Shuttle Cancels Bay Area Flights for a Month

More than 800 would-be air passengers were surprised to learn Friday that their reservations on a shuttle flight from Oxnard to the Bay Area had been canceled.

California Air Shuttle had to cancel flights for the next 30 days because the engine on one of the company’s two 19-seat aircraft cannot be overhauled, said Steve Lay, shuttle airline president.

“We’re in the process of canceling 800 reservations” out of 1,300 for the next month, Lay said. “It’s not been a good day.”

Lay said his company is expecting delivery of four new $3.4-million planes within the next month and will resume service to the Bay Area after that.

Some passengers were reaccommodated on other airlines Friday, while others were told that they would be refunded the amount of their tickets, Lay said.

Chris Bowen, a 43-year-old Oxnard resident, said he had been planning a visit at the end of the month to San Francisco to see his new grandson. He said that, although he will be reimbursed, he will probably have to pay $60 to $80 more for a ticket on another airline.

The plane cannot be serviced because Fairchild Aircraft Co., a San Antonio-based firm, recently went bankrupt, making it impossible for the small Oxnard airline to obtain parts to service the engine, Lay said.

So, beginning Monday, the airline will not be able to operate four daily flights to San Jose, Lay said.

Passengers on three weekend flights to San Jose are unaffected, Lay said, and the shuttle service will still operate two daily and three weekend flights to Las Vegas.