PORT ANGELES — Kenmore Air is readying to make tickets available through online ticketing agencies Expedia and Travelocity.
The action comes on the heels of an agreement with Alaska Airlines that allows passengers booking online through Alaska’s Web site, www.alaskaair.com, to also book Kenmore tickets to or from William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles.
Craig O’Neill, marketing director for the airline, said ridership is down about 30 percent from last year — but that number is skewed by the boost the airline received in May and June 2009 from the Hood Canal Bridge closure.
The floating bridge was closed for about six weeks for east-half replacement.
Net decline 3 percent
“Once you factor that out, our ridership is down only about 3 percent,” he told the three Port of Port Angeles commissioners Monday.
“I take some comfort in the fact that the results are comparable throughout our root structure.
“That percentage is on the same standing as most of the rest of our locations.”
O’Neill said the airline is committed to remaining in Port Angeles and that internal restructuring has placed it in good standing to do so.
“Even though we are down slightly — or basically flat — from last year, we are in a much better position than we ever have been,” he said.
Through July, the airline has flown 10,699 passengers between Seattle’s Boeing Field and Port Angeles.
That compares with 15,437 in 2009.
The airline makes between five and seven round trips between Port Angeles and Boeing, formally known as King County International Airport, depending on the time of year.
Passengers are taken to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, about seven miles away, on a free shuttle bus.
O’Neill said passengers have been able to book Alaska Airline tickets on Kenmore planes since April.
By October, they should be able to book on the other ticketing websites.
“As a direct result of our agreement with Alaska Airlines, this has been made possible,” O’Neill said.
“So far, we have sold tickets to people coming from and going to 35 Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air [Alaska’s regional airline] cities.”
Marketing report
Patricia McCauley of InsideOut Solutions in Sequim, who is marketing manager for Kenmore through a Small Community Air Services grant, also gave a report to port commissioners.
When speaking with an employee of the National Science Foundation, she found out that the Port Angeles airport was not on the list of approved General Services Administration airports — which means that government employees couldn’t be reimbursed to fly into Fairchild, McCauley told the commissioners.
“I’m working on getting us into that database,” she said.
That could be essential once the Elwha River dams removal project begins next year, she said.
“There will be scientists and other government employees flying in all the time,” she said.
She said she also is readying herself to start more marketing for Kenmore after conducting many formal and informal surveys.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
