Interview with California Pacific Airways

In the vast world of start up airlines, there is one that is showing a lot of promise, and that one airline is California Pacific Airlines. California Pacific is an airline planning to utilize Embraer 170 aircraft out of Carlsbad's Palomar Airport and fly intra-California routes, along with some routes to Arizona and Nevada, and eventually Mexico.

Recently, they achieved acceptance of their part 121 air carrier application from the FAA, which is a huge accomplishment. This means they are one step closer to being able to provide scheduled air service, and can continue with the application process. Further steps in this process include the design assessment phase, and the implementation of proving runs to show that they are able to run their service without any issues.

The other day I had a conversation with Randy Brown, director of marketing for California Pacific Airlines, and was able to gain some pretty good insights into this promising start up airline.

My first question posed to him was about the competitive nature of the intra-California market, and how CP Air planned to compete against established airlines such as Southwest, Virgin America, American and United.

Mr. Brown responded by discussing the convenience factors of the Carlsbad airport, and how many travelers will be attracted by it for their initial stages of operation. "[The Carlsbad Airport] is going to provide a much quicker option for the over one million residents, and those traveling to the northern portion of America's Fineist City. For Business travelers, the time savings will be significant, and for leisure travelers, savings on parking and the cost of gas to drive over an hour to Lindbergh Field will be significant"

California Pacific Airways is planning on operating Embraer 170 series aircraft, and my next question focused around why that aircraft was selected.

Mr. Brown stated " The Embraer 170 in the end had the best mix we were looking for." and that "Economics, range from CLD's runway, ease of certification, cabin amenities, flexibility for use on a variety of routes, and performance from Carlsbad's runway were all criteria" used when picking that aircraft. It was also that the Embraer 170 "included a very wide cabin that provided mainline airliner comfort with seats almost an inch and a half wider that a 737. It also has the best performance and range from Carlsbad's runway. The Embraer E-Jet series of aircraft have already proved themselves operating from very similar airports such as London City in England. For example, British Airways has used these planes with great success from that airport."

The Embraer 170 seems very fitting for California Pacific, but it has been stated that they are planning on utilizing a 3-class configuration on their aircraft. My next question centered around what made them decide to choose a 3-class cabin configuration on short-haul routes, as well as what their prices would be like.

Mr. Brown stated that "in order to have First Class, a row much be taken out of the all coach configuration of an Embraer 170. This left us with about 18 inches of extra space for economy which we decided to focus this space the first five rows of economy. Given the strong demographics and dense business community in Northern San Diego, we anticipate strong business and premium leisure demand for these two sections. The type of service for each cabin is still early in the development stage, but we are pondering a variety of ways to uniquely market them."

And in terms of what their initial prices will be, it was stated that their "fares will be competitive with those currently available on our initial routes."

My next question was in regards to why Carlsbad was chosen as a base, and what sort of traveler was expected.

Mr. Brown told me that Carlsbad was chosen as a base because "our CEO Ted Vallas previously owned an airline called Air Resorts that was based at Carlsbad. At the time the airport was only a maintenance base, but for several decades he has wanted to bring airline service to San Diego's North County. Back in the late 1980's Mr. Vallas even offered to build a new terminal and buy a fire truck which would have made scheduled airline service a reality, but it never came to pass. With the completion of a new terminal in 2008, it offered the perfect home for his long time vision. The strong growth of Northern San Diego, it's large business community, and the strong demographics of its population who travel frequently, all were draws."

In terms of the type of passenger they expect, Mr. Brown informed me that, California Pacific "expects our business traffic mix to more than a third of our customers."

I also discussed some of the challenges California Pacific Airways is facing, with Mr. Brown. He informed me that, "Starting an airline today is far different than when our CEO purchased his first airline in the early 1980's. The requirements and complexity of certification have grown over time. The key to overcoming these challenges was in hiring a great team. Many had previous certification experience in getting a new airline going, and others brought a wealth of experience from a variety of US and international carriers. Overall CP Air's management has over 300 years of experience in the airline industry."

My final question was in regards to where CP Air sees themselves being in the next few years, and Mr. Brown informed me that "in five years we see CP Air having 25 aircraft with a team of over 1,500. CP Air will add additional travel options from Carlsbad to additional destinations in the US and Mexico."

I would like to thank Mr. Brown for being willing to conduct this interview with me. I think that California Pacific is one of the best-positioned start up airlines out there at the moment, and I look forward to blogging more about them in the future, and eventually flying with them once they start up.

You can find out more information about California Pacific Airways at:

http://flycpair.com

http://twitter.com/flycpair

http://www.facebook.com/FlyCPAir