Tri-Cities is losing its flight to Portland — again

The Tri-Cities is losing its airline connection to Portland.

Alaska Air Group has notified the Tri-Cities Airport it will permanently halt its daily Portland flight on Aug. 25, citing low demand.

Randy Hayden, executive director of the Port of Pasco, confirmed the decision. He said it is unfortunate but not uncommon for airlines to make shifts.

Alaska, operating as Horizon, operates a 76-seat Q400 jet on the Portland run.

The move comes just two months after Alaska restored the flight following a months-long hiatus.

The Seattle-based airline halted the Pasco-to-Portland route last year as part of a larger reduction in service as it addressed a pilot shortage. It restored the run in March.

The following month, 30,277 passengers boarded planes at Pasco, a 6 percent gain over the prior year.

During the hiatus, ridership fell by about 2 percent. Even so, the airport eked out a record 376,758 boardings in 2017, 0.2 percent more than in 2016.

Alaska's decision comes a year after the port unveiled a $42 million expansion that doubled the Tri-Cities Airport. The airline reportedly will add an additional Seattle route this fall.

Pasco isn't alone. Alaska officials confirmed that Bellingham too will lose its Portland flight and Eugene, Ore. will lose its San Jose, Calif. flight.

Local officials vowed to continue wooing airlines to beef up their local runs.

Buck Taft, the airport's director, met with United Airlines in January and with Delta Airlines a week ago.

He'll meet with Alaska representatives in June and regularly attends aviation-related conferences to tout the advantages of serving the Mid-Columbia.

The loss of service to Portland is unfortunate, but not fatal. Pasco has multiple daily flights to Seattle, which offers more connections than Portland.

Taft's top priority is securing a direct flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which has proven to be a challenge. Allegiant offers seasonal service to Los Angeles that is geared to vacation travelers.

The community secured a $750,000 Small Community Air Service Development Grant to support its efforts to develop an LAX route. An estimated 150 Tri-City passengers travel to Los Angeles daily.

About half originate in Pasco but connect through Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. The other half are believed to drive to other airports.

Taft said the numbers support the argument, but logistics have been a challenge.

"No one has laughed us out of the room," he said.

The Pasco airport is served by four airlines offering direct flights to eight markets — Las Vegas, Mesa, Ariz., Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver and San Francisco.

This story was originally published May 22, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Tri-Cities is losing its flight to Portland — again."