Renegade Rip

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Erik Aguilar An ExpressJet airplane to Sacramento is being boarded by Bakersfield passengers Sept. 20.

In an effort to meet the public demand, Meadows Field Airport, in conjunction with ExpressJet, have added nonstop flights between Bakersfield and Sacramento. These flights began service Sept. 10.
The Sacramento flight departs at 7 a.m. from the William M. Thomas Terminal and returns at 7:37 p.m.
"Surprisingly, that flight is a lot for government services," said Teresa Hitchcock, analysis and marketing manager for Kern County Airports. "We have the county, the city, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, the Kern Community College District, all of the water agencies, then you have the political component."
Earlier this month SkyWest Airlines announced nonstop flights to Mile High City, Denver. The flight to Denver connects Bakersfield to United and United Express' "worldwide route network" with over 1,300 "departures from the Denver hub," said SkyWest Airlines' Vice President Mike Thompson in a press release.
"Denver started oversold. They were oversold for their very first flight," said Hitchcock. "They were oversold for the entire week of their first week of service. They are doing exceptionally well with that flight."
But, according to Hitchcock, the ExpressJet flight to Sacramento was not as successful, "Sacramento started a little slow but I think that's because they didn't announce and get it into the system early enough." However, she said that she was told by the staff at ExpressJet that the Sacramento flight is picking up rapidly. "The numbers are going up very quickly," said Hitchcock.
In May, ExpressJet added direct flights to San Diego. "We intend to deliver our customers more convenience and more service in growing cities like Bakersfield with populations that are the right size for our 50-seat aircraft," said ExpressJet President and CEO Jim Ream in a press release.
Hitchcock also hopes to get back the direct flights to Houston that Meadows Field previously offered. "That's going to be our next push, is to have Continental come in with mainline service," said Hitchcock. "But that's a difficult sale. That's not an easy task to get them to commit to."

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