Why don’t travelers fly into Fresno?
My husband and I invite many guests to our home from around the world. In the past year alone, we’ve had guests from Tokyo, Denmark, Germany and Mexico – and none of them were able to fly into Fresno because of the cost.
In many cases, a connecting flight from San Francisco International Airport or Los Angeles International Airport to Fresno costs much more than their flight from another country to SFO or LAX. Our guests always decide it is significantly less to rent a car at SFO or LAX and drive to Riverdale.
Our travel agent discourages flights out of Fresno when we need to make a connecting flight. She’s had too many clients miss connecting flights because so many flights out of Fresno get canceled. She notes that happy journeys are often ruined for that reason.
My husband once drove to Bakersfield to catch a flight because flying out of FAT was too expensive. He boarded with a group of Fresno City employees who did the same thing, complaining that it is too expensive to fly out of Fresno.
Our city will never get the attention it deserves if people can’t afford to fly here.
Kathi Gulley, Riverdale
This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Why don’t travelers fly into Fresno?."