Reduction to One Daily Airline Flight Biggest Concern for Chelan Douglas Port Authority

Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority CEO Jim Kuntz says their biggest concern right now is the upcoming reduction of airline service.

Horizon flights to the lone destination of Seattle will drop from three to one per day in September, which Kuntz says is a problem being felt at airports across the state.

"All the other communities they serve got the same treatment," said Kuntz. "Walla Walla will be down to one flight. Yakima will be down to one flight. So if they're out of the Pacific Northwest, they are just cutting service substantially."

Parent company Alaska Airlines says the reduction in service is being caused by a shortage of pilots, as well as the carrier's switch from a fleet of turbo-prop planes to regional jets.

The regional jets will hold the same number of passengers as the turbo-prop planes they're replacing.

Horizon's transition to one flight is expected by September 22. The lone daily flight is reportedly set to take off from East Wenatchee in the mid-day, possibly around 1:00 pm.

Kuntz says the single daily flight arrangement will be a hardship for the airport and for passengers, although there's an expectation flight service will eventually be returned to previous levels.

"The goal is, is once they get the pilots back, and they get the fleet changed out from the Q-400s (turbo-prop) to these regional jets, we are fully anticipating a more return to normal schedule, which we hope will be three flights a day in and out of the Wenatchee Valley," Kuntz said.

An additional airline carrier that provides less-than-daily service has allegedly expressed interest in flying into Pangborn.

Although the destination city has not been named, it was described as an hour to an hour-and-a-half away and supports 21 seasonal 1-way destinations including Mexico City, Chicago, Atlanta and New York.

Local officials could try to lure the carrier to the Wenatchee Valley through tax incentives and by providing aviation fuel at cost.

The airport will get a new, $35 million runway in 2025 and is in the process of widening some of its taxiway to meet FAA standards.