Humboldt County’s outgoing flight destinations continue to dwindle. After Aug. 22, Horizon Air will no longer offer its daily flights from the Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV) to Seattle via Redding, according to a press release issued today. This news comes barely four months after Delta Air Lines abandoned ACV entirely, eliminating Denver as a direct-flight option for North Coasters.
When reached by the Journal, Horizon VP of Marketing and Communications Dan Russo refused to give out hard numbers on passenger data, saying only that the northbound flights “weren’t doing as well as we’d hoped.” Until last year, Horizon’s northbound route went to Portland (again, via Redding), but the company switched that destination to Seattle, hoping the larger city would prove a more popular destination, Russo said. “But we didn’t see the results that we wanted,” he added.
Horizon still offers two daily flights to L.A., one direct and one through Redding. Customers who already bought tickets on the cancelled flights will either be “reaccommodated” on other flights or given a full refund, the release promises. “It’s unfortunate when schedule frequency is reduced or service discontinued, and we regret any inconvenience these changes will cause,” Russo said.
This article appears in Los Hechados.
I took that flight to Seattle once a month all year. I couldn’t have gone to school up there without it. It seemed like the flights were generally pretty full. Sad news for Humboldt folk.
This wouldnt have anything to do with what is known as a ‘dangerous’ airport, that has had some recent fatalities and a airport manager that has refused to reply to the families of the deceased… would it?
Has that situation be resolved? We are qualified and certified here… arent we?
Well, I guess I need to learn how to fly now.
There’s a strong case to be made to Skywest/United Express to bring back Arcata-Portland service now that Horizon has abandoned it. There was a time both airlines served the route with multiple daily flights. I would encourage all those who lament this service reduction to contact Skywest/United Express and ask them to consider bringing back the route.
Other detail: Delta didn’t fly to Denver, but rather to Salt Lake City.
Going through redding is hell. It’s better they dont offer flights than pretend to offer flights. More than half the time you miss connecting flights. Alaska likes to pretend that Horizon is another airlines, and doesnt honor bumps if they miss your connections. Honestly there’s no reason to fly alaska, since they cant get you to a destination. How many trips have they ruined? Whats the point of going to a business meeting to only miss the meeting? And Alaska thinks its OK to get you close enough.
Delta is back. I flew Delta out of ACV in May to go to FL. Why Delta doesn’t take out a full-page ad letting people know this is beyond me. Also, you can earn Alaska Air frequent flyer miles on Delta.
Delta is not back. They stopped flying from Arcata to Salt Lake last fall, said they might bring the flight back for summer 2010, but in February said they wouldn’t be coming back at all. It’s possible you bought a ticket out of Arcata on Delta, but the first leg of it would have been on a code-share to Los Angeles operated by Horizon. The only flight that was actually operated by the Delta subsidary (Delta Express by Skywest) was the flight to Salt Lake and it’s gone.
I would certainly visit Humboldt more often if there was better air service to and from East Coast locations. I’ve flown into SF and Portland and rented a vehicle but would much rather fly into ACV.