Analysis: Pullman Airport Officials Evaluate $154 Million Runway Project

The first weeks of use at Pullman’s new $154 million runway saw the number of canceled or diverted flights drop or yielded worse results than the prior year, depending on which set of numbers provided by the region’s two commercial passenger airports is accurate.

Of 574 scheduled flights during the Thanksgiving-Christmas season from Nov. 17 through Jan. 15, 46, or 8 percent, were unable to land at or depart from the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, said Tony Bean, executive director of the transportation hub, in an email.

All of those were from or bound to Seattle and operated by Alaska Airlines’ Horizon Air, Pullman’s only carrier.

That compares with 64, or 14 percent, that were scrubbed between Nov. 17, 2018, through Jan. 15, 2019, when 458 fights were scheduled on the same routes, Bean said.

Horizon Air’s Bombardier Q400 turboprops carry 76 passengers, meaning that somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 people had their trips disrupted during the 2019-20 holiday season.

If a tally of the same activity provided by the chairman Lewiston-Nez Perce Regional Airport authority board is right, even more people were affected.

Lewiston airport officials contend that 578 flights were scheduled to arrive or depart from Pullman from Nov. 17 through Jan. 15, and 55 of those, or 10 percent, were canceled or diverted to other airports.

The year before, Pullman was supposed to have 454 flights during that time frame, and 41, or 9 percent, didn’t make it to Pullman, said Gary Peters, chairman of the Lewiston airport authority board in an email.

Those numbers came from Sixel Consulting Group, a firm helping Lewiston craft its strategy to retain and add flights, which got its figures from flightstats.com, Peters said.

It’s not clear which set of numbers is accurate.

Pullman has tracked what has happened at the airport closely since its new runway debuted in the fall, Bean said, so he is confident about the numbers he provided from Nov. 17 through Jan. 15 of this year.

He’s less sure about Nov. 17, 2018, through Jan. 15, 2019.

“I have no way to tell you whether they are right or wrong,” he said.

Last year, Pullman had about 60 flights canceled in January and February. At that time, Bean predicted the airport would have cancellations this winter, but not nearly as many, because of its better runway.

The Pullman airport had to replace its runway because the proximity of the previous runway to its taxiways didn’t meet Federal Aviation Administration standards.

When it made the upgrades, it also lengthened its runway from 6,730 to 7,100 feet and added a new instrument landing system.

Together, those two measures made it so planes typically can land in Pullman when they can see the runway from 200 feet off the ground and half a mile out, which is generally the same criteria for pilots taking off and landing at the Lewiston Airport.

The airport’s recent track record shows the multimillion-dollar investment by federal, state and local governments and the private sector is working, Bean said.

“The new runway keeps commercial air service in Pullman (and) Moscow,” he said.

Regardless of which set of Pullman numbers is right, Lewiston’s airport experienced fewer weather related disruptions than Pullman for the same time frame.

From mid-November to mid-January this year, 3 percent, or 10 of 324 flights, of SkyWest’s Salt Lake City flights were canceled or diverted in Lewiston, Peters said.

That compares with three, or 1 percent, of 264 flights in for the same time in the previous year for the facility, he said.

Pullman didn’t offer statistics for Lewiston.

“We worry about us and what we need to do for the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport,” Bean said.

What implication the performance of the two airports has for the future of air service in the region remains to be seen.

Horizon is considering allowing its planes to land in (Lewiston) when conditions are poor in Pullman, something that doesn’t happen now because Horizon has no staff in Lewiston after withdrawing from the airport in 2018.

“We have been looking into setting up contract services in (Lewiston) for occasions when we can’t get into (Pullman),” said Ray Lane, a spokesperson for Alaska in an email. “We believe it would provide a better customer service experience. That work remains underway.”

Officials at both airports are following the numbers and all developments closely because they are in competition as they recruit airlines to provide them with more destinations.

Like Pullman, which has one airline, Horizon, going back and forth to one place, Seattle, Lewiston has a single carrier with one route, SkyWest that goes to Salt Lake City.

Pullman is seeking a four-year grant that could be worth anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million from the federal Community Air Service Development program to help temporarily subsidize Denver flights.

The airport expects to know by the end of the month if it is one of what will likely be 15 finalists from a pool of 55 applicants, Bean said.

Lewiston didn’t apply for that money, but it is working diligently to increase flights, Peters said.

At this time, airport leaders aren’t disclosing the details of their approach, but they are letting airlines and others in the industry know that the number of passengers boarding flights in Lewiston climbed from 48,970 in 2015 to 57,762 in 2017, the year before Horizon withdrew its Lewiston service to Boise and Seattle, Peters said.

“The data is very clear, (Lewiston) can outperform (Pullman) on a year-round basis,” Peters said. “The weather is never going to change.”

One of the missteps Lewiston made in the past was not responding more quickly when Horizon shifted to larger planes in 2008, he said.

“We had high load factors with 52-seat aircraft and when the aircraft went to 76 seats, we should have recognized that and engaged our community to take action to fill the extra seats,” Peters said. “Our load factors are fantastic right now to Salt Lake.”

Regardless of how much air service the region has, winter weather will likely continue to be an unwelcome variable for travelers.

Like other airlines, Horizon allows passengers to book alternative flights, usually at no charge, to the same or nearby destinations when flights are canceled. But it doesn’t provide vouchers for meals or hotels when flights don’t go because of weather.

It also doesn’t permit passengers to upgrade to first class without charging extra, even when those seats are the only ones left on the plane.

It doesn’t appear those policies are changing any time soon.

“Our goal is to always get our guests to their final destination as quickly and hassle-free as possible,” Lane said. “Our policy is governed by federal law and is consistent with other U.S. airlines.”

Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.

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