Is commercial service in Bishop Airport’s future?
Can commercial airline service be brought to the Bishop Airport? The question opens up a host of other questions that range from “What about the Mammoth Yosemite Airport?” to whether or not there are enough businesses to support the idea.
At last Tuesday’s presentation to the Inyo County Board of Supervisors, there was a clear sentiment that the Supervisors think it is worth taking a closer look.
Last August, the County’s consultant on airport planning, Wadell Engineering Corporation (WEC), made a presentation at the City of Bishop Council meeting. There is strong support in the City for a regional airport that can draw more visitors and entice more businesses to the area. That effort is being led by the County’s Public Works Department.
The County Supervisors signaled continued support by approving contract amendments with WEC to allow them to look into seeking continued additional funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for airport improvements in Lone Pine, Independence, and Bishop.
They also want WEC to continue to look at the feasibility of commercial air service in Inyo County.
Marketing research, followed by meetings with three airline companies are planned to determine the feasibility of making such improvements as needed to the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop, which has several advantages over the Mammoth Yosemite Airport due to lower elevation, better wind and weather conditions, the ability to expand both the runway and the facility itself to accommodate larger aircraft, build small and large hangers, and provide better security.
WEC has already been putting together an inventory of facilities, looking into demand and new facility needs, planning and depicting facilities to meet FAA standards, preparing a 20-year Capital Improvement Program.
WEC recently provided the County with an updated narrative report. The Supervisors’ actions last Tuesday to amend WEC’s five-and-a-half year contract are all designed to prepare a grant application to the FAA which would, if successful, pay 90 percent of the cost for improvements.
Besides providing the requirements and planning for commercial air service, the consultants will also be evaluating the possibility for passenger service by conducting a Passenger Traffic Survey which will determine airlines’ existing and future plans for commercial airline service in the Eastern Sierra Region. The survey includes questions about the need for subsidies, which types of aircraft can be accommodated, and so on.
There seems little question about whether or not the public would support expanded commercial and passenger air service in the minds of both the Public Works Department and the County Supervisors. The questions are: Can we justify the costs … and can we afford it? Or perhaps more to the point: Can we afford not to?
