AirFair

Air Canada may offer first JWA international service

January 27, 2009,

John Wayne Airport officials say Air Canada is expected to begin Orange County service by summer. It would be the airport’s first international flights.“Air Canada has been given passenger capacity to begin operations in the new (JWA) plan year, starting April 1,” says JWA spokeswoman Jenny Wedge. “At this point, we continue to work with them on the logistics of customs/immigration, as well as their lease agreement with the Airport.”

She says airport officials are anticipating Air Canada service will start closer to the summer time. Destinations have not been announced.

The airport has been hampered in offering international flights because it doesn’t have customs facilities. Air Canada, however, provides U.S. customs clearance at its airports removing the need for customs at JWA.

Virgin starts flying at JWA April 30
January 27, 2009

Virgin America announced today it will start service at John Wayne Airport April 30.

The airline will fly five flights a day from JWA to its hub in San Francisco. READ MORE

There's some gold in the stimulus for Orange County
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Orange County Register

The $787 billion stimulus bill has a combination of tax breaks and spending and is headed for Obama's desk.

by Dena Bunis
Washington Bureau Chief

There's a treasure hunt starting. And the place people are looking is in the 1,000 page $787 billion stimulus bill Congress is sending to President Barack Obama's desk. . . .

. . . One windfall might end up being a gift of sorts from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. I don't have the back story on how Reid got $8 billion included in the bill for high-speed rail. But he is the majority leader and word is that Obama got involved here too. There's a high-speed rail proposal in Illinois he is fond of.
The reason this line item is important for the O.C. is because one of a handful of projects around the country eligible for some of that money is the 269-mile Maglev – that stands for magnetic levitation – train proposed to go from Anaheim to Las Vegas. Hence Reid's interest.
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle told me in an e-mail that Anaheim's multiuse transportation hub — ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center) is moving along. He said they're asking people to express interest in the first phase of the project – around $150 to 200 million.
There will be lots of competition for this money, Rep. Loretta Sanchez told me after the vote. (Sanchez was the only O.C. lawmaker to vote yes on the stimulus bill.) But that corridor could get money as could the $40 billion high speed rail line planned between Anaheim and San Francisco. Pringle hopes the Anaheim to L.A. could be the first leg of that line to be built.. . .

. . . It seems that included in this measure is something that lets people buy certain bonds without them being subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax levied on some middle and upper income people. Because the AMT is being waived on the kind of bonds that Orange County will be selling in order to do the John Wayne Airport expansion, McConnell says the county can likely sell the $400 billion in bonds it needs for the expansion at a lower interest rate than without this provision. So not only will the bonds be easier to sell, but it could save the county $3.5 to $4 million in interest every year, adding up to $100 million to $120 million over the life of the bonds. Now we're starting to talk about real money. . . .

Read the entire story>>>

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January 27, 2009,