The Headwaters Fund Board, the five-person committee that manages Humboldt County’s $21 million economic development fund, has called an emergency meeting to discuss whether to pledge money to American Airlines in order to subsidize direct service from Humboldt to Los Angeles. The meeting will take place Monday morning at 10 a.m., and will be held at the county’s Prosperity Center (520 E St., Eureka.)

This morning’s Times-Standard reported that American is already asking county officials for a revenue guarantee to initiate service between the Eureka-Arcata Airport in McKinleyville and Los Angeles International. If Headwaters Fund Board decides to support the proposal, the county would guarantee the airline’s revenue during the first year of service; if ticket sales fall short of projections, the Headwaters Fund would be on the hook.

The board provided a similar guarantee to Delta back in 2008, when the company began flying between Eureka-Arcata and Salt Lake City. The airline collected the county’s guarantee of $500,000 when ticket sales didn’t meet expectations, but then slashed back flights before discontinuing service altogether.

There has been no direct service between the county and Los Angeles since Horizon Air abandoned the route in April of last year.