Supervisors OK Palomar Airport Commuter Flights

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to grant an operating permit to a subsidiary of Pan Am Airlines to run commuter flights between McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad and Los Angeles International Airport.

Pan Am Commuter, which plans to begin service Sept. 25, will be limited to six takeoffs a day and may operate only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., under the terms of the permit. The Orange County-based company has also agreed to use Stage 3 aircraft, classified as among the quietest airplanes made, and to do maintenance work at its facility at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

Pan Am Commuter will pay a $750-a-month permit fee that will be used to support and maintain the county-run airport, Airport Manager Rick Severson said. The fee will also allow the airline to use an existing ticket counter in the lobby building, which has been unused since the last commuter company folded in 1986, Severson said.