PORT ANGELES — Restoring commercial air service from Port Angeles to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has been postponed indefinitely.
SeaPort Airlines of Portland, Ore., notified Port of Port Angeles staff late Tuesday it is postponing the start of its scheduled air service from William R. Fairchild International Airport to Sea-Tac indefinitely, citing a pilot shortage.
SeaPort could not be reached for comment Thursday. The company’s news release did not suggest how long the postponement might last.
The airline also is postponing its planned service from Moses Lake to Seattle and Portland, Ore.
Regularly scheduled air service from Fairchild to Sea-Tac was set to begin March 1.
Facilities lease
No contract has been signed between the port and SeaPort at this time, Karen Goschen, the port’s interim executive director, said Thursday.
Instead, the port was “in the process of negotiating a facilities lease,” she said.
In October, the airline announced it would begin service with five 40-minute flights most days on single-engine, nine-passenger Cessna Caravan turboprop aircraft similar to those flown by Kenmore Air.
Kenmore abandoned service to Port Angeles in November 2014.
Port of Port Angeles officials have sought another carrier since then.
Besides SeaPort, Alaska Airlines had considered flying the Port Angeles-Seattle route, but with a single flight by a 76-passenger Bombardier Q-400 twin-engine turboprop.
Community officials, including Port Commissioner Colleen McAleer, have said they would prefer more frequent flights by smaller aircraft to increase flexibility for connections at Sea-Tac.
Other possible carriers had included Skywest and the return of Kenmore Air.
Left in a lurch
The Port of Port Angeles will continue searching for ways to restore air service to Port Angeles, Goschen said.
“The port will continue to work with SeaPort as well as restarting conversations with other carriers to explore bringing commercial air service to our region,” she said.
“We are also reaching out to our representatives to explore solutions for small communities that need air service.”
The port will be working with U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer’s office to determine if and how they can help address the pilot shortage in order to re-establish commercial air service to Port Angeles, Goschen said.
Regularly scheduled air service at Fairchild remains one of the port’s key targets in its current strategic plan, she said.
Pilot shortage
In addition to Port Angeles, SeaPort on Jan. 15 announced it had canceled service in several states, including California, Kansas and Missouri.
SeaPort officials have said a shortage of qualified pilots has made the cancellation of services necessary.
As of last Saturday, SeaPort had 17 pilots available but needed 54 to keep up its schedule, Tim Sieber, SeaPort executive vice president, told the Salina Journal in Kansas.
The shortage is partly caused because many pilots are lured away by better incentives at larger airlines, he said.
While a pilot needs only 1,200 hours to captain one of SeaPort’s nine-seat aircraft — as was planned for Port Angeles — and can be a co-pilot with 500 to 700 hours of flight experience, once they log 1,500 hours of flight time, they become eligible for hire by larger airlines, Sieber said.
Qualified pilots currently have their pick of available jobs, and smaller airlines cannot compete with the compensation packages and signing bonuses offered by larger airlines, Goschen said.
“All small carriers are facing the challenge of their pilots being enticed away, which impacts their ability to achieve affordable and sustainable air service,” Goschen said.
Additionally, many Vietnam-era pilots are retiring at the mandatory retirement age of 65, with too few students enrolling in the expensive training needed to fill those vacancies, port officials say.
“The port is committed to doing what we can in this challenging environment,” Goschen said.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
