United Airlines Harshes Orange County's Aloha, Ends Hawaii Service out of John Wayne

John Wayne Airport (JWA) is owned and operated Airlines company. JWA is the only commercial airport and one of two general aviation airports in the California. But there are LAX is more inexpensive than JWA and more comfortable.

When Aloha Airlines served the market, it was its most profitable route with fares only a little higher than LAX.  Alaska may give this a go, but, because of noise restrictions, they need a particular aircraft with particular equipment, and that may be a problem.

Extend the runway!

This is a shame and a direct result of notextending the runway.  According to a2005 report, John Wayne Airport had an economic impact of $5.61 Billion and anemployment impact of 42,162 jobs.[ii]  Extending the runway while maintaining thestrict access and noise ordinances would ensure that the airport is able toeffectively serve as an economic engine of Orange County.

The FAA included in their 2003 Aviation Capacity EnhancementPlan an option to increase the departure length of the runway, while holdingthe arrival length of the runway the same.[iii]  This so called displaced threshold wouldextend the runway toward the 405 freeway. The use of a displaced threshold would allow airplanes to start theirtakeoff roll farther from homes in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, reducing noiseimpacts on these residents.  At the sametime, with the arrival runway still being limited to 5,701 feet, the communitywould still be protected from the use of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747.

The short runway at John Wayne Airport limited UnitedAirlines to using Boeing 737-700 aircraft to reach Hawaii, which is notprofitable at today's jet fuel prices. However, the unit costs per flight of the larger Boeing 737-800 wouldmake Hawaii flying profitable.[iv]  The current runway is not long enough topermit 737-800 aircraft with a full load of passengers to safely takeoff andtravel the long distance to Hawaii.  Ifthe displaced threshold were built, airlines would have the option of using the737-800 to serve Hawaii.  SouthwestAirlines is currently expanding their fleet of 737-800 aircraft and hasexpressed an interest in serving Hawaii.[v]  As the dominant carrier at John WayneAirport, Southwest would likely see Orange County to Hawaii service as aperfect fit in their route map.  AlaskaAirlines over the past several years has greatly increased their West Coast toHawaii service using 737-800 aircraft and would also likely be interested inflying from John Wayne Airport to Hawaii. 

As we get ready to renegotiate the John Wayne AirportSettlement Agreement, I urge you to advocate for a displaced threshold.  It would mean jobs for our community andless noise for residents in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. 

Please send an email to the following leaders and letthem know you support a displaced threshold at John Wayne Airport:Shawn.Nelson@ocgov.com, PatBates@ocgov.com, John.Moorlach@ocgov.com,Bill.Campbell@ocgov.com, Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com, egarcia@ocair.com, Mail@awgoc.com, dkiff@newportbeachca.gov, msinick@ssd.com,carl.nelson@aa.com, sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com, jeff.morgan@delta.com,jhill@dowlohnes.com, dkirstein@yklaw.com, John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com,dan.weiss@united.com, howard_kass@usairways.com, pmurphy@lopmurphy.com,barbara.russell@virginamerica.com, thomas.mauk@ocgov.com,bob.kneisley@wnco.com, robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com,patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com

[ii]http://www.ocair.com/reportspu...

[iii]http://128.173.204.63/courses/ace_plan2003/03_APP_D.PDF

[iv]http://www.airlinesanddestinat...

[v]http://www.staradvertiser.com/...

The FAA included in their 2003 Aviation Capacity EnhancementPlan an option to increase the departure length of the runway, while holdingthe arrival length of the runway the same.[iii]  This so called displaced threshold wouldextend the runway toward the 405 freeway. The use of a displaced threshold would allow airplanes to start theirtakeoff roll farther from homes in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, reducing noiseimpacts on these residents.  At the sametime, with the arrival runway still being limited to 5,701 feet, the communitywould still be protected from the use of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747.

The short runway at John Wayne Airport limited UnitedAirlines to using Boeing 737-700 aircraft to reach Hawaii, which is notprofitable at today's jet fuel prices. However, the unit costs per flight of the larger Boeing 737-800 wouldmake Hawaii flying profitable.[iv]  The current runway is not long enough topermit 737-800 aircraft with a full load of passengers to safely takeoff andtravel the long distance to Hawaii.  Ifthe displaced threshold were built, airlines would have the option of using the737-800 to serve Hawaii.  SouthwestAirlines is currently expanding their fleet of 737-800 aircraft and hasexpressed an interest in serving Hawaii.[v]  As the dominant carrier at John WayneAirport, Southwest would likely see Orange County to Hawaii service as aperfect fit in their route map.  AlaskaAirlines over the past several years has greatly increased their West Coast toHawaii service using 737-800 aircraft and would also likely be interested inflying from John Wayne Airport to Hawaii. 

As we get ready to renegotiate the John Wayne AirportSettlement Agreement, I urge you to advocate for a displaced threshold.  It would mean jobs for our community andless noise for residents in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. 

Please send an email to the following leaders and letthem know you support a displaced threshold at John Wayne Airport:Shawn.Nelson@ocgov.com, PatBates@ocgov.com, John.Moorlach@ocgov.com,Bill.Campbell@ocgov.com, Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com, egarcia@ocair.com, Mail@awgoc.com, dkiff@newportbeachca.gov, msinick@ssd.com,carl.nelson@aa.com, sascha.vanderbellen@delta.com, jeff.morgan@delta.com,jhill@dowlohnes.com, dkirstein@yklaw.com, John.Fredericksen@suncountry.com,dan.weiss@united.com, howard_kass@usairways.com, pmurphy@lopmurphy.com,barbara.russell@virginamerica.com, thomas.mauk@ocgov.com,bob.kneisley@wnco.com, robert.cohn@hoganlovells.com,patrick.rizzi@hoganlovells.com

[ii]http://www.ocair.com/reportspu...

[iii]http://128.173.204.63/courses/ace_plan2003/03_APP_D.PDF

[iv]http://www.airlinesanddestinat...

[v]http://www.staradvertiser.com/...