August 18, 2021

ESCOG LOOKS AT REGIONAL AIR SERVICE

United flights from San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles will begin landing at the Bishop Regional Airport at the end of this year, just in time for ski season. The icing on the airport’s cake will be a sprung structure to house Transportation Security Administration screenings and passenger services slated for set-up in September.
The Mammoth Yosemite Airport will be the destination of charter flights through Advanced Airlines out of Burbank, Carlsbad and Hawthorne.
This was all good news at last week’s Eastern Sierra Council of Governments meeting whose representatives from Mono and Inyo counties, the Town of Mammoth Lakes and city of Bishop focus on regional approaches to issues that impact both small, rural populations.
Inyo’s Ashley Helms outlined work completed on Bishop’s taxiway and runway, funded with Federal Aviation Administration grants to the tune of $12 million. An additional FAA grant will cover the purchase of a rescue/fire fighting vehicle scheduled to arrive next month. Two staffers will go through FAA training on the vehicle.
Environmental work has also been completed with both state and federal agencies coming back with a finding of no significant impact.
One of the big beneficiaries of air travel will be Mammoth Lakes. John Urdi, director of Mammoth Lakes Recreation, provided details on Advanced Airlines’ charter service at the Mammoth Yosemite Airport with service at Burbank, Hawthorne and Carlsbad airports in the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas. He anticipates service four to six days a week starting November 24.
According to Urdi, Enterprise car rentals, which already covers Mammoth from its Bishop office, is looking at setting up an office in the town. Urdi is looking at “several companies” to provide shuttle services.
Details of the Minimum Revenue Guarantees, allocated for the airlines if air service doesn’t make the anticipated revenue, are in the works, Helms said noting discussions between Mammoth Mountain, the Town and Inyo County.