People in southern California who are short on time or patience or both may find salvation in Miwok Airways, a start-up short hop air service flying on-demand operations to and from 40 local airports, beginning this fall. Four Cirrus SR22s operated through contract with charter companies will be used to cover a stretch of SoCal from Oxnard to San Diego with service to begin before November. The cost for a one-way trip from San Diego to L.A. (including the airports of your choice) chimes in at about $110 with seats filled and $338 with two seats empty (cautious planners should count on the higher price). Flights could cost as little as $82 on short trips with full seats. The longest available flight will run between Oxnard and Palm Springs. Miwok has partnered with Enterprise Rent-a-Car to offer special rates on car rentals where available.
Unless you’re driving a Hummer, it will still be cheaper to drive, but over congested California highways, the service has demonstrated its ability to cut travel time by about 60 percent. Some present-day airline complications apply — travelers will pay extra for luggage weighing over 20 pounds and a plane fully loaded with passengers will impose limits on luggage per person.
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Miwok Airways’ Gad Barnea discusses on-demand flight services in an AVweb podcast interview
