A deal has been struck. American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, will start direct flights between the Arcata-Eureka Airport and Los Angeles International Airport on June 14. The company is expected to formally announce the deal via press release on Monday.
Details remain sketchy. County staff has been working furiously with the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC) to come up with a $1 million revenue guarantee — one of several prerequisites set forth by American Airlines for coming to Humboldt County. (Read more here.)
RREDC’s board of directors is scheduled to authorize a contract for the guarantee at its Monday meeting. (You can download the agenda here.) Public Works Director Tom Mattson was not immediately available for comment.
The deal comes amid labor disputes and merger/takeover talks with US Airways. American declared bankruptcy last November and continues to work through corporate reorganization. That process might eventually lead American to sell off American Eagle, the subsidiary company that will provide local service.
When the Journal talked to American Airlines Market Development Manager Brett Hooyerink earlier this week he said that, prior to declaring Chapter 11, American was planning to sell off American Eagle by the end of last year.
Those plans are now on hold indefinitely, Hooyerink said, adding that a sell-off would have no effect on the local market. “The reason for divesting is to make American Eagle more competitive,” he explained. As a separate company, American Eagle could provide regional flights for mainline carriers besides American Airlines — in the same manner that SkyWest operates flights locally on behalf of United Express.
At the March 20 meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, Public Works Director Tom Mattson said round-trip tickets to L.A. are expected to cost between $250 and $400.
Memo to SoCal bivalve fans: Your direct 90-minute flights up here start two days before the 2012 Arcata Oyster Festival. Just sayin’.
We’ll pass on more details as soon as we get ’em.
This article appears in School Lunch 2.0.
Good. Now they can leave Richardsons Grove alone.
yeah we can fly in our organic produce
Damn
I wonder if the local folks who brokered this deal realize American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection last November and plans to ask a federal judge to throw out its union contracts next week if it can’t reach a labor deal. American Eagle has said it needs to cut $75 million in labor costs. With all of the local press coverage about the possible deal with AA and the airport, I don’t recall any mention of its bankruptcy status.
I’m all for getting another airline up here which is desperately needed, but not giving $1 million to one that’s in bankruptcy reorganization. Here’s an article about it from yesterday’s Washington Post.
http://tinyurl.com/6vzlpmf
Hi Linda. We are well aware of American’s Chapter 11 status, but we will not be in the position of being a creditor. American would only get paid in arrears for losses from service that has already been provided. They would not have access to any funds up-front.
Also, Linda, there’s information about the bankruptcy in this post, with links to several news stories.
This is nothing more than a shell game with Headwaters money. When the $1,000,000 is gone so will be American Airlines……
I am very disappointed in the supervisors for this act of corporate welfare. This is basically picking economic winners and losers in the local airline industry. You can fly in our out of Humboldt any day of the week on carriers that are already servicing us. How is it fair to United Airlines that we subsidize their new competition? Are we guaranteeing revenue for United too? Where can I find documentation that this new route will generate enough new revenue for the county to justify the investment?
I happened to have dinner with (actually, incidentally next to, at the sushi bar) the person who made this happen just last night. At the time she said that she had just inked the deal and that the official announcement had not yet been made. When I got home it was all over facebook. This is good for us. Now that we (the big regional/royal we) have successfully marketed our airport to the airlines we need to start working on marketing our airport to passengers. It’s not that “Arcata-Eureka” isn’t a catchy name but something like “Redwood Coast Regional Airport” would be more descriptive.
Yes! Just before Oyster Fest is a sign of purity, love & light in this crazy mixed up world.
“Lost Coast Airport”?
Actually you could call it the “Lost Coast Free Massage and Open Bar Airport” if you wanted but even that won’t entice a flood of tourism or investment to the area. Poeple don’t generally travel places because they like the airport name.
We all understand that the funds are to be paid in arrears. But that makes little difference outside of simple accounting. It’s unlikely they will fill these flights regularly to LAX. That’s a lot of seats. When the funds are gone, American Eagle will fly just like Horizon did.
Humboldt is well known for its natural beauty and its weed. That’s what we’ve got to market. Want a flood of tourism? Pass legislation that will begin to position Humboldt to be the marijuana equivalent of Napa Valley. Bus tours and specially permitted smoke shops and bars for the vacationers to sample local wares. If you do it they will come.
If humboldt ever really wants a successful airport, prices have to go down. At $200-400 guessing one-way vs round trip) the folks using the airlines are mostly either business people or very well off. From personal experience I could say that most people would rather drive, pay for gas, and spend the extra time than cough up that kind of cash to fly. Until airline travel costs are affordable, a vibrant airline economy will continue to be subsidized in humboldt county. And only those with govt or corporate jobs or the wealthy will be able to take advantage of the service. The rest of us will continue driving.
I for one thank everyone involved in making this happen.
Yes, not everyone can afford, needs, or wants to fly in/out of here but if you do business, have a sick mom or need to be somewhere else in a timely manner this is a god send.
SFO closes at the drop of a hat and United cancels flights all the time,they also have a monopoly on this area .May I also add that renting a car from SFO (or Redding when Alaska flew here) to get back when a flight is canceled due to weather isn’t cheap or easy. And no, they don’t put you up due to weather.
Gas now is expensive & for most people time is money. it’s 650 miles to LA from Eureka-an 11 hour drive. This is not cost effective unless you’re going on holiday with the whole family.
In point- Having options is good. Thank you for giving us a choice.
you like?
How much is that guarantee again? One million or two?
If one million, that’s 5,000 $200 tickets, or 120 full flights of the leather-filled 44 seat Rolls Royce of the air. Two million? 240 full flights.
But Teri thanks you, because it’s such a pain to have to fly United and, presumably, American flights will be able to land at ACV when the conditions are no good for United flights to land. It’s the leather seating.
Teri’s right — it’s just awful for flyers to have to pay for the cost of service — that’s the taxpayers’ job.
Incidentally, if I were United, I’d be drawing up the new contract right now that says they want an equal guarantee or they’ll leave for the next suckers.
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