Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today on national news that LA Palmdale Regional Airport will play
a very important part in air service for North Los Angeles County .
PALMDALE - United Airlines will begin service from L.A./Palm dale Regional Airport to San Francisco on June 7, officials announced Monday.
It will mark the return of commercial passenger service to the terminal adjacent Air Force Plant 42, following a brief period of limited service that ended a year ago.
The twice-daily roundtrip flights will provide passengers with connections to more than 200 United domestic flights from the airline's San Francisco hub, as well as numerous flights throughout Asia, Mexico, Canada, London and Sydney, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.
Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that owns and operates the Palm dale , Los Angeles and Ontario International and Van Nuys airports, solicited bids for the passenger service as part of an effort to direct airline traffic away from crowded LAX.
The Los Angeles Airport Commission unanimously approved the United Airlines proposal at its meeting Monday.
"Until now, L.A./Palm dale had been the Antelope Valley's field of dreams, but today's historic development means that jet service is about to become reality at PMD," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said, referring to the airport's code.
"We are at long last achieving our goal to have dependable service by a well-known carrier that will attract large numbers of travelers to this high-potential airport and effectively serve the community's air travel needs," he said.
As the holder of a $900,000 federal grant to initiate passenger service at the airport, the Palmdale City Council must sign off on the United service at its Feb. 7 meeting.
LAWA and Palm dale also must approve the finalized contract with United, expected later this month.
Fares and flight schedules will not be set until the contract is finalized, Urbanski said, but will be available soon thereafter.
"We expect to see strong customer interest," she said.
With approval of the United Airlines service, LAWA will begin preparing the Palm dale terminal logistics, agency spokeswoman Maria Tesoro-Fermin said.
New security equipment will be installed and renovations will be made to accommodate the larger, 50-passenger aircraft that United will use, she said.
LAWA received two bids for service from the L.A./Palm dale Regional Airport . Delta Airlines proposed two daily flights to its Salt Lake City hub.
The two airlines were the only ones to submit bids meeting the minimum requirements: at least two flights a day to a major hub in the western United States using 50-passenger Canadair regional jets.
The Palm dale effort gained traction last year with $2 million in subsidies from the federal government and LAWA, which guarantees to cover financial losses an airline might suffer in starting service.
An additional $2.6 million has been pledged for marketing and other help by Los Angeles, Palmdale, Los Angeles County and other agencies. To that end, the airport commissioners Monday also approved a $3.4 million addition to the existing contract with Fraser Communications for marketing the Palm dale airport service as well as expanded service at Ontario .
The Palmdale marketing campaign will "promote the convenience of the airport, its free parking and easy-to-use terminal" and twice-daily service to San Francisco, according to the board report.
The board also approved a $300,000 addition to the existing contract with Simat, Helliesen and Eichner for marketing consulting services for the two airports.
LAWA spent about $1,300,000 refurbishing Palmdale Regional's terminal.
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