Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Hybrid Meeting In-Person and via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Mike Burrows, Rachelle Bussell, Mark Cloud, Ken Coate, Josh Cox, Michelle Decker, Kevin Dyerly, Louis Goodwin, Fran Inman, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, Pam Langford, Bill Lemann, Darcy McNaboe, Miguel Mendoza, Jacquelyn Mercado, John Mirau, Dan Murphy, Bansree Parikh, Catherine Pritchett, Thomas Rice, Dan Roberts, Paul Shimoff, Eric Ustation, Lupe Valdez, Pete Van Helden, Reggie Webb, Michael Wells, Ray Wolfe, Marisa Yeager, and Frank Zabaleta.
Guest: Michael Rivera.
Announcements: 1) SCAG will hold a regional agency workshop on Tuesday, May 24 from 10:30a.m.-12:00 for a Curb Space Management Study. The study began Aug. 2021 and will be completed by June 2022. For more information https://scag.ca.gov/post/curb-space-management-study-regional-agency-workshop-0 2) SoCal Gas will host a community meeting on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, from 10:00am-12:00pm to discuss and obtain feedback regarding its Clean Energy Financing proposal under development. Please contact member Kristine Scott for more information. 3) The Little Hoover Commission will hold a hearing on Equitable Economic Development across California on Thursday May 26 at 10:00am at the Riverside Convention Center and live streamed on the Commission’s Facebook page.
Lowell King, Chair gave the second reading of proposed new member Harvest, LLP law firm. They would be represented by Michael Rivera. The membership will vote next week (5/24/22). For more information, please visit their web site at https://harvestllp.com/
Lowell King, Chair presiding.
Motion/Second/Passed: Minutes from May 10, 2022.
Mike Burrows introduced Mark Gibbs, Director of Aviation, San Bernardino International Airport (SBD) who joined us in-person.
The airport has been working for a very long time to get commercial passenger service in addition to their existing four main business lines of air cargo, general aviation, corporate aviation, and maintenance operations. They now have a brand-new airline named Breeze Airways. Breeze is an American airline that began a year ago. They are headquartered in Utah and were founded by David Neeleman, who previously co-founded Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue, and Azul Linhas Aereas. Since his prior airline successes, he saw a need and decided to focus the new Breeze Airways on markets that have been overlooked. Breeze targets mid-sized US city pairs that are currently underserved and are lacking nonstop service. The Inland Empire is their first market on the west coast and is a great fit as we are the 12th largest metro area in the U.S. Initially Breeze will have daily flights from San Bernardino to San Francisco beginning August 4th. San Francisco was chosen as it is not only a business and leisure market but also has a great deal of international connectivity. Breeze has given SBD a two year commitment.
Breeze is well capitalized and has purchased 15 brand new Airbus A220’s that each hold approximately 120 seats and will fly out of San Bernardino. Additionally, they have ordered and will be receiving one new airplane each month for the next seven years.
The SBD domestic terminal is new and “right sized” with 3 gates, and they are making sure it is ready for the initial launch. Part of that process was reimagining the roadway systems in and around the airport terminal. Now there are three one-way lanes for terminal access and parking turn offs. Some 68 roadway signs are being replaced with updated information and international symbols.
Breeze Airlines offer seamless booking, no change or cancellation fees and customized flight features delivered via a simple app. Their founder stated that Breeze plans to be “the World’s Nicest Airline.”
Ticket sales began in March and have been strong so far. SBD will kick off their advertising/awareness campaign June 1st.
Highlights of Breeze Airlines in San Bernardino, include:
- Low Airfare ($50.00 one way to San Francisco)
- Nice service
- Convenient parking, $5/day
- Avoid long drives and crowded freeways
- Modern terminal facilities
- Tickets on sale now
For more info visit: www.flysbd.com
Once the market is proven and successful with Breeze, SBD believes there are lot of opportunities to come with a great deal of growth potential. SBD currently can handle up to 28 daily flights and are already permitted to grow to 10 gates.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 a.m.