Fourth Time a Charm for Air Route? : WestAir Would Offer Wayne-Fresno Service That’s Folded 3 Times

Another commuter airline wants to inaugurate flights between Fresno and Orange County’s John Wayne Airport Feb. 14--one day too late for Mark Weddendorf.

That same day, Weddendorf, manager of stores in Fresno for a large industrial paper company, must attend the company’s annual meeting at the Registry Hotel near John Wayne. But Weddendorf is taking no chances that the new commuter service will get him there on time. Just to be on the safe side, he said, he’ll probably fly in to Los Angeles International Airport and take an inter-airport commuter plane to Orange County.

Weddendorf’s employer, Carpenter Offutt Paper, is based in Carson but holds its annual meeting near John Wayne so that store managers flying in from various western regions can avoid the hassle and congestion of LAX. The plan works out fine for everyone, Weddendorf said, except himself. The LAX flight looked like Weddendorf’s best option Monday when he conferred with his travel agent.

WestAir Airlines Inc., based in Chico, announced last week that it intends to revive the Orange County to Fresno route Feb. 14, but the county Board of Supervisors, which owns and operates John Wayne, first must give the go-ahead. If WestAir--which says it has enough financing to succeed where others failed--is flying by the time the Carpenter meeting is over, Weddendorf may return to Fresno on one of its planes.

No Service Since December Weddendorf’s dilemma is shared potentially by about 1,000 commuters a week, estimated Denis Horn, chief of John Wayne operations and facilities.

In the past two years, three airlines that flew between Fresno and Orange County have failed, leaving the route without service for weeks at a time. There has been no carrier since Dec. 13, 1984, when Far West Airlines suspended operations indefinitely after running out of money. Far West had only been operating for three months--and less than one month on the Orange County-Fresno route--when it canceled all flights.

Earlier the same route had been abandoned by Dash Air Inc. when that commuter airline, also plagued by financial woes, folded on Sept. 11, 1984. And Dash Air was preceded on the route by Golden West Airlines, which shut down in April, 1983.

The on-again, off-again service has thrown travel agents and travelers into a tizzy. Gayle Surabian, a consultant for Bashford Travel Corp. at Fresno Airport, estimates that hundreds of people lost money after making cash purchases of Fresno-Orange County tickets from commuter airlines that later folded.

County officials said the county’s losses from commuter airlines’ failures have been minimal. In the past, the county has required incoming commuter airlines to post a security deposit equivalent to two months’ landing fees. When it folded, Far West’s unpaid fees were covered by the deposit, but Dash Air owes the county an additional $8,000 and Golden West Airlines’ debt is about $10,000, said Daniel Didier, county deputy counsel.

In addition, said Horn, when there are no flights between Fresno and John Wayne, Orange County misses out on approximately $1,500 a week in revenues from landing fees and its share of airport concessions.

“But the real loss to the people of the county is the lack of service they need,” Horn said. “Based on our experience, there is definitely a market (for air service) to Fresno,” he said. He estimated that between 500 to 1,000 persons a week would use the service if it were available.

Among those coping with the disruptions in service on the route is Lee Smeller, vice president of manufacturing for Duncan Enterprises, a major Fresno producer of ceramic hobby supplies. Since last summer when his company bought a small firm in Santa Ana, he has been traveling regularly--but not always directly--to Orange County. When there is no direct flight, he said, he takes a plane to LAX and rents a car. This costly, time-consuming travel forces him to extend a one-day visit to two days, he said.

In December, Smeller said, he booked his first flight on Far West. The plane was taxiing for takeoff, he recalled, when heavy fog caused the flight to be delayed. The next morning when he was ready to try Far West again, the airline was out of operation.

Airport managers and travel agents say that the erratic service on the Fresno-Orange County route mirrors experiences at many regional and small airports since airline deregulation in 1978. The deregulation allowed larger air carriers to abandon less profitable routes to small cities, and a large number of new commuter airlines sprang up to fill the gap. Many experienced growing pains.

WestAir officials say, however, that the airline’s financing and experience will enable them to avoid those problems. WestAir has been operating under its current ownership since 1979 on routes connecting smaller airports in Northern and Central California with larger ones, such as San Francisco. On the Fresno-Orange County route, it said, it will use smaller and more economical aircraft than did Far West.

The Department of Transportation, which licenses commuter airlines, requires them to be “fit, willing and able,” said Don Horne, deputy assistant general counsel at DOT in Washington, D.C. But Horne said the “fitness review” is “no guarantee that a carrier won’t eventually run into financial difficulty or go out of business.”

Similarly, local governments that run airports have few guarantees of an airline’s financial stability. The 1978 law prohibits them from regulating rates, routes or service of an air carrier, although, Horne said, the governmental agencies can protect their own “proprietary interests.” Many require airlines to post bonds or security deposits for reimbursement of delinquent landing and terminal leasing fees if the airline goes belly up.

In Orange County, an airline’s application to fly into John Wayne is reviewed by the airport department, the real estate division and ultimately by the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors theoretically can approve or reject the proposed contract, but county officials cannot remember ever denying an application. Commuter airlines’ planes, because of their lower noise levels, are not included in the county’s 41 flights a day ceiling at John Wayne, and an unlimited number are allowed.

But before an airline such as WestAir begins service at John Wayne, it must find counter and ramp space, and its credit record and available financial information are checked by the county’s real estate division. Sometimes financial reports are not available for new airlines and, deputy counsel Didier said, the financial soundness of an airline is “not a legitimate concern” of the county as long as the county requires a surety bond or security deposit to protect itself.

And, said John Wayne’s Horn, it is reasonable to take some risk with an airline because of the public demand for the service.

In the meantime, travel agents keep abreast of an airline’s financial conditions, often warning their customers of problems, or steering them elsewhere, posing yet another hurdle for a new airline that is trying to build a customer base.

Sarah Woods, manager of the Associated Travel office in Fullerton, said she feels she has an obligation to tell customers about the financial status of airlines they are considering, especially if they are booking far in advance. “Every morning I read (newspapers) to make sure who is flying,” she said.