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 ...

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

(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 Cessna N1029Y at PDT on 15Oct2015 - 1

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

(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

was federally subsidized under the

. On March 12, 2010, SeaPort won a two-year

(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

. 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

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.

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