PORT ANGELES — San Juan Airlines’ second day of commercial service to and from the North Olympic Peninsula saw few takers, with no passengers aboard six of its 10 Thursday flights.
But Vice President Shane Carlson said that’s to be expected as the airline breaks into a new market.
“It’s pretty typical, strictly for the fact that it is a big change and people just have to adapt to it,” said Carlson, who is also the Renton-based company’s chief pilot, van driver and son of San Juan Airlines President Clyde Carlson. “I think the word of mouth just has to get out there.”
The airline’s 9-passenger, twin engine airplanes started service Wednesday between Port Angeles’ William R. Fairchild International Airport and Being Field in Seattle, replacing Horizon Air, which ended its service to Port Angeles on Tuesday.
San Juan, which also services the San Juan Islands and Anacortes, flies 10 legs daily between Port Angeles and Boeing, then offers shuttle service between Boeing and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for passengers who have connecting flights.
On Thursday, its 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. flights were empty, Carlson said.
Six passengers flew aboard the 8:30 a.m. flight to Seattle, four or five people flew aboard the 10:30 a.m. flight to Seattle, three passengers boarded the 2 p.m. flight to Seattle, and a passenger was scheduled to fly the 6 p.m. flight to Port Angeles.
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The rest of the story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition.
