Airport gets regional carrier

Valley Air Express will fly small planes from Santa Rosa to San Jose, Oakland
June 28, 2002

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Startup airline Valley Air Express has reached an agreement with Sonoma County to fly scheduled air service for business travelers to Oakland or San Jose using a nine-passenger Cessna.

The service is scheduled to start in mid-August and will be the first passenger service at the airport since United Express pulled out in October.

The airline would operate out of the passenger terminal, fly two to three round trips per day and charge a round-trip fare of about $150, according to Valley Air general manager Aaron Gilbert.

The planned flights, however, fall far short of the airline service the county is trying to attract to Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. Desired routes would include flights to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Seattle.

"We want to see Horizon here to provide north-south air service, we want to see America West in here to provide service to Phoenix and Las Vegas," said county Supervisor Paul Kelley, whose district encompasses the airport. "That is the focus of the county airport right now."

Valley Air Express is a new airline based at Mather Field in Sacramento. It owns a Cessna Grand Caravan airplane it bought from SunAir Express of Redding, which went out of business last year.

The airline would fly from Santa Rosa to either Oakland or San Jose, depending on need of the business community, Gilbert said.

The airline would next implement service between Sacramento and San Jose, Fresno and Redding, Gilbert said.

Gilbert said demand will dictate whether the company buys more Grand Cessna aircraft for the additional routes, or moves up to the 30-passenger Embraer 120 turboprops which were flown by United Express.

Those planes are being phased out by the larger commercial carriers in favor of regional jets, and are being sold on the market for between $2 million and $6 million, Gilbert said.

Valley Air will have a small spot in the Sonoma County airport terminal for 24 months rent free, after which it will pay the going rate of $1.12 a square foot.

It will also pay landing fees of about $10 per landing, county gas taxes of 10 cents per gallon, and attract customers to the county's parking lot, said David Knight, Sonoma County assistant public works director.

"They will spawn parking at airport, there is the potential they will get past the 10,000 passengers a year mark that keeps us in the Federal Aviation Agency entitlements, plus it may show other carriers there is demand here," Knight said.

The county has met with representatives of both Horizon Airline and America West, but neither have committed to the Sonoma County market.

Airline service would have a substantial impact on the county, according to a marketing study. Santa Rosa-Los Angeles service would create 124 jobs, a $2.5 million payroll, $6.5 million in visitor spending and $1 million in fees to the airport.

United Express was carrying 65,000 passengers a year between Santa Rosa, San Francisco and Los Angeles, but said it was not profitable enough to continue.

Dan Russo, marketing director for Seattle-based Horizon, said Horizon is looking to expand, but expansion depends on getting new aircraft. Santa Rosa would be just one of many markets considered.

"Sonoma County service is not a piece of low-hanging fruit, it could succeed wildly, or it could fail wildly," Russo said. "Would it be successful getting people back to the airport, would there be leakage to San Francisco and Oakland?"

Russo said the cost of coming into a market is about $1 million, and they would expect the airport and business community to share in the marketing costs and initially help offset any losses.

"It is an expensive proposition to get a piece of equipment worth many millions of dollars and devote it to the market. Three round trips is one airplane we would not need if we were not doing that," Russo said. "We are not trying to hold anybody up, but it all goes into what is the best opportunity for success."

America West spokeswoman Janice Monahan said they are back to the passenger levels from before Sept. 11, have added new service to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and are looking for new opportunities.

Still, she said America West expects passenger growth for the year to be relatively flat.

Knight said marketing would cost $300,000 initially and $150,000 a year to sustain it, and the county would need to line up $500,000 in funds to help offset any losses.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bnorberg@pressdemocrat.com.

Longer runway could help attract carrier, county told

February 6, 2002

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sonoma County supervisors approved spending $118,000 in federal grants Tuesday to study lengthening an existing runway or building a new, longer one at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, a project that may be key to attracting a regional airline.

Supervisors said the study funded by the Federal Aviation Administration was an important step toward deciding the question of runway length and returning commercial service to Sonoma County.

"Commercial service is the future; it is a critical part of the economy of Sonoma County," Supervisor Tim Smith said. "We would be negligent if we didn't make every effort to get air service here."

Meanwhile, a marketing study of the airport by Tri-Star Marketing of Long Beach study found a regional carrier serving Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Denver and Phoenix would create 615 jobs throughout Sonoma County, a payroll of $12.5 million, tourist spending of $33.2 million and $4.5 million in airport fees, taxes and fuel purchases. The total economic impact would reach nearly $100 million, the study said.

The marketing study, which cost the county $25,000, recommends that to attract regional service, the airport will need a longer runway for the 30- to 70-seat regional jets that the air carriers are using.

"It is evident the airlines are concerned about this issue," said Supervisor Paul Kelley, whose district encompasses the airport.

Since the fall, the county has been without commercial air service for the first time since World War II. United Express, saying the Sonoma County service was not profitable even though it was carrying 64,000 passengers a year, ended flights to San Francisco and Los Angeles in late October.

Dave Knight, deputy director of public works, said to be able to be profitable, regional airlines are using a new fleet of regional jets that can't use Sonoma County's present runway.

The new jets require a minimum of 6,000 feet of runway, and the Federal Aviation Administration is also now requiring a 1,000-foot buffer zone at each end. The Sonoma County Airport runways are 5,100 feet and are constrained by roads and creeks.

Supervisor Smith said it is important to find out if a longer runway is feasible and if the shorter runways are really an impediment to attracting a commercial air carrier.

The study, which would take a month to complete, could set the stage for a future decision on building a new runway parallel to the existing runways, and that would require extensive environmental studies.

"There is a litany of issues, such as water quality and wetlands," Smith said.

No matter what the study finds, however, the ultimate resolution is probably years away. A longer runway could cost $7 million and require a time-consuming process to change the general plan, Knight said.

In the meantime, the county hopes to attract an airline flying the smaller, turbo-prop planes with the promise that it could use larger regional jets in the future.

The Tri-Star Marketing study says the Sonoma County airport serves 12 percent of the Bay Area population, which is enough to justify commercial service.

It says the biggest markets for service are to Los Angeles and Seattle, which could generate 175,000 passengers a year and profits for the airlines of $9.5 million, based on the costs of operating the new regional jets.

If a carrier just instituted Sonoma County-Los Angeles air service, it would create 124 jobs and a payroll of $2.5 million in Sonoma County, $6.2 million in visitor spending, and $1 million in airport fees, taxes and fuel purchases.

Knight said the county will use the marketing information next month to create business plans for individual airlines in an attempt to sell them on providing service to Sonoma County.

The $118,000 runway study is being funded by a $178,000 FAA grant the county already had to plan a new, larger passenger terminal at the airport.

Supervisors also allocated $20,000 to study building a road around the airport to eliminate traffic across the runways and taxiways, and $40,000 for services of airport consultant Shutt Moen for 2002 and 2003.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bnorberg@pressdemocrat.com.