Easing into the future

Is Bishop Airport ready for prime time? 

This April, Bishop celebrated an enormous gain for its self-proclaimed “Eastern Sierra Regional Airport”: an “easement” granted by the LADWP (Los Angeles Dept. Water and Power) for 608 acres of land used solely for airport operations. Costing only $5,000, the easement gives Inyo County long-term land and tenure rights, as close as the county can get to owning the land outright, that will pave the way for application for federal grants for maintenance and safety-related improvements to runways, taxiways, navigation systems and more. Until now, the county has struggled to secure these grants in part because qualification conditions for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant program require the county to have land lease tenure rights of, or greater than, 20 years.

With an increase in flights this winter to Mammoth Yosemite Airport, the new easement raises the question of whether Bishop Airport might, with the help of grants for necessary improvements, eventually become a bad weather back up for Mammoth-bound flights diverted back to Los Angeles due to inclement weather. Said Inyo County Public Works Director Doug Wilson, “There’s no easy yes or no answer. The runways would definitely handle commercial flights if there was a need to land there, but the rest of the facilities aren’t in place, particularly security for outgoing flights.”

Bishop Airport was developed in 1929 and expanded during World War II to accommodate the U.S. Air Force. It boasts 3 runways plus several taxiways, hangar space, a pilot’s lounge, self service and full service fueling and other equipment and buildings. “Because of the military taking over, we have enormous runways,” Inyo County CAO Kevin Carunchio explained; 7.5 miles of lighted runways in total.

One thing the airport doesn’t have much of is security, and that, according to both Wilson and Mammoth Yosemite Airport Manager Bill Manning, is the deal-breaker. “Since 9/11 and all the security requirements and upgrades, the Bishop Airport can’t be a bad weather backup,” Manning said. “They’d have to have a terminal building with all the security requirements we have, TSA staff at the airport, and Part 139 FAA security.”

In 2004, the FAA issued a final rule that established certification requirements for airports serving scheduled air carrier operations in aircraft designed for more than 9 passenger seats but less than 31 passenger seats. Part 139 includes new requirements regarding security and aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) services during air carriers operations.

Manning called these necessary security upgrades a “big investment.” Even if Bishop did have the security, said Manning, “it would be the airline’s call whether or not to go to Bishop.”

In fact, he acknowledged, if Bishop had the security and if airlines were willing, the Bishop Airport could potentially become the primary commercial airport for Inyo and Mono County. The Bishop airport has several advantages over Mammoth’s airport that might make it more attractive to airlines, according to Doug Wilson: cross-wind runways, longer runways, and lower elevation, which means no snow problems and fewer wind problems. But when asked about the possibility that Bishop might one day take over all commercial flights for the area, Carunchio replied, “We’re just happy to have the easement. In terms of speculating on the future of commercial flights, we’d have to see how the community here feels about it first.”

Inyo County has several short-term goals for airport improvements now that it has gained the easement, including repaving the runways, electrical upgrades, and additional fencing. “We’re taking care of the basics first,” Carunchio said, “but at the same time we’ll also certainly be looking at what we need to do to position ourselves for 139 certification.”

Until then, he said, “Inyo County is open to the possibility of becoming a bad weather backup.” Manning agreed. “From Mammoth’s perspective, it would be a wonderful thing if [flights] could land in Bishop and be bussed up the hill,” Manning observed. “So we fully support any and all improvements.”