A month after a long-planned airport construction project began — a project that has inconvenienced countless local travelers whose flights have been delayed, redirected or canceled outright — backup measures have finally been provided.
County Supervisor Mark Lovelace yesterday evening sent an e-mail to concerned community members updating them on measures being taken by county officials and airline personnel to alleviate the travel headaches at the Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV). The supervisor’s e-mail reads as follows:
I have been working with our Airport Manager and our Director of Public Works to do anything and everything we can to improve this situation. … Here is a short list of actions we have taken since Monday morning:
* Provided a regular daily shuttle bus service between ACV and SFO and a stand-by shuttle for passengers diverted to Redding
* Obtained assurances from United and the other carriers that they will provide waivers and refunds for passengers whose flights were cancelled
* Posted an electronic sign board at the airport entrance warning travellers to expect flight delays
* Posted notices throughout the ACV terminal informing people of the problem and advising them of options
* Posted information prominently on the County’s aviation website, www.co.humboldt.ca.us/aviation, including external links to flight information websites (thanks to all who have provided links!)
* Provided this information and notices to airlines and airports that serve ACV, so that they can inform travellers in other locations
* Recorded radio PSAs for broadcast (thanks to Lost Coast Communications, and to those who forwarded the information!)
* Circulated information by TV, radio, newspaper, e-mail, Facebook, blogs and other means
* Made advance arrangements with the FAA to be on site to fly a test approach of the ILS system as soon as the EMAS project is completed (necessary before they will allow us to turn the system back on)
* Confirmed that this project remains on schedule for completion on September 24th.
I know that many, if not all, of these are things that could have and should have been done in advance of the project. This was a long-planned project and the potential problems were certainly foreseeable. However, the most important task right now is to do whatever we can to mitigate the problems for the airport’s customers while we finish the EMAS project. When this project is finished and the current emergency is resolved, we will then have time to examine what went wrong and take steps to ensure that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
Not long after Lovelace’s e-mail, Airports Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey issued the following press release:
If the fog returns, there is a significant chance that incoming flights may be redirected, delayed or canceled. Should the fog return, the Aviation Division has coordinated with the airlines to provide alternate passenger transportation.
Based on airline recommendations, a bus will be staged at the Arcata/Eureka (ACV) Airport each morning to assist passengers if alternate transportation is needed. The bus will depart ACV at 9:00 AM for the San Francisco Airport (SFO), then [depart] at approximately 3:30 PM with passengers from SFO. They will arrive at ACV Terminal around 11:00 PM. This will be a daily routine/schedule until the ILS is back in service.
Also, the Aviation Division has coordinated a similar plan for passengers connecting through Redding Airport. However, this will be an on-call service though the Horizon Station at Redding based on their passenger needs… rather than a set time.
This final phase of the EMAS block installation is scheduled to be completed no later than September 24, 2010.
For further project information, contact the Aviation website above or 707-839-5401 between 8-5, M-F
For ticket information on cancelled flights, contact your air carrier at:
* Horizon/Alaska Airline: 800-241-6522
* United Express/United Airline: 800-547-9308
This article appears in The Town Downer.
I hope the notification will include non-US carriers like Korean Air, which don’t serve ACV, but bring in passengers who will be connecting to flights that do.
Take a bigger view of the world, people. It’s all connected these days, ya know.
Can we please avoid this exercise in barn door closing in the future?
My bigger view would be this:
This aint L.A. or San Francisco.
Its Humboldt, and we get fog here.
Its always a gamble flying in and out, and
everybody should know that by now.
They call us ‘remote’ for a reason.
While the remedial action is welcome and surprisingly thorough, there is significant need to evaluate how this situation occurred in the first place and what can be done in the long term to address reliability of air travel in and out of the area. This is a critical piece of economic development and business/job retention.
As I’ve advocated in the past, one long range solution is to ask FEMA to designate ACV as the regional emergency response airstrip in the event of earthquake, floods, etc. That would bring a control tower which would substantially improve aviation safety and predictability.
The big question is whether the current airport manager is capable of initiating and managing the project. I, for one, do not have confidence in her abilities based upon current and past problems.
I’m frustrated with the complacency of both Ms. Hulsey and supervisor Duffy. Yes, we have frequent fog so we should plan, advocate, and fight for a tower back so that the weather has less impact on our economy. It’s incredibly arrogant to assume everyone has the flexibility and wherewithall to make contingency plans every time they need to travel in or out of town as Ms. Duffy suggests.
I’d like to know the supervisor candidate’s views on how this can be examined retrospectively and the appropriate parties held accountable, but more importantly, how we can improve overall accessiblity and service at our airport.
I have flown in and out of ACV for the past 25 years. Sure there is fog here and flights may get delayed, but nothing close to the chaos that plagues ACV now. I recently flew and not only did my flight get cancelled twice on leaving but the mayhem on returning was even worse. The pilot advised the passengers that we were being diverted to Crescent City and that they could get off there and at their own expense rent a car to drive back to ACV. He also said that he’d try to land one more time in ACV, but he felt there was little hope we’d be successful. All but 5 passengers disembarked (it was a full plane), but there were only a handful of rental cars available for over 25 people and all their luggage. They were stranded. The 5 of us who stayed on the plane would be flown back to San Francisco and have to drive back to ACV ourselves if the plane was unsuccessful in its final attempt to land. Luckily we were able to land at ACV but I couldn’t stop thinking of all those people who were still in Crescent City with no way to get back. Shame on the “professionals” who let such a situation happen. United Airlines and ACV Airport Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey have shown me, as a passenger, that they are severely lacking in the ability to problem solve. This is a case of too little too late. Why did they wait until a crisis developed before putting a plan together? I believe the answer is incompetence.
What exactly is the Airport Manager doing? This project would certainly entail managing the airport, which the Airport Manager failed to do.
if it is foggy, they can’t land. deal with it.