Airport Working Group of Orange County

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT POSTS NOVEMBER 2020 STATISTICS SANTA ANA, Calif. - Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in November 2020 as compared with November 2019. In November 2020, the Airport served 277,020 passengers, a decrease of 66.5% when compared with the November 2019 passenger traffic count of 827,140. Commercial aircraft operations decreased 48.0% and commuter aircraft operations increased 19.5% when compared with November 2019 levels.... Total aircraft operations decreased in November 2020 as compared with the same month in 2019. In November 2020, there were 19,088 total aircraft operations (take-offs and landings), a 13.3% decrease compared to 22,014 total aircraft operations in November 2019. General aviation activity, which accounted for 77.9% of the total aircraft operations during November 2020, increased 3.7% when compared with November 2019. The top three airlines in November 2020 based on passenger count were Southwest Airlines (100,569), American Airlines (56,609) and United Airlines (40,957).

John Wayne Airport Posts October 2020 Statistics SANTA ANA, Calif. - Airline passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport decreased in October 2020 as compared with October 2019. In October 2020, the Airport served 307,865 passengers, a decrease of 65.7% when compared with the October 2019 passenger traffic count of 897,873. Commercial aircraft operations decreased 56.0% and commuter aircraft operations increased 11.1% when compared with October 2019 levels.... Total aircraft operations decreased in October 2020 as compared with the same month in 2019. In October 2020, there were 22,905 total aircraft operations (take-offs and landings), a 10.1% decrease compared to 25,468 total aircraft operations in October 2019. General aviation activity, which accounted for 82.8% of the total aircraft operations during October 2020, increased 9.6% when compared with October 2019. The top three airlines in September 2020 based on passenger count were Southwest Airlines (100,066), American Airlines (70,320) and United Airlines (47,266).

This just in from SoCal TRACON: Due to a number of persons in the tower at John Wayne contracting or testing positive for COVID, the airport is going non-towered through November 30th. SoCal is reaching out to the GA community with a request they avoid or minimize non-essential flights for this week. KSNA will operate as a non-towered field this week. No services are provided. 20L/02R will be closed. No touch and go's or pattern work allowed. CTAF is 126.8. SoCal will guide c...ommercial flights to the airport, and then they land by communicating with the other pilots on 126.8. Check ATIS and NOTAMS for further particulars.

Hoag to Launch Health Clinic at JWA By Jessie Yount (Orange County Business Journal) Monday, November 9, 2020... Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced it will open a clinic inside Orange County's John Wayne Airport in the spring. Ahead of the clinic opening, Hoag will offer flu vaccinations and screenings, nutrition and exercise tips and virtual reality mindfulness activities at JWA beginning today. The Fly Well Clinic, an 850-square-foot facility, will offer Covid-19 testing, flu and other vaccinations, urgent care services, telehealth consults, vital screenings and more. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world’s travel habits, shining a spotlight brighter than ever on passengers’ health and travel safety, Robert Braithwaite, chief executive of Hoag, said in a statement. Hoag is proud to partner with John Wayne Airport to address the health care needs of the 10 million people who fly to or from the airport every year.

More airlines to add John Wayne Airport stops in 2021 (from the OC Register) If the coming of Spirit Airlines later this month wasn’t enough, travelers looking for budget flights into and out of Orange County should have even more options in 2021.... Allegiant Air is expected to be the next to arrive, with service to start in February, followed by Sun Country Airlines in April, and in May, Air Canada should begin international service, according to a report from airport Director Barry Rondinella. The Orange County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on John Wayne Airport’s 2021 seat allotments on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Why so many newcomers in such a short span of time? The pandemic, with the damper it put on business and leisure travel, is at least partly to blame. A legal settlement caps the annual number of passengers taking off or landing at John Wayne Airport, so every autumn county officials allot blocks of seats for the following year to each of the airlines that serve the airport. A drop in demand already opened a slot for Spirit, and airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson said there was still capacity left over after other existing carriers made their 2021 requests. John Wayne officials went down the list of airlines hoping to get into Orange County, and the three new ones were the first that were both willing and able to get started before mid-year, Thompson said. The new carriers won’t have dedicated gates and aren’t expected to do major volume. Air Canada and Sun Country were each allotted fewer than 100,000 seats for the year and Allegiant got just under 350,000 that’s as compared with more than 5 million seats for Southwest Airlines and 2 million each for American and United, according to information in Rondinella’s report to the supervisors. Travelers have been slowly returning to the airport since the pandemic caused a sharp drop in travel in March. September statistics showed passenger numbers are still down more than 60% for the year compared with 2019. Thompson said if the airport in December sees half the volume of passengers it had the same month in 2019, that would be a real improvement.

While this is a Clay Lacy Press Release, AWG is mentioned and there are some good images of the pending facility. https://www.claylacy.com/fbo-lease-awarded-at-orange-count/