Friends: 

Once again, the Visalia City Council has run away from the reality ofthe runway. 

In choosing this week to support SeaPort Airlines' concept to provide subsidized service to, of all places, 

Burbank and Oakland, it's time to check-in with reality. 

The council is doing the wrong thing. The right thing would be to walk away from the mind-numbing 

Essential Air Service program. 

The program pays airlines to serve small communities with connections to major hubs, such as San 

Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. 

By a 3-2 vote, the council recommended service to Burbank, where passenger traffic fell 5.34% in 2013, 

according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Oakland lost 3.14% in 2013. These are second-rate 

airports with no meaning to Visalia. 

Here's why: 

• Bob Hope Burbank Airport's nonstop flights are dismal. It serves Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, 

Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle- all of which are available nonstop from 

Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Bakersfield serves Sacramento, San Francisco, andironically, Oakland- all of which mean nothing to Visalia travelers. The only bright spot is 

nonstop service to New York, known as "the studio express" because of its popularity with the 

entertainment industry in Burbank and New York. 

• Metropolitan Oakland Airport's nonstop flights are equally discouraging. After losing several 

major carriers in the past few years, its duplication of service from Fresno involves five of the 11 

airlines now flying from the East Bay. The only highlights are the enormously popular- yet 

seasonal, non-daily- charter flights to the Azores Islands via Boston. A new entrant with 

upcoming seasonal nonstop service to Norway and Sweden, but I suggest that hardly broadens 

options for daily travel from the Central San Joaquin Valley. 

There's a myth that flying from Fresno is more expensive. But when you calculate time, fuel, possibly 

parking, weather and a big-city airport environment, it's generally equal. The only problem is that flights 

depart Fresno with significant passenger counts so any bookings within 14 days appear to be more 

expensive. Because of the capacity available at major airports, a 7-day window normally can suffice. 

As long as I am talking about expense, I would ask every taxpayer who's had the nerve to read this far 

consider these facts: 

• The proposed fare by SeaPort is $59. Even if a miracle occurs, and each 9-passenger plane is full 

in each direction every day, that would amount to $775,260 from travelers. 
• The airline is requesting an annual subsidy of$1,857,912 to provide the service. 

Given the best-case scenario, the cost shared by a full-flight potential of annual 13.,140 travelers- and 

every taxpayer- is $2,633,172 per year, about $200.39 per passenger. 

Yet only 3,521 passengers boarded from Visalia Municipal Airport in 2013, according to the FAA. Even if 

one disregards the shrinking seat availability under this plan, the stakes soar skyward: The proposed 

plan would create an effective cost of about $586.66 per passenger- in a single-engine, non-pressurized 

plane. That is going to be a tough sell. 

And let's not forget the cost taxpayers suffer to provide a fully staffed Transportation Security 

Administration staff in Visalia. Those costs are unknown within the depths of the federal budget. 

Sometimes those costs can be addressed by landing at a non-secure area of the destination airport, 

requiring security procedures before gaining access to the terminal; that has not been addressed. 

Make sure your seat belts are fastened: 

• Governments cannot run airlines. 

• Greed (for airport improvements) inevitably gets in the way. It would be far better to directly 

work with Fed Ex, UPS, and very important local operators to understand their needs. The 

challenge is to retain and value their business at the airport without a crushing and mindless 

burden on taxpayers. 

• The idea for community access to air transportation is noble, but we don't need to perpetuate a 

system that is already under fire in Congress, for good reasons. Fresno is merely 30 miles away, 

and offers nonstop destinations to Guadalajara, Dallas, and San Diego. A bit further away, 

Bakersfield offers similar service. 

The idea, however noble, to suggest subsidized ground transportation to regional airports is a start. But 

Visalia has a vibrant, well-respected private company that already does that, door-to-door. Government 

should stay out of the way. Private enterprise has to prevail- in airlines, in transportation, and in 

common sense. 

Steve Griffiths is a travel writer based in New York. He worked in Tulare County for 25 years, and he has 

36 years of experience in the global travel industry.