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Portland flights shift to SkyWest
By Jo Rafferty, Staff Writer
Saturday, October 11, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
NORTH BEND — A faltering Horizon Air sent its last flight to Portland this morning, but the new air carrier, SkyWest-United Express says the outlook is good for its Portland service that starts Sunday.
“The Portland loads are looking really strong,” said Marissa Snow, SkyWest Airlines spokeswoman.
It helps that business south is already meeting expectations.
SkyWest began offering commercial flights between Southwest Oregon Regional Airport and San Francisco in July. On Friday, the airport reported a 72.2 percent load factor in August, an increase from 62.5 percent in the previous month, according to a report by airport operations manager, Gene Cossey.
“San Francisco has had a good summer,” Snow said. “We’re hoping to continue that momentum as we go into the winter months.”
Coos County Airport District Chairman Mike Lehman is pleased the San Francisco flights have been strong. So far, the district hasn’t had to dip into a $250,000 revenue guarantee promised to SkyWest if it didn’t break even on the flights in the first year.
“The one piece of good news is the southbound flights for the month of August, we don’t owe any money on it,” Lehman said. “It was the first full month of operations.”
Lehman said the news is bittersweet, with Horizon Air’s termination of flights.
“It’s really difficult to see the staff leave the airport,” Lehman said. “They’re just members of the community. It’s sad. But at the corporate level, it’s sad to see them leaving small communities. It feels like Horizon and Alaska just abandoned us.”
Lehman said he is disappointed that Horizon seemed to have changed its business philosophy.
“Horizon built their business on small airports,” Lehman said.
SkyWest, however, seems to be headed in the direction of providing small community service.
“Everything seems to feel like they’re connected with us,” Lehman said.
About $713,000 in funds provided by the local business community, the airport district and the city of Portland went to guarantee SkyWest would break even on its Portland flights this first year.
Lehman said a decrease in fuel prices could work in the airport’s favor, but the economy is something weighing on everybody’s minds.
“It may be cheaper to fly, but it will be more difficult to fly,” Lehman said, noting there are the same amount of daily flights out of town now — SkyWest’s two to Portland and two to San Francisco — as there were when Horizon was the sole carrier, with three or four daily Portland flights.
“Come summer, we’ll see if that’s enough,” he said of the two Portland flights. “Right now it’s just a really uneasy time all the way around. Everybody’s nervous. We’re watching this carefully.”
Horizon Air has been a commercial air service provider at the airport for 26 years. Horizon President and CEO Jeff Pinneo expressed his regret in leaving the community in a letter published in The World on Friday.
He talked about how the company needed to phase out 37-seat airplanes to be replaced by 76-seat Q400 turboprops, that are more fuel-efficient but not as cost-effective in smaller communities. Horizon also terminated air service in Klamath Falls today.
He praised the employees, some of whom have been there since the airline’s service began in North Bend in 1982.
“We couldn’t be prouder of them all,” Pinneo said in his letter.
“The Portland loads are looking really strong,” said Marissa Snow, SkyWest Airlines spokeswoman.
It helps that business south is already meeting expectations.
SkyWest began offering commercial flights between Southwest Oregon Regional Airport and San Francisco in July. On Friday, the airport reported a 72.2 percent load factor in August, an increase from 62.5 percent in the previous month, according to a report by airport operations manager, Gene Cossey.
“San Francisco has had a good summer,” Snow said. “We’re hoping to continue that momentum as we go into the winter months.”
Coos County Airport District Chairman Mike Lehman is pleased the San Francisco flights have been strong. So far, the district hasn’t had to dip into a $250,000 revenue guarantee promised to SkyWest if it didn’t break even on the flights in the first year.
“The one piece of good news is the southbound flights for the month of August, we don’t owe any money on it,” Lehman said. “It was the first full month of operations.”
Lehman said the news is bittersweet, with Horizon Air’s termination of flights.
“It’s really difficult to see the staff leave the airport,” Lehman said. “They’re just members of the community. It’s sad. But at the corporate level, it’s sad to see them leaving small communities. It feels like Horizon and Alaska just abandoned us.”
Lehman said he is disappointed that Horizon seemed to have changed its business philosophy.
“Horizon built their business on small airports,” Lehman said.
SkyWest, however, seems to be headed in the direction of providing small community service.
“Everything seems to feel like they’re connected with us,” Lehman said.
About $713,000 in funds provided by the local business community, the airport district and the city of Portland went to guarantee SkyWest would break even on its Portland flights this first year.
Lehman said a decrease in fuel prices could work in the airport’s favor, but the economy is something weighing on everybody’s minds.
“It may be cheaper to fly, but it will be more difficult to fly,” Lehman said, noting there are the same amount of daily flights out of town now — SkyWest’s two to Portland and two to San Francisco — as there were when Horizon was the sole carrier, with three or four daily Portland flights.
“Come summer, we’ll see if that’s enough,” he said of the two Portland flights. “Right now it’s just a really uneasy time all the way around. Everybody’s nervous. We’re watching this carefully.”
Horizon Air has been a commercial air service provider at the airport for 26 years. Horizon President and CEO Jeff Pinneo expressed his regret in leaving the community in a letter published in The World on Friday.
He talked about how the company needed to phase out 37-seat airplanes to be replaced by 76-seat Q400 turboprops, that are more fuel-efficient but not as cost-effective in smaller communities. Horizon also terminated air service in Klamath Falls today.
He praised the employees, some of whom have been there since the airline’s service began in North Bend in 1982.
“We couldn’t be prouder of them all,” Pinneo said in his letter.
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