SeaPort Airlines was a US-based
regional airline with its headquarters at
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city l ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
.
It operated scheduled service from its bases at
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city l ...
(PDX) (Pacific Northwest region) and
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
(MEM) (Mid-South region). It also operated a Southwest region from
San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport , formerly known as Lindbergh Field, is an international airport northwest of Downtown San Diego, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.. US Feder ...
(SAN) and
Hollywood Burbank Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport, legally and formerly marketed as Bob Hope Airport after entertainer Bob Hope , is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. ef ...
(BUR), as well as international service to
San Felipe International Airport (SFH), the airport's most recent commercial service, from 2013 to January 2016.
SeaPort Airlines used the callsign "
Sasquatch
Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of ...
"
to communicate with air traffic controllers. The carrier played off this in early 2013 when it introduced "Roger, The SeaPort Airlines Sasquatch" as the airline's mascot.
As of November 2013, SeaPort Airlines received $13,879,930 in annual Federal subsidies for
Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...
s that they provided to rural airports in the U.S.
On February 5, 2016, the airline announced it had filed for voluntary
Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being forced to reduce its route network. Normal day-to-day operations were set to continue during the company reorganization. The company filed a plan to emerge from Chapter 11 on July 12, 2016. However, on September 20, 2016, the company went out of business after its Chapter 11 bankruptcy was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation.
Fleet
Seaport Airlines operated the
Pilatus PC-12 and the
Cessna 208 Caravan.
Regional operations
SeaPort Airlines operated scheduled commuter service in two distinct geographical areas connecting rural communities to the national transportation network: the Pacific Northwest with destinations in
Portland and
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
Pendleton ...
and the Mid-South including
South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field in
El Dorado,
Boone County Airport in
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
, and
Memorial Field Airport
Memorial Field Airport is located in City of Hot Springs, in Garland County, Arkansas, United States, southwest of Downtown Hot Springs. It serves nearby Hot Springs National Park. The airport is used for general aviation; airline flights are ...
in
Hot Springs, Arkansas as well as
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 5 ...
(IAH) in
Houston, Texas.
Until January 2016 the airline also had a Southwest region with destinations in California and Mexico.
Pacific Northwest service
SeaPort's Pacific Northwest Service at its
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city l ...
(PDX) hub was historically targeted at commuters between Seattle and Portland wishing to avoid congestion at the larger
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the main commercial terminal at Portland International Airport. In late 2011, SeaPort began to reinvent its business model and the carrier ended its namesake route between Seattle (Boeing Field) and Portland on January 27, 2012.
As part of this business shift, on January 15, 2012, SeaPort Airlines began nonstop flights between Portland International Airport and
North Bend/Coos Bay utilizing
Cessna 208 Caravan single turboprop engine aircraft.
On October 21, 2008, SeaPort Airlines was awarded a two-year
government grant
A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a local ...
to provide commercial service from
Portland to
Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in
Pendleton beginning December 1, 2008, replacing subsidized service by
Horizon Air
Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is an American regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon-opera ...
.
On March 20, 2016, SeaPort Airlines ceased service to North Bend/Coos Bay,
and
PenAir
Peninsula Airways, operated as PenAir, was a U.S.-based regional airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was Alaska's second-largest commuter airline operating scheduled passenger service, as well as charter and medevac services through ...
began service on March 21.
Mid-South service
All of SeaPort's Mid-South service based at
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
was federally subsidized under the
Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...
.
On March 12, 2010, SeaPort won a two-year
Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...
(EAS) contract to provide three daily flights Sunday through Friday between
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889.
In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...
and
Kansas City International Airport and between
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...
and
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a civil-military airport located southeast of Downtown Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. It is the primary international airport serving Memphis. It covers and has four runways., effective A ...
.
As part of this growth SeaPort secured
Department of Transportation approval to add daily flights between
Kansas City International Airport and
Harrison, Arkansas
Harrison is a city and the county seat of Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is named after General Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor who laid out the city along Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs. According to 2019 Census Bureau estima ...
.
In July 2011, SeaPort began service to
Dallas Love Field from
El Dorado and
Hot Springs.
[route map]
/ref>
In February 2013, SeaPort Airlines announced that its EAS contract for service to McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport in Jackson, Tennessee, had been extended by the U.S. Department of Transportation through January 31, 2014. The carrier had been awarded a one-year (rather than the typical two-year) contract due to the low number of passengers that used the flights operated by the previous carrier providing EAS, which had put Jackson’s continued eligibility for subsidized air service at risk.
Following the 2014 phaseout of the Wright Amendment
The Wright Amendment of 1979 was a United States federal law that governed traffic at Dallas Love Field, an airport in Dallas, Texas, to protect Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) from competition. The amendment—enacted in reaction to ...
and the opening of a new terminal at Dallas Love Field, SeaPort had to share a single gate with Virgin America
Virgin America Inc. was a low-cost U.S. airline that operated from 2007 until 2018, when it was acquired by Alaska Airlines. The airline primarily focused on operating low-fare service between cities on the West Coast and other major metropol ...
and lost its access to a permanent ticket counter; the resulting inconvenience and flight delays prompted SeaPort to transfer the Texas–Arkansas flights from Love Field to George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 5 ...
in Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
in September 2015.
On January 16, 2016, SeaPort ceased service to Salina, Great Bend, and Kansas City, citing a nationwide shortage of regional airline pilots.
Southwest service
On May 1, 2013, the airline began service connecting Imperial/El Centro to San Diego and Burbank. The EAS contract was awarded to SeaPort in January 2013, replacing the incumbent carrier SkyWest Airlines, which linked Imperial to Los Angeles.
In July 2014, SeaPort Airlines announced it would begin nonstop service between Burbank and San Diego on October 1, with four weekday flights each way, and reduced service on weekends.
Later the airline added service to Sacramento and Visalia as well as its first international destination, San Felipe in Mexico.
SeaPort ceased all operations in California and Mexico on January 15, 2016.
See also
* List of defunct airlines of the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
Official Site
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed
Defunct regional airlines of the United States
Companies based in Portland, Oregon
Airlines established in 2008
Privately held companies based in Oregon
Defunct airlines of the United States
2008 establishments in Oregon
Airlines disestablished in 2016
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016
Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
2016 disestablishments in Oregon
American companies established in 2008
American companies disestablished in 2016