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Mexicana won't resume flights in June

The Bakersfield Californian | Tuesday, May 13 2008 11:52 AM

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 14 2008 7:29 AM

Mexicana Airlines will not resume flights to Bakersfield next month as was hoped, but could return when the current economic downturn ends, officials said Tuesday.

The carrier announced it’s suspending service between Meadows Field and Guadalajara “indefinitely” but passengers with originating flights from here can travel from Los Angeles or Fresno.

“It's a shock to us but it’s not nearly as bad as it was after 9/11 when we lost multiple flights,” Kern County Airports Director Jack Gotcher told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Late last month, airline officials said they were suspending the flights for 30 days and during that time would re-evaluate the service. They said high fuel costs prompted the move.

Mexicana promised Tuesday it’s “working diligently to ensure a smooth transition.”

“After a thorough evaluation and analysis of the present conditions, availability and practical use of our resources, and the financial viability in the present market conditions, Mexicana has made the difficult decision to suspend its operation indefinitely to BFL,” the company said in a statement.

Mexicana cannot price tickets at a level that can recoup the cost while keeping ticket sales high, Gotcher told the board. He said he hopes Mexicana will come back after the economy improves and a Mexicana spokeswoman, Theresa Bravo, said that indeed is possible.

Mexicana's flights, which started on March 29, 2007, were the only international flights into Meadows Field. Gotcher said his department will continue to try to market the airport to other Mexican carriers as well as domestic services.

“Our job is to keep BFL (the airport's call letters) in their minds,” Gotcher said.

He argued that this setback, while disappointing, is not a terrible blow to Meadows Field.

Gotcher said the county should maintain a customs facility at the airport, in part to retain the airport's ability to attract international flights and as a tool to increase cargo flights.

He also said the customs facility could be used to give the county a shot at administering international trade zone services in Kern County.

The county spent $7 million to build the customs building and $1 million to renovate the old domestic terminal building for the international traveler.

And in April 2007, supervisors agreed to spend $150,000 on advertising to promote Mexicana's Meadows Field flights and cancel up to $36,000 in landing fees the airline would have owed the county.

The county did not secure any promise or insurance from Mexicana that it would continue international service to Meadows Field, Gotcher has said.

Supervisor Mike Maggard said today Mexicana’s decision was “disappointing but not surprising.”

He said the important goal now is to find ways to use the new international terminal and customs office.

“At our direction the airports director will find a way for us not to have squandered precious taxpayer dollars,” Maggard said.

Also at the supervisors meeting this morning, Terri Holder of Rosedale questioned Supervisor Ray Watson's request to hire Mary Garner as an extra-help employee in his office.

She questioned why Watson should be allowed to spend public money to hire staff during a political campaign.

Watson said Garner is a retired county employee who has served as a district representative in Taft for both him and former Supervisor Ken Peterson for nearly a decade.

Tuesday's hiring of Garner was a routine action repeated annually, he said.

Watson added that Garner does zero campaign work for him on or off the county clock.

Supervisors approved the hiring, which is expected to cost the county $10,988 in the next 12 months.