SNA-YVR discontinued after one day
May 2, 2002, 11:37 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2000
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May 2, 2002, 11:50 am
#2
Join Date: May 2001
Location: IAD
Posts: 6,148
Come on Sean, the title of the thread is misleading, the route is not discontinued, its suspended until May 5th or until AS/SNA get their INS/customs issues figured out.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Alaska Airlines is temporarily discontinuing its brand new nonstop service between Orange County and Vancouver while it works to resolve compliance issues related to Customs and INS procedures. Inaugurated this past weekend, Alaska is suspending operations in the market through this Sunday, May 5. </font>
May 2, 2002, 7:18 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 702
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by B747-437B:
My intention is not to mislead, but rather to draw attention to the complete comedy of errors that led to this situation!
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My intention is not to mislead, but rather to draw attention to the complete comedy of errors that led to this situation!
</font>
C'mon, now...you knew perfectly well how the title of your post would be received. Your intention was and is to mislead everyone and put Alaska Airlines in a bad light.
Poor form, my friend.
May 2, 2002, 7:30 pm
#5
Join Date: Feb 2000
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Snowdevil:
C'mon, now...you knew perfectly well how the title of your post would be received. Your intention was and is to mislead everyone and put Alaska Airlines in a bad light.
Poor form, my friend.</font>
C'mon, now...you knew perfectly well how the title of your post would be received. Your intention was and is to mislead everyone and put Alaska Airlines in a bad light.
Poor form, my friend.</font>
May 3, 2002, 12:05 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,639
From a practical standpoint, since I expect it'll be back soon, what was the schedule? Did they price it at a premium to the service from LAX? (Given an opportunity to avoid the security circus at LAX these days, I'd drive to SNA, but it does seem to command higher prices. Wealthier clientele, I guess)
May 6, 2002, 9:58 am
#9
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Is this for real? I can't believe that...
justplanes.com reports:
justplanes.com reports:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">AS was forced to suspend its brand new service from Vancouver to Orange County as it was preparing to open this new route earlier this week when the airline realized there was no Customs facility in Orange County.</font>
May 6, 2002, 11:30 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Quite true about lack of customs facilities at SNA. If you look at various airports at this site, you'll see that small little airports like Bellingham WA, Burlington VT, Sitka and Ketchikan AK are "customs landing rights airports" while mainly non-passenger airports like Boeing Field are "international airport of entry". SNA is neither of the above.
I guess AS wrongly assumed that if the passengers preclear U.S. immigration and customs in Canada, there's no need for customs facilities at the U.S. airport.
I guess AS wrongly assumed that if the passengers preclear U.S. immigration and customs in Canada, there's no need for customs facilities at the U.S. airport.
May 7, 2002, 5:04 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 5,956
Alaska plans to resume service on 5/11, pending all the approvals are in place.
Alaska checked with local authorities and everyone gave the service the go ahead, only once they began the service did the question of customs in SNA come up. Since passengers clear U.S. customs in Vancouver prior to departing, it was thought that customs in SNA was not required. Apparently, however, SNA must have a customs person on site in order for any type of international traffic to arrive or depart, regardless of where the passengers clear customs.
Alaska checked with local authorities and everyone gave the service the go ahead, only once they began the service did the question of customs in SNA come up. Since passengers clear U.S. customs in Vancouver prior to departing, it was thought that customs in SNA was not required. Apparently, however, SNA must have a customs person on site in order for any type of international traffic to arrive or depart, regardless of where the passengers clear customs.
May 17, 2002, 12:29 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 633
range County-Vancouver
Nonstops will not resume at this time
Posted May 15, 2002
Alaska Airlines will not be flying nonstop this summer between Vancouver and Orange County.
U.S. Customs officials, after reviewing the airline's request to provide the seasonal service, told the airline that permission to fly between the two cities could not be granted at this time.
Although all passengers clear customs in Vancouver, there is a technical hang up that defies quick resolution: U.S. Customs does not have its own officials at Orange County. That's because the airport has never been formally designated an "international" facility. Without agents on location, Customs cannot conduct spot inspections and that makes international flights impossible. For now, anyway.
Gregg Saretsky, executive vice president of marketing and planning, said that John Wayne Airport in Orange County could apply to be so certified for international flights at a later date. "That doesn't help in the near term since this could be a lengthy process," said Saretsky. "So, we are continuing to accommodate customers by working with Horizon to provide connecting service between the two cities via Seattle and Portland and with same-plane service between Orange County and Vancouver on weekends." Meanwhile, Saretsky said airplane time freed by discontinuing the Vancouver-Orange County nonstop flying will be used to provide one more Orange County-Seattle flight, beginning June 10. That will bring the total departures between those two markets to 9 daily flights.
Alaska initiated the Vancouver-Orange County service April 28 and operated several nonstops until realizing it had made an incorrect assumption about passenger clearance in Canada permitting international arrivals and departures at Orange County; it does not.
Nonstops will not resume at this time
Posted May 15, 2002
Alaska Airlines will not be flying nonstop this summer between Vancouver and Orange County.
U.S. Customs officials, after reviewing the airline's request to provide the seasonal service, told the airline that permission to fly between the two cities could not be granted at this time.
Although all passengers clear customs in Vancouver, there is a technical hang up that defies quick resolution: U.S. Customs does not have its own officials at Orange County. That's because the airport has never been formally designated an "international" facility. Without agents on location, Customs cannot conduct spot inspections and that makes international flights impossible. For now, anyway.
Gregg Saretsky, executive vice president of marketing and planning, said that John Wayne Airport in Orange County could apply to be so certified for international flights at a later date. "That doesn't help in the near term since this could be a lengthy process," said Saretsky. "So, we are continuing to accommodate customers by working with Horizon to provide connecting service between the two cities via Seattle and Portland and with same-plane service between Orange County and Vancouver on weekends." Meanwhile, Saretsky said airplane time freed by discontinuing the Vancouver-Orange County nonstop flying will be used to provide one more Orange County-Seattle flight, beginning June 10. That will bring the total departures between those two markets to 9 daily flights.
Alaska initiated the Vancouver-Orange County service April 28 and operated several nonstops until realizing it had made an incorrect assumption about passenger clearance in Canada permitting international arrivals and departures at Orange County; it does not.
May 17, 2002, 6:22 am
#14
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I do not understand. If a pasenger passes through US Immigration and Customs in Vancouver, why is there a need in SNA? All other flights from Vancouver to the US land at domestics slots. Sounds like mindless government paper-work to me.
Plus, whenever a passenger leaves the USA, they do not pass through customs or immigration anyway (seems to me that this alone makes the issue of illegal immigration a mockery.)
Plus, whenever a passenger leaves the USA, they do not pass through customs or immigration anyway (seems to me that this alone makes the issue of illegal immigration a mockery.)
May 17, 2002, 10:16 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by davistev:
I do not understand. If a pasenger passes through US Immigration and Customs in Vancouver, why is there a need in SNA? All other flights from Vancouver to the US land at domestics slots. Sounds like mindless government paper-work to me.
</font>
I do not understand. If a pasenger passes through US Immigration and Customs in Vancouver, why is there a need in SNA? All other flights from Vancouver to the US land at domestics slots. Sounds like mindless government paper-work to me.
</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Plus, whenever a passenger leaves the USA, they do not pass through customs or immigration anyway (seems to me that this alone makes the issue of illegal immigration a mockery.)
</font>
Plus, whenever a passenger leaves the USA, they do not pass through customs or immigration anyway (seems to me that this alone makes the issue of illegal immigration a mockery.)
</font>