Service Extended between Redmond, Ore., and Denver

Redmond Airport's weekend flights to Denver will be extended by two months, through October, an airline official said Friday.

What happens to Denver service after that is up in the air.

Passengers have flocked to the Saturday and Sunday flights that began June 10 and were scheduled to end Sept. 3. The United Express flights had passenger loads of about 85 percent through July.

While United is extending the Saturday-Sunday flights through Sept. 24, service will be limited to Saturdays only starting Sept. 30, according to a spokeswoman for the Chicago-based airline.

"We're seeing slower demand (on the route)," said United's Robin Urbanski. "It's not as strong as it was during the summer. With the price of fuel today, we want to make sure there are definitely enough people to sustain the service year-round."

United is deciding whether to extend the service into November and if the route warrants daily service, Urbanski added.

"It depends on how October does (in terms of passenger levels)," she said.

Central Oregon business representatives are lobbying United to make the Denver service daily to provide another eastbound business connection.

Currently, the only daily eastbound service is through Salt Lake City on Delta Connection.

United sold out its 50 seats on yesterday's Denver-bound flight from Redmond, and has sold 36 tickets for a similar flight in mid-September.

But only 12 seats have been sold for a flight scheduled in October.

Urbanski said ticket sales usually pick up within a month of departure.

The flight is operated by St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines on regional jets. The airline also operates Delta Connection's flights to Salt Lake City.

SkyWest spokeswoman Sabrena Suite said her company is ready if United decides to make Redmond-Denver a daily flight.

"We have a great history of filling the seat capacity United wants," Suite said, adding that SkyWest took delivery of 10 planes so far this year to serve increasing demand on United Express routes.

"If they want to fly (to Redmond) daily, our executive group would talk to their group, and we would find that capacity," she said.

Suite added that SkyWest flies daily to Denver and Salt Lake City from many markets, and having the two flights often increases passenger counts for both services because the competition keeps ticket prices low.

"Competition is good," Suite said. "It gives the market more options, and customers tend to use both flights more because the opportunity, the pricing and the flight frequency is there."

Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, has pitched United, Delta and other airlines for more flights to Redmond.

Lee said his organization will follow up with United to see if a daily or thrice-weekly service to Denver is feasible.

"It doesn't surprise me that a flight that doesn't cater to business travelers at all is slowing down after the summer," he said, noting the Denver service's current weekend scheduling. "I firmly believe there's enough demand (for another eastbound daily flight)."

Lee added that his group pursued a Redmond-to-Los-Angeles connection after statistics showed many passengers traveling to Salt Lake City connected to flights destined for Southern California.

"Now the L.A. flight has started, and people are still having problems finding seats to Salt Lake City," he said.

Seattle-based Horizon Air launched two daily flights to Los Angeles on Aug. 1.

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