XJT was Money Maker for Ontario
Estimates of losses expected by California airport officials, gives an indication of just how large the impact of ExpressJet’s doomed branded service had. Despite the fact it is closing its branded operation including the huge resources put into Ontario, Calif., Ontario officials noted that the airline generated $5 million for the airport in its first 12 months and called the closure “a huge loss” given the fact ExpressJet only trailed Southwest at the airport in terms of enplanements. Related Story Now that the branded service is closing Southern California is expected to lose millions.
It was in February 2007 that the airlines announced its ambitious plans to spread its wings into branded service, adding Ontario that April. Those plans included maintenance bases at Austin, Tex and Ontario, which would also have a crew base and the busiest schedule to 14 cities served with 29 planned departures. Its plans called for an investment of over $2 million in a new repair and maintenance base at Ontario, where it also planned to hire 100 agents, 160 three-person crews and 50 mechanics and invest $1.3 million in airport facilities and equipment. Related Story
Now the airport will lose a fifth of its daily traffic and 400 employees on September 2, when the service ends.

go! Follows Industry on Bag Fees
While most regionals have already adopted first bag check charges at the behest of their major partners, Mesa Air Group’s go! is following suit instituting a $10 charge as of August 10. It cited the rising cost of fuel and reversed the stance taken just a week ago that it does not believe in such fees. Related Story
With the introduction of this first-checked-bag fee, go! reduced its second-checked-bag fee to $17. Announced last month, the second-checked-bag fee applies to passengers who purchased tickets on or after June 25, 2008 for travel on or after July 15, 2008.
"Fuel costs have more than doubled since we first entered the Hawaiian market," said Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa Air Group chair and CEO. "In this extremely challenging environment we remain committed to providing the best interisland service at the lowest possible cost and are working to provide options instead of raising overall cost of travel," he continued.

Jazz COO Resigns
Jazz Air LP announced the resignation of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer William (Bill) Bredt effective August 10, 2008 when he will return to Air Canada as its new executive vice president and chief operating officer. Bredt was appointed to his post in 2004, with the overall responsibility for Flight Operations, Inflight, Maintenance and Engineering, Airports and Systems Operations Control. Prior to joining Jazz, Bredt spent 33 years at Air Canada in various senior roles

TCCA-EWR Outpacing Projections
In the three months since Porter launched its Toronto City Center Airport-New York service via Newark Liberty International Airport, the growth of the market makes New York Porter's most successful new destination to date, with the Toronto-Newark route performing 80 percent ahead of revenue projections. Even so, it is issuing a new schedule as the result of FAA efforts to improve reliability at the airport. Porter recently reduced its weekday service to six from seven daily flights while adding weekend capacity as part of the FAA’s efforts to minimize congestion at New York-area airports. Related Story
The airline's on-time performance record is among the best in North America. It achieved a trailing 12-month 87 percent average for arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule throughout its network. On-time performance in Newark is 73 percent, which is five percent ahead of the airport's total average using most recent figures.
Porter's rapidly-growing appeal already resulted in 35 percent of passengers originating from Newark on the Toronto route, despite no prior brand awareness in the United States. Staff will also expand to 500 from 350 and at least two new U.S. destinations will be added within the next 12 months.

Horizon Adds Points
After outlining massive cuts in service resulting from fuel costs and the transition out of its Bombarder CRJ 700s and Dash 8s, Horizon Air is bringing back seasonal once-daily, nonstop service between San Jose and Palm Springs, Calif., for its second winter season there. Related Story It will also launch seasonal service to Mammoth Mountain, Calif. from Los Angeles.
The new flights will be operated with 70-seat CRJ-700 regional jets. Horizon and Alaska currently serve Palm Springs with year-round nonstop flights from Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle, and winter season nonstop flights from Portland.
Horizon’s flight to Mammoth Lakes will be operated with the Q400, with a 65-minute flight. Just 15 minutes from the Mammoth Yosemite Airport, Mammoth Mountain currently hosts more than 1.1 million skiers per year, making it the third most visited mountain resort in the country. Horizon is offering a limited time introductory fare of $79 each way for travel from Los Angeles to Mammoth for selected days in January 2009. Regular fares from Los Angeles start as low as $99 each way.