Commentary and Opinion by Samuel Strait – January 7, 2023 – Picture credit to Advanced Air Contour Airlines out, Advanced Air in, so say the Border Coast Airport Authority. The question becomes is the new situation any better? According to those in the know, only marginally, due to the fact that Advanced Air will offer flights from Crescent City to Oakland, nothing really new, AND flights to Los Angles. Before anyone gets too excited, the flights by Advanced Air to Los Angeles will not terminate at LAX, but at Hawthorne Jet Center a shuttle trip away. Shuttle to be provided by Advanced Air. It will still require luggage transfer, check in, and security clearance for connecting flights. It is unclear at this point whether or not the same will occur at Oakland, but connecting flights at SFO do not mention a shuttle. As far as Contour Air, Crescent City appears to be the only orphan remaining from its entrance into the California Market several years ago and its new direction in Utah has made Contour decide to shed its Crescent City-Oakland route in favor of that market by March 16th. In September, the end of the existing contract to provide service from Crescent City will once again be up for grabs. Ticket holders for Contour Air will be given refunds for any flight scheduled after March 16th. Hopefully Advanced Air will fill in the gap of service from March 17th to the end of the contract in September. The equipment used will continue to be thirty passenger jets, the Dornier 328. Service to Oakland will continue along the same lines as had occurred with Contour, one daily flight with some additional flights on weekends. Advanced Air will be offering two flights weekly to Hawthorne initially, then perhaps more should they retain the contract after September. The conversation is to expand service to five flights weekly by 2025. While the Border Coast Authority is viewing this as a win for the air passenger out of Crescent City, and a chance to expand the number of tourists to the North Coast, keep in mind that passenger enplanements were less than 10,000 for Contour Air while only serving Crescent City-Oakland. Loss of service to SFO reduced enplanements by about 40%. Most passenger who used to fly out of Crescent City have been using Medford for some time and the new service to Hawthorne may not attract much business for some time to come. What is particularly noticeable is that there doesn't appear to be much of an appetite by the BCAA to check into service to San Francisco and Sacramento and air service out of Crescent City may not improve much if at all. While service to Los Angeles may seem like a win for air travelers from the North Coast, the combination of having to transfer to LAX should there be a continuing flight, and only two flights per week may not be the panacea for fixing the poor numbers of passengers utilizing the Crescent City Airport. At least on a couple of days a week the current "white elephant" terminal may get at least more usage…two days a week?