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Boutique Air pitches three Essential Air Service options to Imperial County board
Summary
Boutique Air offered three Essential Air Service options for Imperial Airport (LAX; San Diego; LAX+Henderson), described Pilatus PC-12 operations, subsidy estimates (~$5.6M'$5.9M federal), local maintenance and OJT hiring plans, and answered supervisor questions about schedules, TSA screening and local jobs.
Boutique Air presented its bid to provide federally subsidized Essential Air Service at Imperial County's IPL Airport during the board's Feb. 10 meeting, proposing three options and describing how the carrier would operate and support local economic activity.
Eitan (Eitan) Spiegel, Boutique Air's vice president of commerce, described three options: 24 weekly round trips to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); direct service to San Diego International Airport; or a combined option offering LAX plus Henderson (Las Vegas Henderson Executive) service. He said the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop would be used in an eight-to-nine passenger executive configuration and touted an industry-leading controllable completion rate and on-time performance.
Spiegel and colleagues said estimated required federal subsidy levels were roughly $5.9 million for an LAX option and $5.6 million for San Diego, numbers they said aligned with comparable Essential Air Service market requests. Boutique representatives proposed a local maintenance base if hangar space could be provided and described an on-the-job training (OJT) pathway to create AMT (airframe and powerplant) technicians locally. They also proposed voucher programs, community marketing and partnerships with local hospitals for medical travel.
Board members asked detailed questions about frequency and timing of flights, local hiring, fuel purchases, TSA screening and contingency plans for military operating areas near Imperial. Boutique representatives said they would buy fuel locally where possible, aim to staff a minimum maintenance team (four technicians, procurement staff and detailers) if a hangar were available, and could operate TSA-sterile or nonsterile service depending on the hub and airport lease terms. Boutique said San Diego's fee structure is inflexible and can require a fixed payment, which affects route choices.
The presentation did not produce a board vote; supervisors indicated follow-up questions and discussions would continue as the county evaluates bids under the federal EAS process.
