East Side Counties Talk Airports As the Mono Inyo Air Service Working Group Is Revived
The skepticism focused on the feasibility of air service in the Eastern Sierra has all but dissolved with the success of commercial service in Bishop and charter service in Mammoth. Bishop has seen a few cancellations, most of which were based on weather conditions at the point of origin, not Bishop. What has remained, however, is the issue of who pays for what.
Back in 2016, the late Inyo County Chief Executive Officer Clint Quilter recommended the
Eastern Sierra Council of Governments form a sub-committee to look at a regional collaboration focusing on reliable, diversified air service to the region. Identified as the Mono Inyo Air Working Group (MIAWG), that collaboration was recently reformed with representatives from both counties, the town of Mammoth Lakes and Bishop. MIAWG held its first meeting to specifically look at air service now that there is air service out of Bishop.
Representatives included Trina Orrill from Inyo’s Board of Supervisors, Karen Schwartz from
Bishop City Council, Bob Gardner from Mono’s Board of Supervisors and John Wentworth from Mammoth Town Council.
The concept is complicated as two distinct counties with a lot in common but disparate
personalities have to put aside those personalities and agree on who does what and, more
importantly, who pays for what. Inyo County uses grant funding for airport improvements for
the Bishop facility. At issue is the funding for the minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) for the
airlines to schedule flights to the Eastern Sierra.
Not surprisingly, airlines are reluctant to provide service to an area unless they can make a
profit. The MRG is that guarantee.
Mammoth Lakes Tourism Business Improvement District and Mammoth Mountain contribute
to air service subsidies. Rates vary depending on the size and type of business. The 2022 rates
range from 2-percent of lift ticket and ski school sales for Mammoth Mountain and 1-percent
for lodging. Restaurants and retail businesses contribute 1.5-percent of gross sales, for the
larger entities, to a $500 or $50 annual flat rate, again, depending on business size. Bishop’s
Business Tourism Improvement District’s assessment rate is 2-percent of gross sales but those
assessments are used for marketing and sales promotion, not air service. MLT is in the process
of renegotiating TBID assessments.
Total contributions to Advanced Airlines, the charter service, is $875,000 paid by MLT and the
town of Mammoth Lakes. MLT, Inyo County and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area all pay into
the $2,347,000 guarantee to United.
Schwartz, Orrill and Bishop Chamber Executive Director Tawni Thomson all expressed
enthusiasm for year-round service as more people were taking advantage of the Bishop airport.
Basically, with United connections, locals could fly out and tourists could fly in without having
to deal with Los Angeles International Airport, a facility known to tie up traffic from El Segundo to Manhattan Beach.
Thomson described the potential for the Eastern Sierra to be “the new gateway to the West.
People can reach the Eastern Sierra, rent a car and explore without having to land at LAX.”
Gardner cautioned the enthusiasm, “year-round has a price tag.” Wentworth summed up the
meeting accurately. “Friday’s meeting was a most productive and much needed first step as the
region works together to define and implement a reliable, regional air service program. Plenty
of work to come.”
Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News - The Community's News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Any chance there will be flights from Southern California (LA? Orange County?) to Bishop?
We used BIH to DEN twice this year. Fantastic option! However, why do we subsidize private jet service to MMH?
we don’t.
I wonder what the reaction is when guests headed for Mammoth get hosed for a $60 shuttle fare from Bishop when the resorts were providing courtesy service to and from Mammoth airport! Also, not to mention the weather closures on 395 out of Bishop!
bob
From Mammoth airport to Mammoth,a little bit shorter drive and shuttle than it is from Bishop to Mammoth, isn’t it ?
Bishop to Mammoth,about a 45-50 mile drive,up a big gas-guzzling grade for a shuttlebus to drive,and over 2 hours total for the service getting there and back.
Seems $60 isn’t that bad.
While I support the development and addition of commercial air service to the Eastern Sierra, it baffles me that Bishop no longer is a sustainable community to live and work. There needs to be some sort of commercial services added back to Bishop (i.e. Walmart, Target), for the general public to be able to purchase basic supplies. I don’t understand why we they talking about growing an airport, while Bishop doesn’t even have a place to purchase basic goods like underwear and socks. The last time I visited I was appalled at the fact that Bishop provides very little to the visitors and residents in terms of shopping and basic goods and services. It makes me want to drive through, instead of stop and shop like I used to. Time to start thinking some sort of small growth opportunities, before they continue to develop the airport.
The Toggery has been selling clothes in Bishop for a century. How about we support them and other locals before bringing in big corporations that suck more revenue out of the community than they provide? Vons in Mammoth and Bishop is a good example of us letting ourselves be gouged to pay distant shareholders while they drive local businesses out of existence.
Thats great Pedro, but why are so many citizens, and small businesses leaving town and/or closing in Bishop? 2 empty Kmart stores, BBQ Bills, La Casita, Ben Franklyn’s Etc. Empty, gone. There is no sustainability, and with the combined population between Inyo and Mono Counties reaching 35-40,000, with NO options to buy certain necessities, it’s sad. The small-town charm and local businesses do well regardless. The Toggery is a great place to shop, but with limited options. There just needs to be more goods and services provided to the town. And to service an airport, into a town where the locals even can’t buy underwear, it’s a sad situation. My family has history in the valley, and I understand the “support local” idea, but Bishop serves the larger population of the communities around it as well.
To all women/girls who want the perfect riding (or just lookin’ good) blue jeans–the Toggery carries Wrangler’s Q-Babies!!! You don’t have to guess on the size–you can try ’em on.