PORT ANGELES – Kenmore Air is in Port Angeles to stay, Port of Port Angeles commissioners were told Monday.
Craig O’Neill, Kenmore’s director of marketing and sales, said the small airline is committed to maintaining passenger service between William R. Fairchild International Airport and Seattle’s Boeing Field.
Once the economy improves, the community and airline will be able to work together for the benefit of both, O’Neill said.
In turn, port commissioners, meeting Monday, said they were supportive of the airline’s efforts and intention to stay in Port Angeles despite the expected loss of federal airport support funding.
“Scheduled airline service is vital to economic development,” Commissioner John Calhoun said.
Kenmore flies three round trips weekdays to and from Boeing Field, providing a ground shuttle link to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport about 10 miles farther.
The entire trip takes approximately one hour.
Rather than worry about whether Kenmore Air would continue flying to Port Angeles, Commissioner Jim McEntire looked for ways to improve existing Kenmore’s service at Sea-Tac.
“We just have to figure out how to stitch this together,” McEntire said.
The airline’s continued presence in Port Angeles has no relationship to the possible of loss of federal funds to the port that might happen if the airline fails to meet a 10,000-passenger annual minimum, O’Neill said.
Because of the drop in ridership, the airport likely will not get the 10,000 enplanements — people taking off from the Port Angeles airport on scheduled flights — that it needs to maintain Federal Aviation Administration grant funding.
The airport receives about $1 million annually as long as it maintains its status as an FAA-certified airport through annual scheduled enplanements of 10,000 or more.
Kenmore Air and the port agree that it is unlikely the airport will achieve 10,000 this year.
The grant money is used for capital or construction projects such as fixing taxiways, building hangars or repairing airport buildings.
Kenmore Air has steadily lost passengers in the past year.
Compared with the same month in 2010, Port Angeles-to-Seattle flights lost 8.2 percent ridership in March, 17.7 percent in April and 19.5 percent in May.
In June, the number rose to 27.5 percent, O’Neill said.
“Clearly they’re not numbers we’re excited about,” he told the commissioners.
While the airline has fewer passengers, the airline has become more efficient, O’Neill said.
Since cutting back from six round trips to the current three per day, the flights are averaging 70 percent full.
“No one ever gets above 80 percent,” O’Neill said.
If a flight aboard one of the nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan is full and more passengers are booked, a second plane is added, O’Neill said.
“We’re not turning people away,” he said.
Kenmore Air will soon begin a new marketing effort to attract new passengers, O’Neill said.
First, the airline will concentrate much of its efforts on social networking websites, such as Facebook and Linked In.
The campaign will feature passenger testimonials citing the airline’s speed to the airport, the reduced stress by avoiding traffic and the economy of avoiding fuel, ferry, parking and other car-related expenses.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
