• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

More Trouble Ahead for Modesto Flight Services?

April 11, 2014 By Bruce Frohman Leave a Comment

Modesto Airport Flight Tower
Modesto Airport Flight Tower

News Item: SkyWest, a subsidiary of United Airlines, announces that it will cease serving the Modesto airport in July, 2014, citing declining numbers of passengers. With a population of over half a million citizens, Stanislaus County has a sufficient population base to support the service of at least one airline. So what is the problem?

A History of Mediocre Service and Schedules

If one wants a case study on how not to run an airline, the service provided to Modesto’s flying public provides a classic example.

The first problem is inadequate frequency of flights. Valley citizens catch flights to all over the world at all times of day from San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Oakland International airports. As a conduit for passengers exclusively to  San Francisco International Airport, SkyWest’s schedule appeals to only a small segment of potential passengers residing in Stanislaus County. Service to Los Angeles is being proposed that will face challenges comparable to current service. If passengers can’t conveniently get to a major airport via Modesto air services, they will drive or take other public transportation. The inadequate frequency of flights problem is encountered again when returning to Modesto.

The second problem is unreliability. Valley citizens often missed connecting flights when Sky West cancelled service due to early morning fog or too few passengers. The carrier made decisions to cancel flights without regard to the convenience of passengers. In turn, affected passengers abandoned the carrier as a transportation provider because the carrier was  unreliable. Given the proximity of Modesto to San Francisco, the cost for parking, gasoline, and traffic grief was often perceived as preferable to the unreliability of the carrier.

The third problem is the ticket price. The one way cost to San Francisco is over $100 if one does not fly with a United Airlines connecting flight. For two travelers, driving to the San Francisco airport and paying for parking is cost effective compared to the price of two fares. For families, the price comparison is worse. Undoubtedly. the price structure has discouraged a substantial percentage of potential Modesto airport customers from using SkyWest. Limousine Service from San Francisco to Modesto is about the same price as the fare for one person. Using Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and buses to BART is the least expensive choice. Coincidentally, the difficulty in lining up bus/BART schedules vs Skywest schedules for connecting flights are comparable!

The fourth problem is the plane. When this writer rode the plane, there was not a working toilet on it. By the time one arrived in San Francisco or Modesto, one would be very uncomfortable. As a small plane was used to provide service and the ride was  less comfortable than a larger plane. The ride over San Francisco Bay was very bumpy on occasion, constituting a very stressful flight for those who are afraid to fly.

Finally, the airline does little, if anything, to promote the service. The airline has done little advertising, has not run promotions, or done anything obvious to tout its service. No known customer satisfaction surveys have been taken and the company has had no presence in the community except when a plane has been at the airport.  The ticket counter at the airport is usually closed.

Lack of Profitability in the San Joaquin Valley

For many years, the U.S. government has subsidized air service to smaller communities like Modesto.  In turn, air carriers have used the subsidies to maintain service without a commensurate effort to make the routes profitable. Routes are only profitable when planes fly full and are constantly in use. Historically, air carriers have only done the minimum when operating without competition in small markets. Passengers either pay the monopolist price and accept mediocre service or use alternative transportation.

Back in the 1950’s, the population base of Modesto and Stanislaus County was too small to sustain airline service. Subsidies could be justified. Now, given today’s much larger population, an air carrier that wants to build a business by connecting Valley towns to major airports could build a healthy business. But there are now so few air carriers that little competition remains within the industry.

The business model of the merged air carrier industry does not include serving the San Joaquin Valley, no matter how large our population grows. The prospect of service to Los Angeles airport, a major hub for air travel, is encouraging.  But the service will not survive if the carrier does no better a job than Sky West has. The airline will have to operate in a businesslike manner, not just fly planes at will and hope people show up at the gate.

 

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Modesto Airport, SkyWest Modesto

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design