Del Norte County Airport

Del Norte County Regional Airport (IATA: CEC, ICAO: KCEC, FAA LID: CEC) (Jack McNamara Field) is a public airport three miles (4.8 km) northwest of Crescent City, in Del Norte County, California, United States.^[1] It has one airline flight per day to/from Oakland and Los Angeles/Hawthorne under the Essential Air Service program. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (i.e. more than 10,000 enplanements per year).^[2]

Del Norte County Regional Airport Jack McNamara Field
IATA: CEC ICAO: KCEC FAA LID: CEC
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Del Norte County
Operator	Border Coast Regional Airport Authority
Serves	Crescent City, California
Elevation AMSL	61 ft / 19 m
Coordinates	41°46′49″N 124°14′12″W
Website	flycrescentcity.com
Map
CEC Show map of California CEC Show map of the United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 12/30 5,002 1,524 Asphalt 18/36 5,000 1,523 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Aircraft operations 12,565 Based aircraft 17
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

History

The airfield was used during World War II as Crescent City Outlying Field supporting Naval Air Station Alameda.^[3] and a naval radio station at Point Saint George.^[4] High-frequency direction finding (HFDF) was used for radio intercept. These sites along the coast could track Japanese warships and merchant marine vessels as far away as the Western Pacific. The other stations in California were at Point Arguello, Farallon Islands and San Diego. Bainbridge Island, Washington also hosted a station.^[5]

Facilities and aircraft

The airport covers 544 acres (220 ha) at an elevation of 61 feet (19 m). It has two asphalt runways: 11/29 is 5,000 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m) and 17/35 is 5,001 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m).^[1]

In the year ending July 31, 2019; the airport had 12,565 aircraft operations, average 34 per day: 72% general aviation, 27% air taxi, and 1% military. 26 aircraft were then based at the airport: 65% single-engine and 35% multi-engine.^[1]

Historical airline service

By 1950 Southwest Airways Douglas DC-3s were flying to San Francisco,^[6] e.g. Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Fort Bragg/Mendocino - Ukiah - Santa Rosa - Vallejo/Napa - Oakland - San Francisco. Southwest Airways changed its name to Pacific Air Lines which in 1959 was flying DC-3s or Martin 4-0-4s Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - San Francisco; Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Ukiah - Santa Rosa - San Francisco; or Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Redding - Red Bluff - Chico - Marysville/Yuba City - Sacramento - San Francisco. Also, nonstop between Crescent City and Medford, Oregon.^[7] By 1964 Pacific Air Lines was flying Fairchild F-27s and Martin 4-0-4s to Crescent City on similar multi-stop routings to San Francisco and nonstop to Portland.^[8] In 1968 Pacific Air Lines merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which changed its name to Hughes Airwest in 1970. All Air West flights to the airport in 1968 were Fairchild F-27s.^[9] In 1972 Hughes Airwest F-27s flew San Francisco - Eureka/Arcata - Crescent City - North Bend, Oregon - Corvallis, Oregon - Portland, Oregon - Astoria, Oregon - Tacoma, Washington - Seattle.^[10] By 1980 Hughes Airwest was no longer serving the airport as it had retired its F-27s.^[11]

Several commuter airlines served the airport. In 1976 Eureka Aero Industries was flying nonstop to Eureka/Arcata continuing to Eureka's Murray Field airport with Cessna 402s.^[12] WestAir was serving the airport by the early 1980s and in 1985 was flying Cessna 402s nonstop to Eureka/Arcata and on to Sacramento.^[13] WestAir also offered connecting service via either Eureka/Arcata or Sacramento to San Francisco. WestAir became a United Express airline via a code sharing agreement with United Airlines and in 1994 was flying BAe Jetstream 31s Crescent City - Eureka/Arcata - Sacramento - San Francisco several times a day.^[14] In the late 1990s, WestAir was replaced by SkyWest Airlines which in 1999 was operating as United Express from the airport with nonstop and direct Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias to San Francisco International Airport.^[15]

In 2007 SkyWest operating as United Express was continuing to fly Embraer EMB-120s nonstop to both San Francisco and Eureka/Arcata with direct one-stop flights to Sacramento.^[16] SkyWest ended all United Express service into Crescent City in 2015. From August 2017, the only remaining passenger airline service, flown by PenAir with Saab 340s via a code sharing agreement with Alaska Airlines, operated nonstop to the Portland International Airport in Oregon. This service ended after PenAir filed for bankruptcy.

New airline jet service

On February 28, 2018 Contour Airlines announced it would begin flying an Embraer ERJ-135 regional jet between Crescent City and Oakland with service which began on April 11, 2018.^[17] This new service marked the first time Crescent City had scheduled passenger airline flights operated with a jet aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

According to FlightAware, scheduled passenger flights are currently being operated by Advanced Air with Dornier 328JET regional jets nonstop to Oakland (OAK).^[18]

Airlines	Destinations	Refs
Advanced Air	Los Angeles/Hawthorne, Oakland	[19]

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Ameriflight	North Bend/Coos Bay, Portland (OR)
FedEx Feeder	Arcata/Eureka, Sacramento

Statistics

Passenger boardings (enplanements) by year, as per the FAA^[20]

Year	2008 [21]	2009 [22]	2010 [23]	2011 [24]	2012 [25]	2013[26]	2014[27]	2015[28]	2016[29]	2017[30]	2018[31]
Enplanements	12,541	11,490	14,341	14,887	12,547	12,136	13,701	4,915	8,667	6,802	5,907
Change	08.42%	08.38%	024.81%	03.81%	015.72%	03.28%	012.90%	064.13%	076.34%	021.52%	013.16%
Airline	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	SkyWest Airlines dba United Express	PenAir	PenAir	Contour Airlines
Destination(s)	Arcata-Eureka San Francisco	Arcata-Eureka San Francisco	Arcata-Eureka San Francisco	Arcata-Eureka San Francisco	Arcata-Eureka San Francisco	San Francisco	San Francisco	San Francisco	Portland	Portland	Oakland
Aircraft	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Embraer 120 Brasilia	Saab 340	Saab 340	Embraer 135
Subsidy	$957,025	$957,025	$957,025	$1,136,896	$1,136,896	$1,996,959	$1,996,959	$2,454,084	$3,506,231	$2,951,831	$3,310,503

References

1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for CEC PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective April 5, 2012.
2. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on 2012-09-27.
3. "California State Military Museum". M.L.Shettle. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
4. "U.S. Naval Activities World War II by State". Patrick Clancey. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
5. Menzel, Sewall (2020). The Pearl Harbor Secret: Why Roosevelt Undermined the U.S. Navy. ABC-CLIO. p. 41. ISBN 9781440875861.
6. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 7, 1950 Southwest timetable
7. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 1, 1959 Pacific timetable
8. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 1, 1964 Pacific timetable
9. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 1, 1968 Air West timetable
10. http://www.departedflights.com, July 1, 1972 Hughes Airwest timetable
11. http://www.departedflights.com, Sept. 1, 1980 Hughes Airwest system timetable
12. Feb. 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide
13. http://www.departedflights.com, July 15, 1981 WestAir route map & Feb. 15, 1985 Official Airline Guide
14. Sept. 15, 1994 Official Airline Guide
15. http://www.departed flights.com, June 1, 1999 Official Airline Guide
16. Feb. 2007 OAG Flight Guide Worldwide
17. Kemp, Kym. "In April, Crescent City Airport Will Begin Offering Jet Service Between There and Oakland".
18. "CEC Jack Mc Namara FLD Airport (CEC/KCEC)".
19. "Route Map". Advanced Air. March 8, 2024. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
20. "Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports – Airports". www.faa.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
21. "2008 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports with Enplanements (by State)" (PDF, 1.0 MB). CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
22. "2009 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF, 891 KB). CY 2009 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. November 23, 2010.
23. "2010 Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
24. "2011 Enplanements at Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation Airports (by State)" (PDF). CY 2011 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 9, 2012.
25. "2012 Enplanements at All Airports (Primary, Non-primary Commercial Service, and General Aviation) by State and Airport" (PDF). CY 2012 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data]. Federal Aviation Administration. October 31, 2013.
26. "All Airports with CY 2013 Enplanements" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
27. "Calendar Year 2014 Enplanements by State" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-07-01.
28. "Calendar Year 2015 Enplanements by State" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-09-27.
29. "Calendar Year 2016 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-12-01.
30. "Calendar Year 2017 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-17.
31. "Calendar Year 2016 Final Revenue Enplanements at All Airports" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-10-17.

Other sources

• Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-1997-2649) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
  • Order 2004-7-29: re-selecting SkyWest, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service at Crescent City, California, at the annual subsidy rate of $816,025 per year for the period ending July 31, 2006.
  • Order 2006-6-15: re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide subsidized essential air service at Crescent City, California, for the two-year period from August 1, 2006, through July 31, 2008, at an annual rate of $957,025.
  • Order 2008-4-23: re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service at Crescent City, California, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,136,896, through July 31, 2010.
  • Order 2010-5-19: re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide essential air service (EAS) at Crescent City, California, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,781,888. The selection extends from August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2012.
  • Order 2012-5-21: re-selecting SkyWest Airlines, Inc., d/b/a United Express, to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) at Crescent City, California, for $1,996,959 annual subsidy.

External links

• FAA Terminal Procedures for CEC, effective October 31, 2024
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for CEC
  • AirNav airport information for KCEC
  • ASN accident history for CEC
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures