Port lays out new flight service
Leaders stress need for use, say Airport's Essential Air Service status is exactly that
MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake Board of Commissioners explained the new air services offered by Big Sky Airlines at Grant County International Airport to members of the Moses Lake City Council Saturday afternoon.
The changes went into effect this weekend.
As previously reported, Big Sky will no longer offer flights from Moses Lake to Seattle. It switched to offering two daily flights to Portland, Ore., and one daily flight to Boise, Idaho. Those customers who need to go to Seattle will be able to make connections in Portland on the Horizon Air shuttle flight that goes to Seattle every 30 minutes.
Port manager Craig Baldwin outlined the benefits for the city council members, mainly increased reliability and confidence, and decreased costs for customers in Moses Lake.
Other benefits include Big Sky having its own ticket counter at the Portland airport, and the inclusion of a computer terminal screen set up in Moses Lake so that customers can figure out what exit gate in Portland they need to get to before they even leave town, Baldwin said.
Port Commissioner Larry Peterson, president of the board of commissioners, told the council that the number of people utilizing the flights needs to increase, or the airport will lose its federally subsidized Essential Air Service. Big Sky Airlines has been contracting with the Washington State Department of Transportation for three years to offer Essential Air Service at GCIA.
"If we lose that subsidy, we'll lose air service," he said to the council. "I don't have to tell any of you how important it is to maintain air service out of this airport. If you look at where we've been and where we're at right now, the numbers are there, the travelers are there — it's a matter of getting them back into a level of confidence to fly Big Sky."
Peterson also stressed that maintaining rail service to the Port is critical. As Vision 2020 and the city seek to move the railroad out of town, he said, removal cannot happen without a concurrent plan to reestablish rail to the airport.
The Port has had an engineering study done to pick a new site and plans a study to get further into engineering details and cost estimates for the project, Peterson said. The Port is presently seeking ways to fund that study.