Costs force cuts at JWA

High fuel costs and a sluggish economy have meant deep service cuts at John Wayne Airport this year, but airport officials say several airlines are waiting in the wings to begin flights to and from Orange County — including the possibility of routes from the international carrier Air Canada.

Several airlines have already cut flights from the Orange County air travel hub, and more have announced plans to slash service.

Passenger numbers at John Wayne were down by 7.6% for 2008 from a year ago in May, according to airport officials. The number of passengers who passed through John Wayne in May 2008 was down 11.9% from May 2007.

“Obviously, we are feeling the impact of what is going on in the airline industry right now, but John Wayne is traditionally a very strong market,” said Courtney Wiercioch, deputy director for public affairs at John Wayne Airport.

Passenger numbers could still pick up as the summer travel season heats up, Wiercioch said.

“We still expect to have robust service here — until we start hitting July and August, we won’t know what the situation is.”

Southwest Airlines announced plans this week to drop its Orange County to Las Vegas route, with several daily departures, but also has expressed interest in adding routes from John Wayne.

American Airlines will end nonstop service between Orange County and Austin, Texas, in September, and Alaska Airlines dropped flights between John Wayne and Oakland in April. The Hawaiian air carrier Aloha Airlines ended service from John Wayne on March 31 after the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Record fuel prices and customers reluctant to pay higher ticket prices have forced many airlines to slash service, said Alaska Airlines spokesman Paul McElroy. Alaska dropped five round-trip flights a day between John Wayne and Oakland in April.

The airline’s fuel costs for the first quarter of 2008 are up by 50% from a year ago, he said.

“We just found that service to be no longer profitable,” McElroy said. “Certainly we had customers who traveled that route, but people were reluctant to pay higher ticket prices. We regretted the need to do that, but we have to serve places where we earn a profit.”

American Airlines also has had to make deep cuts to flights nationwide in response to high fuel prices, said American spokesman Tim Wagner. The carrier will stop its daily, round-trip, nonstop service between Austin, Texas and Orange County beginning in September.

Orange County customers will still be able to fly between the two cities, with a connection at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

“Though customers prefer nonstop flights, in difficult economic times, we must fall back on our strengths, the primary one being our hub-and-spoke network,” Wagner said.

Despite a drop-off in passenger traffic and service cuts, John Wayne has a waiting list of airlines that want to begin flights out of Orange County, Wiercioch said.

Talks between airport officials and the international carrier Air Canada are ongoing, she said.

Several issues would have to be worked out with the carrier before service could begin, she said, including adding international service at John Wayne and conducting tests on Air Canada planes to make sure jets could comply with the airport’s noise regulations.

“We are in active discussions with them, and obviously that would involve destinations in Canada, and that would involve international processing issues,” she said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.