve LAX. You can still fly to most of ExpressJet’s Ontario destinations on other airlines from LAX for less money. A lot more needs to happen before Ontario can seriously relieve LAX.

Oh, but wait, there’s more. They will also announce that Palmdale airport will once again get commercial service. United Express will start twice daily regional jet flights to San Francisco thanks to more than $2m in revenue guarantees. This one was disappointing to me, because I don’t think San Francisco is the right market.

Apparently Delta also competed for the flights and they would have gone through Salt Lake City. That would have given connections throughout the country. A flight up to San Francisco makes connections to Asia or the Pacific Northwest worthwhile, but other than that, it’s not ideal. I always thought that a US Airways flight to Phoenix would give the most connecting opportunities, but they didn’t even try for the flights.

• Hooray for the Brazilian courts! – It was ruled that the two American pilots being held in the Gol accident investigation cannot be held any longer. After some more interrogation and a promise to return when needed, the pilots will be free to go home. At least someone realized the gross injustice going on down there.
• Virgin Blows . . . – At least, that was the gist of the press release announcing the airline’s return to the Windy City (that’s Chicago). A daily flight between London/Heathrow and Chicago/O’Hare begins April 23, 2007. The airline used to fly from Chicago but pulled out afternoon Sept 11, 2001. I’m surprised that they’re going back, because it’s a very competitive market. American, United, and BA all fly it multiple times a day.
• . . . So Does LAWA – In the news of the lame, LA World Airports (LAWA) has announced it will rename Ontario Intl Airport to LA/Ontario Intl Airport and Palmdale to LA/Palmdale Regional Airport. Since apparently nobody knows where Ontario is (Canada?), this is the right thing to do. Actually, the Ontario renaming doesn’t bother me nearly as much as Palmdale. I mean, Palmdale doesn’t even have any flights! Do you think that airlines will start flying there just because of its new name? Lame-o.
• Lufthansa to Kick Airbus in the Nuts – Rumors abound today that Lufthansa is set to be the first major customer for Boeing’s new 747-8 with more range and more seats. This is Boeing’s competitor to the A380, and if a German airline which has traditionally ordered Airbus chooses Boeing here, it’s very bad news for Airbus.
• Does God Hate El Al? – That’s definitely a question being asked these days. Due to a general strike, El Al opted to fly on the Sabbath in order to get people home. Well, the flight to New York had rudder problems and had to return to Tel Aviv, prompting those onboard to say it was the “finger of God” punishing them for flying during the holy day. Um, ok. Now there’s a huge boycott in the works by the ultra-orthodox community, and the airline will probably be forced to sign a document saying they won’t do it again. My question is this . . . if they boycott El Al, who are they going to fly? Everybody else flies on the Sabbath. Good luck with that one.

That line snaking from downtown LA to Palmdale is 70 miles long, and that’s really the only way to get out there. Any more direct route takes you through some pretty large mountains, and that’s why you don’t see much development the further north you go. Even measuring from San Fernando, just a few miles before the route turns toward the east again, you’re still 50 miles away from the airport. As a comparison, O’Hare and JFK are less than 20 miles from downtown Chicago and New York respectively while “far out” Denver airport is still only 25 miles away.

So who in their right mind would think that Palmdale would work as a good feeder airport for the Los Angeles area?

No airlines think that way. That’s why the airport has no current commercial flights. The last attempt involved Scenic Airlines props to North Las Vegas, but of course that failed miserably. In the past United Express has served Los Angeles and America West Express served Phoenix, but both have long since pulled out.

To be fair, the area is growing quickly, so I would venture a guess that it could support some regional flights to Phoenix, Salt Lake, or another western hub, but that’s going to be the extent of its success.

Unfortunately, the city of LA continues to focus on this airport as a viable alternative. Last week, the city approved a plan to request proposals for service to Palmdale. The plan includes up to $5m in incentives, including some hard cash costs that could be put to better use.

Mayor Villaraigosa said “Developing new and expanded service at Southland regional airports will go a long way toward relieving congestion at Los Angeles International Airport.” Well, the proposed regional jet flights to western hubs aren’t going to do much at all to relieve LAX. A handful of daily flights is a joke, and it’s not going to solve anything. Nobody in Los Angeles wants to fly out of Palmdale.

It’s time the city’s leaders create a plan that will expand LAX to fulfill the region’s needs in the future. Though neighbors will complain, the airport has been there much longer than they have. They should have expected airport expansion and the fact that they can prevent the region’s aviation infrastructure from expanding is mind-boggling.