Upstart carrier California Pacific Airlines banks on exploiting a unique geographic niche

Management at start-up carrier California Pacific Airlines is attempting to carve out a niche business model based on tapping an affluent passenger base in North County, San Diego, California that will opt to use nearby Carlsbad McClellan-Palomar Airport for short-haul flights to a mix of business and leisure destinations in lieu of driving 56km south to San Diego International Airport. The carrier is competing with San Diego's largest carrier Southwest Airlines on its initial routes, but calculates it only needs to tap a portion of passengers heading south to turn a profit.

The carrier surfaced about three years ago as the brainchild of well-known North County businessman Ted Vallas, who is modeling the carrier somewhat on Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), a carrier based in San Diego that was purchased by US Airways in the late 1980s. Delays in obtaining requisite certification from US regulators pushed a planned 2011 launch by California Pacific into 2012, and the target could slip into 2013.