California Hoping to Attract Air Taxis to Rural Markets

State and local officials in California are considering expanding the use of airports from personal/agricultural aircraft to making them bases for the growing number of air taxi services and are considering infrastructure improvements to accommodate the new services. Glenn County officials are already tapping the business and local community leaders to gain support, citing Federal Aviation Administration predictions the 70 to 75 percent of all very light jets will be used in air taxi services operating out of local airports.
“We see a big future for these new light jets,” California Department of Transportation Senior Transportation Planner Terry Barrie told the Willows Journal. “They are the enablers for changing they way people travel, whether it’s personal or business. We’re going to be seeing more and more private and corporate use of these jets as air taxies. It’s cheaper and faster than commercial travel. You can go to a meeting in San Francisco and be back the same day. You won’t have to drive to the Sacramento airport to fly to San Francisco, but fly right out of Orland or Willows and into Santa Clara. It saves time and it saves money.”
Officials are targeting Orland’s Haigh Field and Willows Airport which are eligible for federal airport grants as well as state grants of up to 2.5 percent of the FAA grant. In addition to infrastructure improvements the airports would need 24-hour fixed base operation as well as a passenger area and pilot’s lounge, according to the Journal.