PORT ANGELES — County, city and port officials Wednesday emailed Kenmore Air company President Todd Banks “ideas and commitments” for keeping Kenmore on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Proposals that will be considered include local government entities buying blocks of airline tickets for official employee travel at a volume discount.
Ken O’Hollaren, Port of Port Angeles executive director; Port Angeles City Manager Dan McKeen; and Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones made the pitch in a 1½-page letter with the port’s letterhead that was emailed at 2:33 p.m.
Kenmore, citing low ridership and sharp competition from cheaper commercial ground transportation, announced last Friday that it will run its last scheduled flight at 1:30 p.m. this Friday from Port of Port Angeles’ William R. Fairchild International Airport to Boeing Field in Seattle.
It’s the only scheduled commercial airline passenger service in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Kenmore flies small planes, usually the Cessna Grand Caravan holding up to nine passengers, between Port Angeles and Boeing Field, and shuttles riders to and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Banks said late Wednesday afternoon that he had received the letter but had not closely examined it.
“We just have to see what the economics look like on it,” he said.
One thing is certain, he added: Kenmore service ends Friday.
“We aren’t that nimble to be able to start and stop like that,” Banks said.
“Once you make the announcement [to stop service], people stop booking.”
Port Commissioner Colleen McAleer, who drafted the correspondence, said Kenmore’s departure may be discussed at the port commission’s regular meeting — rescheduled from Tuesday because of Veterans Day — today at 9 a.m. in the public meeting room at the port administrative building, 338 W. First St., Port Angeles.
“We hope Kenmore’s departure from our community will be short-lived and our local economy will swing into gear just as much of the rest of the state and nation is now experiencing,” the officials said in the letter.
The ideas and commitments to support Kenmore included establishing policies to encourage public employee ridership for official business “if Kenmore Air offers reduced air fares based on multiple ticket purchases valid for future travel.”
The letter also tries to entice Kenmore with Clallam County’s Opportunity Fund, which consists of state sales tax revenue that promotes economic development in economically distressed rural counties such as Clallam.
“If you believe there is a suitable use of these funds that will leverage Kenmore’s ability to create a sustainable business model in our county, we’d like to have that discussion,” McAleer, McKeen and Jones said in the letter.
Jones said in an interview Wednesday that Opportunity Fund revenues may be used to purchase the tickets.
While taking Kenmore flights is faster than driving, it’s still too expensive compared with paying employees’ mileage costs to drive, Jones said.
The city and county also “would be open” to allocating lodging tax funds to advertise Kenmore service from Port Angeles to Boeing Field, according to the letter.
“For passenger traffic initiating from Clallam County, the port’s director of business development will orchestrate a local campaign in concert with the Clallam County Economic Development Council and the four chambers of commerce within Clallam County to encourage local business ridership to Boeing Field,” the letter says.
“This would include awareness of the rental car services offered at Boeing Field for connectivity within the I-5 corridor.”
The city, county and port also agreed to encourage area businesses to use Kenmore’s contract freight air service.
The port also would consider continuing to waive Kenmore’s landing fees at Fairchild.
McAleer said the letter grew out of a meeting Monday afternoon at Port Angeles City Hall attended by Nathan West, city community and economic development director; Jim McEntire, Clallam County commissioner; Dan Di Guilio, Port Angeles mayor; Bill Greenwood, Clallam County Economic Development Council executive director; Brian Kuh, Economic Development Council board president; McKeen; and McAleer.
McAleer said the correspondence provides “ideas for how we felt [Kenmore] could potentially increase revenue where we felt we could provide marketing support for tourist-based travel and also locally based travel to the I-5 corridor for local businesses and citizens.”
As of Thursday at noon, just nine passengers had booked spaces on Kenmore flights for Friday when 36 seats were available, Banks said earlier Wednesday.
“That encapsulates what we’ve been talking about, just as [far as] what’s happened to the traffic,” he said.
“We just need some kind of reassurance that we could run a profitable route.
“We’d be open to any proposal.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
