Inyo County and Mammoth Lakes “Still Dating”
Inyo County, Town of Mammoth Lakes meet to discuss terms of commercial air service at Bishop Airport
On Friday, June 30, members of the Town of Mammoth Lakes-County of Inyo Airport Working Group met in Mammoth Lakes to discuss the future of commercial air service in the Eastern Sierra. At the meeting’s conclusion, it was evident that Inyo County staff and Supervisors were ready to craft a Memorandum of Understanding to govern the relationship between the two entities, while Town of Mammoth Lakes staff were not.
Among the participants at Friday’s meeting were Inyo County Chief Administrative Official Kevin Carunchio, Inyo County Supervisors Jeff Griffiths and Mark Tillemans, Mammoth Mayor John Wentworth, Town Manager Dan Holler, TOML Public Works Director Grady Dutton, Mammoth Yosemite Airport Manager Brian Picken, Inyo County Public Works Director Clint Quilter, and Pat Foster of Hot Creek Aviation. Mono County Supervisors Stacy Corless and Bob Gardner were present as “members of the public.”
At the outset of the meeting, there was some confusion expressed about whether or not the meeting was subject to the Brown Act. The group is technically an ad hoc committee of the Eastern Sierra Council of Governments (ESCOG). It was a public meeting, but there was no formal record keeper. Dutton asked those with a seat at the table if they objected to his taking on the responsibility of creating agendas for future meetings. It was determined Dutton would write and publish future agendas (the agenda for Friday’s meeting was not completed until the day prior).
Dutton also announced that Mammoth Lakes Tourism had issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on May 25 for a five to ten year “Eastern Sierra Air Service Strategic Plan.” The RFQ indicated that the TOML was interested in working with the operators of Bishop Airport to provide “reliable regional air service.” Dutton said that, as part of that project, consultants will assume that the “Design Aircraft” for Mammoth Yosemite Airport could change.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines the Design Aircraft or Critical Aircraft of a given airport as the “aircraft type with the most demanding facility needs that has regular use if the runway [at least 500 flights per year].” The FAA also sets the Design Aircraft for a given airport, which is effectively a limit on the size of the planes that make regular use of the airport. According to the Mammoth Yosemite Airport Aviation Activity Forecasts (as approved in March of this year), the FAA Design Aircraft for Mammoth Yosemite Airport is the Category C 76-seat Bombardier Q400. In theory, if larger planes were allowed to land at Mammoth Yosemite Airport, the potential for out-of-state direct flights would increase.
Swall Meadows resident Stephen Kalish asked whether the consultants would consider air traffic from planes larger than what the FAA has told the Town it will allow. Dutton said the language was intended to allow flexibility. The RFQ cites high cancellation rates as a result of inclement weather as a major reason for reassessing existing air service.
As The Sheet reported in its June 10 story, “Better in Bishop?” Inyo County is in the process of completing an Air Traffic Study for the Bishop Airport. Quilter reported that the study, now in Phase 2, has been submitted to the FAA for review. In June, Inyo County received a letter of support from Allegiant Air in which the company expressed interest in scheduling flights between Bishop and Los Angeles and Phoenix, on 156-seat Airbus 319 turbofan planes, substantially larger planes than are currently allowed at Mammoth Yosemite Airport.
Additionally, The Sheet reported that the cost of required improvements to bring the Bishop Airport to FAA standards for commercial air traffic will be about $23 million. Potentially, the FAA would cover up to $20 million of that.
