and we have this brand new expensive airport because...................................

Bummer!

What happens when all the airlines pull out of Meadow's Field? Will we be turning it into a second bus terminal? Or will it become the new high-speed train terminal (in 2030)? Maybe we can turn it into another Target......
 

Spam code: KPUTI

Our city is just too small to support this kind of service, we couldn't even fill the small plane to 50% capacity, even at 100% they would have to discontinue the flight because of fuel prices, at over $5.00 a gallon for Jet A fuel, they would be losing money every flight.

I want too thank ExpressJet for how much they tried to make this work, i.e , $49 one-way flights , 1.00 beers, awesome new Embraer Jets with leather seats, young friendly employees. ect

Thanks for the memories. BP

Good thing I have a private jet... sheeesh

mattloch echoed my thoughts: Is a "bullet train" still on the drawing board? A high speed rail that can zip aong the tracks at over 150  mph connecting major cities has its attractions.  

I didn't check Express Jet's prices but usually flights from Bakersfield to eastern destinations like Dallas cost about a hun more than a similar flight from LAX to the same place. If the carriers couldn't figure out that charging that premium from an airport that has lower landing fees than LAX just might run off business I would have thought that premium would have helped ease the cost effect of over priced fuel.

The flights to Scaramento and San Diego were reasonably priced. The real crux of this trend is that there is not enough business travel to support these airlines. SoCalMuscle sums it up pretty succinctly. The big companies rely more and more on their own private fleets. Bakersfield, not being a major tourist attraction, does get a lot of vacationers flying in and out of the airport to make up the lack of biz travel.

Bullet trains in America? You've got to be kidding. That is so European it could never happen here, just like universal health care. Let's just make it a giant fast food-court terminal with Sonic, Wendy's, Arby's, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Panda Express, KFC and all pizza chains inside.

I guess it's back to LAX-itive flights again.

It's a real shame. ExpressJet is a great airline. Unfortunately the routes they selected for this market don't make a lot of sense. Eastern routes would have been a much better fit. Though I note ExpressJet is also dropping service to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, which on the surface would seem to be pretty good routes from here. I know there was a non-stop Oklahoma City route from Ontario on ExpressJet that was about the same cost as flying to Sacramento.

Well, we're back to three airlines, for now, and much of that service is actually provided by Mesa Airlines, which is on the verge of filing bankruptcy as well. Stay tuned. Maybe the terminal could be turned into a concert hall, or a paintball facility or...a car dealership. Look at all the parking.

Bill Thomas has got to be pissed...between that and the lack of progress on building roads...

ExpressJet is trying to get the support of the community to back the Airline. There will be a meeting on June 4th to discus it. Bakersfield does have enough people to fill those planes and they usually do a pretty good job its the time of day that the San Diego flight is that makes the numbers go down. ExpressJet is willing to listen to Bakersfield and Bakersfield needs to show the support to the Airline. The employee's are doing all they can to keep the flights going. They know they offer a great service and product and now they need the help in getting the word out.

Stephen, the flights out of Meadows Field cost more because you are paying for the "luxury" of being able to fly out of a local airport and not have to drive down to LAX which costs gas and parking fees. It's a more limited market, so we don't get the volume discounts a major airport would get. I personally don't mind paying more to fly out of Meadows Field because the lines are short, the waiting area is less crowded and I can leave my car safely at home (and just have someone drop me off and pick me up). And with gas prices these days, the cost difference is far less pronounced.

I am however concerned about Mesa Airlines. That's the one I usually use out of Meadows Field. They have jet flights out of Meadows that are far more reasonably priced than Delta for the overall trip.

Last I heard the high-speed rail is still set to be on the ballot in November. But it will require voters to authorize, you know, spending bond money and thus raising taxes.

The high-speed rail proponents say if we don't build it, we'll have to spend even more money on roads and airports to take the same traffic.

I don't know that there are specific opponents.

WEll there it goes..  A way to travel  for none freeway drivers!     Family lives in San Diego, It would have been nice not to ride a buss to L.A. not to walk miles at the airport!  Disable people can't handle all that stress!    Bakersfield we need these flights call the paper and let them know.   If Bakersfield is a growing classy town?  Why can't we have up schale  air service!

Has anyone addressed the mountains yet?  Ya know, those pesky things that have trains slowed down to a crawl right now.  Or have they decided they will tunnel through the mountains under the grapevine?  For high speed rail, they'll either have to go under them, around them, or over them.  That is if they want Los Angeles to San Francisco capabilities

Last I hear (from motopoet and I could have it all bassackwards)  when BNSF wanted to do it UP told them fine, but if you do we won't allow you to use our rails for freight while you build.  BNSF backed off.  Now things could have changed... we'll see.

Looks like they're going out to the Mojave via a Tehachapi tunnel to deal with the mountains. At least that's what popped up as a "route highlight" on the interactive route map at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/

Thanks Shwaine.  Interesting site.  It may happen one day but prolly not in a time frame where I'll be able to use it.  That RR will take many years to build even after it's approved..providing it is.

Curious is right. The community does need to get out and support the Airline. Bakersfield said they wanted a flight to Sacramento and ExpressJet gave it to them and now they need to show their support by using ExpressJet to get to Sacramento. Its still not a done deal but it will be without the support of the community.

The only thing that will work at BFL is to get the LCCs (Low Cost Carriers) in here.  Sadly, SWA (Southwest) requires, I believe, 1 million annual riders, which I think is a load of BS from them because of the old Frontier routes they are taking.  Bringing in SWA, JetBlue, or even Horizon, will help lower fares in and out of BFL.  For example, a Delta flight from Tulsa to Atlanta typically runs $600+ on a small 50 seat Regional Jet, but it is non-stop vs. less than $300 for a one stop on American.  Why the difference?  Supply and demand.  DAL is the only airline to offer non-stop to Atlanta, so they can charge that much.  Same can be said now for Tulsa to Denver.  United is almost doubling their airfares to Denver now that Frontier is pulling out of Tulsa.  Again, supply and demand.  On the flip side, AA flights from Tulsa to Dallas (DFW or Love) are less than $200, same for Tulsa to Houston (Intercontinental or Hobby) because there is competition between AA, SWA, and Contential.  When AA was flying routes to LAX out of BFL, the fares between United and AA were very competitive until AA pulled out of BFL.  Believe me, I miss that BFL-DFW flight like you wouldn't believe.  With that being said, the goal should now be to convince SWA to give BFL one flight to DEN (Denver), a flight to LAS (Las Vegas), and a flight to Houston Hobby.  I would say a SWA flight to Dallas Love, but because the Wright Amendment has yet to be repealed fully, SWA can't fly into BFL from DAL.  As far as an experimental flight, someone offering a flight from BFL to RNO (Reno) may have a chance to survive.  There are enough ski bums and vacationers that already go to Tahoe that may take those flights instead of driving the 6-8 hours.

The only thing that will help Meadows survive is for the people of Bakersfield to take advantage of the flights that are there.  I'm sorry, bt the added $50-$60 to an airfare to fly in and out of BFL vs. going into LAX is worth it to me because you don't have to deal with LAX, traffic, or the 2-3 hour drive from LAX, not to mention the added cost of more expensive parking at LAX and the gas to get back and forth.  I have talked to Theresa multiple times and have thrown ideas back and forth about possible airlines.  If you ever have questions, email her and she typically will get back to you in a couple of days.

Ray Bishop started something good at BFL and the new group is doing their best to keep it going, but until something happens with fuel prices and the FAA quits being a group of power hungry morons, if you want to keep flights at BFL and ever have a chance to add flights, use your local airport as much as you possibly can.  Airlines look at that more than you would believe.

Now, about ExpressJet.  They could succeed, however the decisions they have made about destinations from most of their cities do NOT make sense.  The only flight that really ever made sense out of BFL was to SMF (Sacramento).  ExpressJet, not too long ago, cancelled their flights to Austin, San Antonio, one to Albuquerque, and the only flight to Corpus Christi from Tulsa.  The ABQ flight somewhat made sense for skiiers, but the flight to Ontario, Sacramento, and San Diego really never made sense for people in Tulsa.  Flights to Colorado Springs, New Orleans, and Kansas City would make more sense because those are local places of interest.  Also, the lack of eastern routes doesn't really make ExpressJet that attractive to travellers, not to mention the fact that connecting through an airport on ExpressJet when booking on their website is literally impoossible.  A person that wanted to go to Tulsa, or even Omaha, from Bakersfield couldn't book that trip on ExpressJet's website without making two bookings.  ExpressJet's RJs were nice, having XM was great, as were the cheap "beverages", but the convienence as a whole was never there.  Ultimately, I think ExpressJet will go back to being a charter airline and handling RJ flights for the legacy airlines......the ones that survive.