A new airline coming to town, as well new facility upgrades, constitute a “game-changer” for the Merced Yosemite Regional Airport, according to Airport Manager Rhett Williams who gave a presentation to the City Council on Monday night.
The big news is Contour Airlines will be offering daily, non-stop service from Merced to Los Angeles (LAX) and Las Vegas (LAS) starting July 1. Flights will be offered on 30-seat regional jet aircraft. Ticket sales for July flights and beyond are expected to begin on April 14.
“You would be surprised how many tourists are from Australia and Japan, and they are coming pretty weekly, actually, to Yosemite,” Williams told the city leaders. “So it’s really cool to see them actually see this, and what this is going do with the new service at a LAX. You can connect anywhere.”
Despite delays caused by the federal shutdown, a beautiful, modern airport terminal is expected to open this summer, along with the installation of new navigational and communication radios, a taxiway renovation, and a switch from PG&E power supply to one operated locally by the Merced Irrigation District.
All the advancements combined, Williams said, will help the airport secure more passenger enplanements, which will go a long way to increase federal funding allotments.
“With Contour’s 30-seat connectivity, they’re proposed enplanements is up to 21,000. They’re predicting, right now, we’re hitting about the 4,000 mark. The reason why that’s important is that if we hit the 10,000 mark with the Feds, that automatically gives the airport a grant from the FAA for airport projects. That’s $1.3 million non adjusted for COLA. That is the big essential number. And that’s my strategy for the airport, and for the city to move to that number.
“And people are gonna want to fly to LAX to connect to the world because you can literally go anywhere from there, and Las Vegas too, on the 30-seat jet. So that takes that flight time from an hour and five minutes to 48 minutes, wheels up to wheels down … But again, it’s more than just the emplanements. It’s an investment in the city’s potential to become a true transportation hub for the region. It’s an underutilized gem for Merced, and becoming polished into modern facility that can turn and support both commercial travelers and the general aviation community to really showcase what we could do here in Merced. And this is a big step for Merced.”
As a plus, Contour Airlines offers “codeshare” flight partnerships with United Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines.
“So when you check your luggage here, it transfers there,” Williams said “They land into Terminal 6 at LAX. So you’re in walking distance of all three of those carriers. And also, I know there’s a potential other agreement with another big carrier, as well, that’s right there, as well.
“And that really helps for the 2028 Olympics Games— for people to actually go from here to the Olympics, and vice versa, to come see Yosemite. So they could be at the Olympics, and come up for a night, stay in our hotels, patronage our businesses, our restaurants, our community, and see what we have to offer here, and fly back.”
Williams added, “If we can hit that 10,000 [enplanement] threshold, that is just the key for us to hit, and I really see us moving to that direction, because of the UC, and all of our community needs to get in and out of here, and that’s the whole program for the [federal Essential Air Service] — to help move people to find better jobs, and come back and forth. So it’s more than just leisurely travel. It’s economic viability of the city to have this airport, to deliver that, and bring those business aviation clients here to fix their planes when they don’t have time at LAX because it’s so busy there. They can come to Merced and fix their private jets here, and that’s a whole other business aspect that is very overlooked.”