A startup airline founded by a 97-year-old golf course developer hopes to capitalize on the rapid growth between San Diego and Los Angeles. The question is: Will enough Southern California travelers find the carrier useful enough to skip the drive down to San Diego’s big airport?

California Pacific Airlines takes flight Thursday from Carlsbad, in northern San Diego County, with flights to San Jose, California, and Reno, Nevada. It plans to expand into Las Vegas and Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona, later this month with its fleet of four, 50-seat Embraer SA E145 jets.

The carrier is a long-held dream of Ted Vallas, a serial entrepreneur from the area who made his fortune in a motley career spanning golf course and resort projects around the world, running a regional airline and working on aircraft cabin interiors.

The airline aims to draw travelers from northern San Diego County who seek more convenient flights out of a smaller airport that has no other commercial service, said Ryan DiVita, the carrier’s director of sales and marketing. California Pacific will focus on business travelers who commute weekly for their work, as well as those heading to Las Vegas and Reno for leisure activities.

“The goal is to go into what we view is an underserved market,” DiVita said. “We feel that the amount of ridership possibility in the northern San Diego area warrants its own service.”

Carlsbad had commercial service in the 1990s from American, United and America West airlines. San Francisco is the top destination from San Diego International (about 35 miles south of the Carlsbad airfield), where Southwest Airlines Co. is the top carrier, with 39 percent market share.

一名97岁高寿的高尔夫大亨创办了一家航空公司，力图抓住圣迭戈和洛杉矶之间客流量快速增长的商机。不过问题是，南加州的乘客凭什么愿意为了这家小公司而放弃在圣迭戈的大机场乘机呢？

加利福尼亚太平洋航空公司现有4架50座的巴西航空工业公司Embraer SA E145客机。该公司的航班每周四从圣迭戈县北部的卡尔斯巴德市起飞，去往加州的圣何塞和内华达州的里诺。该公司计划在本月晚些时候将业务扩展到拉斯维加斯和亚利桑那州的菲尼克斯-梅萨机场。

创办这家公司是泰德·瓦拉斯长久以来的梦想。瓦拉斯曾经创办过很多企业，包括全球各地的多家高尔夫球场和度假村，此外他还运营过一家地区性航空公司，还从事着飞机客舱的内部装饰业务。

该公司的营销总监瑞安·迪维塔表示，在圣迭戈县北部有很多乘客想从一个没有其他附加商业服务的小机场更方便地搭乘航班，他们就是公司的目标客户。加州太平洋航空将重点关注那些每周乘飞机通勤的客户，以及那些前往拉斯维加斯和里诺进行休闲活动的人。

迪维塔表示：“我们的目标是进入我们认为服务不到位的市场。我们觉得圣迭戈北部地区的客流量是能够保障这项服务的。”

早在上世纪90年代，美航、联合航空和美国西部航空公司就已进驻卡尔斯巴德机场。从圣迭戈国际机场（约在卡尔斯巴德机场以南35英里处）出发的乘客的首选目的地是旧金山。圣迭戈国际机场的第一大航空公司是西南航空，大约占据了该机场39%的份额。

California Pacific has a rocky history. Numerous efforts have failed to launch in recent years amid disputes with San Diego County and federal regulators. Its current fleet and operating certificate were acquired in May, when the company purchased Aerodynamics Inc. That company, based in suburban Atlanta, operates federally subsidized Essential Air Service routes from Denver to Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota—a financial backstop that could help support California Pacific in the short run.

“It’s a smart idea to try to build air service out of Carlsbad, because there’s been growth north of the city center.” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. But, he added, “they don’t have an easy road ahead of them.”

Many people who travel frequently for work are deeply tied to a particular airline, due to company travel policies and a strong affinity for frequent flier programs, Harteveldt said. “The business traveler has to be wooed away from incumbent providers.” he said. And while Southwest won’t be flying its Boeing 737s into Carlsbad, it can certainly make life difficult for the newbie with fare cuts, additional service and other enticements aimed at travelers in San Diego and Orange County to the north.

California Pacific, which has 89 employees, will also consider service to Oakland, Sacramento, California, and Los Cabos, Mexico, DiVita said, depending on how the initial flights perform. For an additional sweetener, the airline will offer travelers two checked bags without a fee, matching Southwest, the largest carrier in California by traffic. One-way introductory fares range from $99-$149.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” DiVita said. “Obviously, we are not naïve—you can’t be. But I will say that I think we have partnered with airports that are willing to help and invest in us and make it work as best as possible.”

加州太平洋航空公司的发展并不顺利。近年来，由于与圣迭戈县和联邦的监管机构龃龉不断，该公司的很多项目都没能按计划启动。该公司的机队和运营执照都是在今年5月收购了一家名叫Aerodynamics Inc的公司之后才取得的。Aerodynamics Inc公司的总部位于亚特兰大市郊，它主要运营由联邦政府补贴的从丹佛到南达科他州的皮埃尔和沃特敦的“基本航线计划”线路——该补贴在短期内也能为加州太平洋航空公司提供一定支持。

大气研究集团（Atmosphere Research Group）的旅游业分析师亨利·哈特韦尔特表示：“在卡尔斯巴德建立航空服务是一个明智的想法，因为市中心以北地区的客流量一直在增长。”随后他补充道：“不过，他们前面的路也并不好走。”

哈特韦尔特指出，很多经常出差的人大都绑定了某一家航空公司，以享受这些公司的优惠政策和常客项目。他表示：“他们必须将商务旅客从其他航空公司那里争取过来。”虽然西南航空公司不会将波音737客机派到卡尔斯巴德机场，但它也有很多办法让这个新竞争者的日子不好过，比如针对圣迭戈和北边的桔子县的乘客提供打折机票和附加服务以及其他招徕措施。

加州太平洋航空公司现有89名员工。迪维塔表示，该公司也会考虑开通飞往奥克兰、萨克拉门托、加州以及墨西哥的洛斯卡沃斯的航线，不过这要看初步的业务运行情况。另外，该公司还将允许旅客免费托运两件行李，这一点与加州客流量最大的西南航空公司看齐。其单程推广票价在99美元到149美元不等。

迪维塔表示：“我们持谨慎乐观的态度。很明显，我们并不幼稚。我们已经与一些机场达成了合作，他们愿意帮助和投资我们，使我们的业务尽可能地做到最好。”（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎