Foundation and operations

The airline was founded in 2009 by Ted Vallas, a San Diego County businessperson from the North County area. Vallas had previously operated Air Resorts Airlines and wanted to create a San Diego County-based airline.^[6] He picked Palomar Airport as a hub, since it had moderate demand but infrequent scheduled service. Vallas invested about $14 million in seed money, with plans to raise up to $32 million more from private investment.^[7]

From 2009 to 2017, the airline struggled to achieve certification from the FAA as well as attempts to secure a fleet and routes. By February 6, 2012, California Pacific had passed Phase I of the FAA's formal Part 121 certification process, but their progress slowed due to a lack of available aircraft to lease or buy.^[8] A breakthrough eventually came at the end of 2017, when the airline acquired ADI Aerodynamics, a small Essential Air Service (EAS) carrier. This purchase gave them full FAA certification, a fleet of four Embraer ERJ 145s, and a nearly-expired EAS contract between Denver International Airport and Pierre and Watertown, South Dakota.^[9]

During 2018, the company renewed their EAS contract, gained permission from San Diego County to operate commercial services, and scheduled their first routes.^[10] The airline formally began its first commercial service in November 2018, with nonstop flights between McCllelan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California, and several destinations in the southwestern United States.^[11] However, there were numerous cancellations in November and December, giving the airline a bad reputation among passengers. The airline blamed the cancellations on a pilot shortage.^[12] The airline also gained a bad reputation for numerous cancellations and delays due to mechanical issues.^[13]

Closure and attempted restart

In December 2018, California Pacific Airlines announced that it was temporarily suspending its West Coast flight operations. The carrier's EAS operations were not affected.^[14] In January 2019, the EAS operations were shut down as well, leaving South Dakota cities Pierre (the capital) and Watertown without any commercial air service.^[15][16] Eventually, these routes were ceded to SkyWest Airlines operating for United Express, definitively ending the former ADI routes. Employees were all put on indefinite furlough January 18; anonymous employees said that they were not paid for the last half of December or for January, and that their health insurance premiums had not been paid for three months.^[17]

On February 28, 2019, Vallas stated that he had secured private investment to restart the airline in some capacity, and that operations could resume "within 90-120 days," with plans to abandon EAS flying altogether and take on additional second-hand ERJs to help mitigate the risk of mechanical issues which plagued the airline during its initial operation.^[18] On May 9, talks began to sell a majority stake in the airline to Paragon Partners, an investment firm led by former Virgin America executive Robert Nisi.^[19][20] On January 3, 2020, the airline filed paperwork to formally restart service, with flights to be operated using an all-Embraer fleet.^[21] The exact date operations would start under the new certificate has still been undetermined. As of June 2020, a Federal District Court in Oregon ruled after trial that Vallas failed to pay ADI's former owner for the airline.^[22] In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an order permanently revoking the airline's air operating certificate after denying their request for a third consecutive waiver of dormancy.^[4] Owner Ted Vallas died of heart failure on November 13 of that year. ^[23]