With airlines cutting back on flights and losing money by the billions, it may not seem like the right time to be starting one. But a former dot-com entrepreneur believes some traffic-weary Southern Californians are ready for a new way to get around.
A novel air service, starting with just four propeller planes, will begin later next month shuttling passengers between dozens of airports, stretching from Oxnard to San Diego, in what it calls "ultra-short-haul" service.
Harking back to the early days of aviation when pilots in biplanes picked up passengers on farm fields, the flights on Miwok Airways are not scheduled. They fly on demand and can take off from any of the more than three dozen airstrips in the region.
Passengers can set their own flight time and then be flown in four-seat Cirrus propeller planes with fares as low as $82 one way. The fare will depend on the distance between airports and on how many people are sharing the plane, rising to more than $300 if no other passengers are on the plane. The plane can seat three paying passengers.
By comparison, chartering a plane can cost more than $600 an hour.
"You can travel like a rock star for $82," said Gad Barnea, a former Israeli Air Force air traffic controller and a Silicon Valley software entrepreneur who has spent nearly three years putting the company together.
An avid hiker, Barnea named the company after trails left by Miwok Indians in Yosemite and elsewhere.
"We're offering on-demand air travel for an economy-class ticket," he said.
For now the service is limited to trips within the region -- the longest is 150 miles from Oxnard to Palm Springs -- so the service is mainly targeted at business travelers who are looking for alternatives to driving on congested Southern California roads.
"This makes a whole lot of sense," said Preston McAfee, a Caltech economics professor who has analyzed Miwok's business plan. "It's not competition to the airlines but a competitor to driving."
For instance, McAfee said, an attorney in Santa Monica who has a court deposition in San Diego could either fly from Los Angeles International Airport or drive the 130-mile route. Either way, the travel time could range from two to four hours depending on road and airport conditions.
By flying Miwok from Santa Monica airport, travel time can be reduced by an hour, door to door, and the fare would not be more than what the big airlines charge for economy seats on flights from LAX to San Diego. The air service is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
