Fly the not-so-friendly skies
Mammoth Lakes Tourism reports 19 cancelled flights in December.
December, while good for the Eastern Sierra snowpack, was not so good for travel. According to Mammoth Lakes Tourism (MLT) Executive Director John Urdi, 19 out of 77 total flights from L.A., San Diego, San Francisco, and Denver were cancelled due to weather.
“The silver lining is that only one cancellation was mechanical,” Urdi told the MLT Board at its January 9 meeting.
However, December enplanements “turned out about flat to last year because of the weather cancellations,” he told The Sheet.
Urdi noted that not all weather-related cancellations were due to high winds. Some aircraft turned around because of the 1,300-foot ceiling required at the Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH). MMH is a visual airport, meaning pilots must be able to see the ground from 1,00 feet before bringing the aircraft down for landing.
“An L.A. flight came in this morning, circled for about an hour, and had to turn back,” Urdi said.
That might change in Alaska Airlines’ case with the installation of a Radar Navigation Procedure (RNP) on aircraft that would lower the 1,800-foot ceiling to 650 feet, and the visibility from 3 miles to perhaps 1.5 miles.
Urdi said Alaska has yet to install the system, and that he didn’t know when the installation would occur.
News of December flight cancellations came concurrent to a presentation by MLT Director of Marketing Whitney Lennon on market researcher SMARInsights’ review of MLT’s MeringCarson summer 2015 campaign. According to SMARInsights, that ad campaign has paid off with a majority impression in both L.A. and other markets that “we are a convenient place to get to,” Lennon said.
57 percent of surveyed Los Angelinos aware of the ads believed Mammoth is convenient to get to, while 49 percent in other markets believed the same.
Lennon added that according to the survey, ad-aware travelers reported a higher likelihood of visiting Mammoth within the next two years. Of those aware of the ad campaign, 52 percent are likely to visit Mammoth Lakes versus those that weren’t aware of the ad campaign, of which only 24 percent are likely to visit.
Urdi attributed some of that growth in interest to MLT more aggressively advertising its air service. “We did a ton of advertising for the air service, and it lent credit that you can get here,” he said.
But given the number of flight cancellations in December, MLT Board Chairman John Morris wondered “how we stack up to other airports … the question I hear is, ‘Why do we spend money on the airport when no one can even fly here?’”
Mammoth’s summer air service subsidy came in at about $800,000, or $100,000 less than last year. The winter air service subsidy typically comes in at about $3 million, with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area covering anything above $1.5 million.
Board member Sean Turner agreed with Morris that a comparison to other airports “would be very helpful, because we do have a reputation as being one of the highest cancellations in North America.”
Board Secretary Matthew Lehman noted the challenge of putting money into advertising Mammoth’s flights “and getting people to fly, and after they try two times, they give up.”
Urdi stressed that Alaska’s upcoming switch to RNP would reduce some weather-related flight cancellations. He said the Federal Aviation Administration has also lifted night restrictions, allowing several flights delayed by weather to still land that night.
And when Alaska Airlines pilots, who “will land on a postage stamp” cancel a flight, “you don’t want to be on that plane,” he said.
When asked if the new Airport Layout Plan (ALP) would help with these weather-related cancellations, Urdi said no. “There is no [air traffic control] tower as part of the current plan,” he said.
The updated ALP, approved by the FAA last year, includes a $30 million three-gate terminal east of the current terminal and an aircraft apron—the area where airplanes park, load and refuel—expansion suitable for three regional aircraft to park at the same time.
The Town does not yet have financing for the ALP. It is currently going through the necessary environmental studies for the ALP, which could take about 18 months.
Jim Demetriades, owner of Rafters, Sierra Nevada Lodge, Red Lantern and Jimmy’s Taverna, said much hinges on Mammoth’s ability to expand its airport capability. He noted that he’s currently pursuing financial backing for the decade-in-the-making $204 million dollar Old Mammoth project,
Securing financing has proven to be a challenge.
“The very first thing I’ve heard of is that nobody believes that the airport is moving forward,” Demetriades told the MLT Board. “If you’re thinking of investing in a community … we have an airport that’s going to become a great opportunity for guests from around the country if not the world … but it’s something people don’t know about.”
Demetriades argued that lack of knowledge about changes to the airport, and enduring stigma of the Town filing for bankruptcy, make Mammoth a tough sell. He said he had spoken to hundreds of people in the financial industry, and that they had “zero interest in providing a loan in Mammoth … that is how bad it is. By the time another property gets built, it’s going to be 14, 15 years. That’s unheard of in a ski town.”
Demetriades’ suggestion: “[People] do know about the bankruptcy; they do know global warming; they do know about the drought. They don’t know all the great news that we have to share. … My request is that it’s time to start sharing a little more proactively some of the [positive] things we know about what’s going on.”
Urdi did have some positive news to report to the MLT Board: an increase in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) of 15 percent in June, 20 percent in July, 4 percent in August, 28 prcent in September, 25 percent in October, 77 percent in November, and “I’d be very, very surprised if December doesn’t press two million and set a new record,” he said.
“We’re 22 percent ahead of budget since last year,” he added. Meanwhile Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) is $500,000 ahead of MLT’s forecast through November.
As for flights, in spite of cancellations, “This snow just keeps the phones ringing,” Urdi said. “It’s frustrating to see the flights canceled, but exciting to see the future bookings.”
