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May 2008 |
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New concerns linger around airport's flight path |
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Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
By Lara Kirkner
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 A Horizon Airlines Bombardier Q400 similar to this one could be making regular flights to the Mammoth Airport, pending the results of important decisions being made regarding the facility's future.IMAGE COURTESY HORIZON AIRLINES/ALASKA AIR
That is, however, if items that were to be discussed at last night's Town Council meeting (May 7) gained some forward momentum. It's crunch time for decisions on the runway and the terminal building in order to keep the flight path on track.
Council was expected to make decisions about awarding bids to contractors for repaving the runway and remodeling the terminal building. The CEQA findings for both projects were also expected to be presented last night. According to Airport Commision Chair Pam Murphy, if the Council decided not to award the bids, problems might occur with Horizon Airlines, the company that has signed a letter of intent to bring flights to Mammoth in their Bombardier-made Q400 aircraft, but has yet to sign a contract with the Town and the Mountain.
With the nation's economy flailing at the moment, many airlines are coming up short on profits and some are being forced into bankruptcy at worst, downsizing at best. According to Murphy, Horizon is only downsizing at this time and is not getting rid of the Q400s, but may have fewer available in the near future. This puts more pressure on Mammoth to get their improvements complete and sign a contract with Horizon before the airline decides to use its planes elsewhere.
On the flip side, if Council chose to award the bids at last night's meeting a new slew of issues will have to be dealt with.
The airport is set to close on May 19, at which time, if the bid is awarded, runway improvements will begin. The airport is expected to be closed for at least three months while improvements are being made. Private planes will be redirected to the Bishop Airport. The question then is, "How do those redirected flights get to Mammoth after landing?"
While it is true that there is no public transit from the Mammoth Airport to town at this time, there is a big difference between finding a way to get nine miles to finding a way to get 40 miles. The Airport Commission discussed this issue at length at its meeting last week and decided to recommend to Council that if they approve the runway bid that they should also expedite some sort of communications plan to let the public know the airport will be closing and to give them some ideas of how to make the trek from Bishop to Mammoth.
“I am really worried about the closure,” Murphy said to the other Commissioners. “It could be the single biggest mess down there.”
Airport and Transportation Director Bill Manning said that while there is no specialized public transportation planned as yet, Enterprise Rent-a-Car is planning to beef up its Bishop fleet while the Mammoth Airport is closed. This will give more fliers the opportunity to rent a car in Bishop and drive to Mammoth.
“The local cab companies will also be made aware of the airport's closure and the redirection to Bishop,” Manning said.
Another option may be the Eastern Sierra Transit Authority, which has a bus running from Bishop to Mammoth twice a day, Monday through Saturday. Schedules and fares are posted at www.easternsierratransitauthority.com.
Councilman John Eastman said, prior to last night's meeting, that he believes awarding a contract for the runway paving would be a “no brainer” for the Council because it is going to be done with Federal Aviation Administration money. The terminal building remodel, however, may be a struggle for Council to decide on because the Town has to pay for that.
Murphy stated that the terminal building is an important piece for getting Horizon to sign a contract.
On the positive side of things, Manning said that the Town is very pleased with the bids they had received for the terminal and the runway, “both with cost and scheduling.” The airport also recently passed its FAA Part 139 inspection.
Eastman also said that Horizon is expected to be in Mammoth on May 12 and 13 to look at the set-up of the airport.
The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) relating to the reinstatement of regional commercial air service is complete and has been circulated, according to a press release from the Airport Project Team. A Record of Decision is expected on May 17 according to Murphy.
Runway closure also raises safety issues
When the Mammoth Yosemite Airport closes its runway on May 19, pilots flying for pleasure and vacation won't be the only ones at a disadvantage for the summer. Local emergency response teams will lose their capability to fly injured persons out of the airport when deemed necessary.
“There are more medical flights out of the hospital during the summer,” stated Mammoth Lakes Fire Department's Fire Marshall and Division Chief Thom Heller.
In order to accommodate the closure, there will be two ambulances on call in Mono County this summer, most likely a County vehicle and a Mammoth Lakes Fire vehicle.
“If someone needs to be flown out of the area, we will drive them to Bishop in one of the ambulances and the second ambulance will cover the area,” Heller said.
He admitted that there is quite a delay in having to drive eight or nine miles as opposed to 40 miles, and said the hospital would be responsible for making the call on whether or not a victim is stable enough to make the trek.
“Serious injury and/or a full hospital are the two reasons for transport,” Heller explained.
The difference in mileage will lengthen the time of a transport from approximately one hour to approximately three hours, Heller said. Specific plans are not nailed down at this time regarding what to do if both ambulances are dispatched down to Bishop at the same time.
“Originally the airport was suppose to close on June 1, with the bump up to May 19 we are having to work more quickly on coming up with solutions,” Heller said.
Another option for transport may be to helicopter the patient out of the area from the Forest Service's heli-pad instead of using a fixed wing plane in Bishop, but this also comes with complications.
“Depending on where it's coming from and the size of the helicopter, it takes almost a full tank of fuel for a helicopter to get from Reno to Mammoth, and with the airport closed there will be no fuel in Mammoth,” Heller explained.
All parties are working together at this point to make the best of the situation.
“We understand that the airport closure has to be all or nothing,” Heller said. “If they let the med-evac fly in, then it opens the door to everyone. Bill [Manning, Airport Director] tried to work something out with the taxi-way, but the FAA said no. We all agree it's not the best of situations, but there isn't much else we can do.”
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