No Air-Fare Wars at JWA; Donald & Arnold

Orange County Business Journal, Apr 28-May 4, 2008 by Reiff, Rick

OCInsider

While other SoCal airports offer low-fare competition, John Wayne Airport-where flights are limited by the noise agreement between the airport and Newport Beach-remains the high-price alternative. One-way flights to Austin next month from LAX on Southwest and from Long Beach on JetBlue are offered at $79. The best price from John Wayne on American is $ 105, says Len Kranser of eltoroairport.org. And higher relative pricing is presumably how JWA was able to stay under its 10.3-million passenger cap for the 12 months ended March 31. A brisk summer had the airport on pace to exceed the cap, but after airport officials directed the airlines to "manage their passenger levels," year-over-year traffic declined for five straight months even as it rose at other regional airports; JWA finished the fiscal year at 9.9 million passengers ... Donald Bren is hanging out with Gov. Arnold (or is it the other way around?). Last week the guv joined The Irvine Company chief at Bommer Canyon to dedicate 40,000 acres of open space. Arnold visits Donald's the Island hotel on May 13 to keynote an invitation-only symposium on energy alternatives presented by UCI, the Milken Institute and the New Majority. And the guv and Bren are co-chairing a May 29 dinner at Disney's Grand Californian for Think Together, the Santa Ana-based nonprofit that is getting $8.5 million from Bren ... Dazzling Dancer Jim Doti (see picture) is also Distressed Director Doti-an economist with an insider's perspective on the economic downturn. He's a director of First American Corp., Fleetwood Enterprises and Standard Pacific Corp., whose stocks have fallen 30%, 60% and 75%, respectively, in the past year: "Obviously, it's difficult being on the boards of three companies that are directly/indirectly involved in the housing industry. But these are three great companies that 1 believe will get through our current challenges" ... South Coast Rep's David Emmes and Martin Benson are the 2007-08 recipients of Ohio State University's Margo Jones Medal for lheir contributions to regional theater ... Ashleigh Aitken, young star of the Aitken legal clan, has left Morrison & Foerster to become an assistant U.S. attorney in the Santa Ana office ... Lucy Dunn led an OC Biz Council delegation to Washington, D.C., then joined Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle at the White House to meet Pope Benedict XVI. The next day Dunn attended the papal Mass at Nationals Stadium, where her voice coutd be heard above Placido Domingo and 50,000 other singers.