The problems facing United Airlines as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy have shelved, for up to a year, talks with Central Oregon officials about adding flights from Redmond’s Roberts Field to Denver, a long-sought “hub” destination for direct flights to the East.

The Redmond airport’s air service consultant, Mead & Hunt, Inc. anticipates that United Airlines will be in a position to consider new markets in 6-12 months, Economic Development for Central Oregon announced Wednesday.

“This is a setback, but we are going to continue to pursue expanded service,” said Carrie Novick, manager of the Redmond Municipal Airport. “It is not a question of `if’ we will have service to a hub with East Coast connections, it is a matter of `when.’”

“There’s really nothing we can do,” Novick said Wednesday. “We’re small potatoes. … We’re not down and out, but I’d be lying if I said we weren’t disappointed.”

Still, the Redmond airport manager said she remains upbeat about the eventual success of the effort.

“There’s no question to everybody that the system is going to work,” Novick said. “It’s frustrating, but there’s no point in beating yourself up over something you don’t have control over.”

Novick said she plans to request a grant extension of up to a year, in order to accommodate the delay. During the period allowed by the extension, the Central Oregon Air Service Taskforce (COAST) will work with Mead & Hunt and the Redmond Airport to evaluate alternative options for the region to other hubs with East Coast connections.

As far as Novick is concerned, United is still the best option for gaining flights to the East. “At this time, it’s still the best thing for this market,” she said. “That doesn’t mean just before we go back out that we don’t reevaluate our options. But at this point, I don’t believe it’s worth our while to change our long-term strategy for a short-term situation.”

Last year, Roberts Field was one of 35 airports in the nation to receive a federal grant under the Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development Pilot Program (bend.com/AR-11570).

In all, 170 airports filed grant applications for a share of the $20 million program, created to assist smaller cities with improvements to local air service. The Redmond airport was awarded $515,000 to be used for developing air service to a connecting hub airport that would provide better connections from Redmond to destinations in the eastern U.S.

United’s loss of East Coast partner muddies waters

A preliminary analysis by Mead & Hunt of the area’s airline passenger traffic indicated that the hub airports at Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix are the favored connecting airport options for targeted air service from Redmond. Denver’s largest carrier is United Airlines, Delta has the majority of traffic in Salt Lake City, and America West Airlines is the main airline at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport.

Because these airlines all have different routes serving communities from each of the hub airports, their individual ability to serve Central Oregon air travelers. In the final analysis, United was chosen as the most favorable option for the Redmond effort to secure flights to an eastbound “hub.”

While industry analysts had predicted that United Airlines might emerge from bankruptcy during the first or second quarter of this year, the breakup of its contract with regional partner Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) makes this scenario less likely, local officials said.

Until recently, ACA provided aircraft and personnel key to the United Express system at Washington Dulles International Airport, one of five hubs for United. However, ACA has now announced the formation of a new low-fare airline, Independence Air, to be based out of Dulles. That increases competition for United at the same time that it leaves the airline short on the regional jets it had planned to use in its West Coast network, including Redmond.

“Nationally, the commercial air service business is very volatile right now, but we will continue to adapt and work toward a plan that best meets the needs here in Central Oregon,” said Roger Lee, who is a member of COAST and executive director of EDCO.

The Redmond proposal, submitted to the federal Department of Transportation last summer, was to add twice-daily United Express service to Denver on 50-seat CRJ 200 “regional jet” aircraft. To get a clearer picture of the local support and reduce the airline’s break-even period, EDCO planned to create an airline “travel bank,” committing to $500,000 in ticket purchases by 100 local businesses.

The delay doesn’t mean any money is sitting idle, however. “You should never collect any money until you get a firm commitment,” Novick said. “Then you have to give it back, and it’s the worst thing in the world.”

The delay in talks regarding United’s possible service to Denver won’t slow any ongoing airport plans, much less bring them to a stop, Novick said, adding that plans for a terminal expansion are in the “request for qualifications” process, seeking an engineering and architectural firm for design work.

The longer wait for regional jet service has a positive side, when it comes to terminal expansion plans, Novick said: “It puts us closer to being ready when we announce” the service is coming.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2004 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.