Horizon considers new turboprops;
SkyWest is planning `all-jet fleet’
When asked what an all-jet fleet would mean for SkyWest’s
flights into Hailey, she said,
"I don’t think we’ve specifically crossed that
bridge."
Allison Gemmell, SkyWest director of marketing
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Amid local concern about the future of airline service to
the Wood River Valley, a Horizon Air spokesman said this week the airline
has tentative plans to begin flying new, larger, faster turboprops into
the valley beginning this summer.
Pending delivery from the manufacturer, Horizon’s plans
call for the 70-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops to operate here during the
peak summer season through September and during the peak winter season
from mid-December through March.
The smaller, 37-seat Q200 that Horizon currently uses to
serve the area would continue to operate during spring and autumn slack
seasons.
That news may help alleviate fears of some that new jet
technology may eventually attract airlines away from flying turboprops
altogether.
Called regional jets, the new small, fast, economical
planes are attracting airlines like SkyWest away from flying the slower,
less comfortable turboprops that have traditionally served the Wood River
Valley.
The recent fervor over regional jets and claims that they
can’t land and take off in Hailey raise questions about the future of
the Wood River Valley’s regularly scheduled air service.
SkyWest, Horizon’s only regularly scheduled competitor
in the Wood River Valley, announced Jan. 15 that it has ordered 64
Canadair regional jets to be delivered between mid-2002 and December 2004.
Alison Gemmell, SkyWest director of marketing, said during
a telephone interview last week that the order is part of SkyWest’s
plans to move to an "all jet fleet."
When asked what that would mean for SkyWest’s flights to
Hailey, she said, "I don’t think we’ve specifically crossed that
bridge."
However, she said, "considering your airport
restrictions and runway restrictions…[regional jets] cannot operate in
your valley."
She said SkyWest planned to phase out all of its existing
turboprops in the next decade, but new jet technology might allow regional
jets to serve Hailey by then.
SkyWest chief pilot Jim Breeze agreed. In the next 10
years, new higher horsepower engines may be available for the 70-seat
regional jets, allowing better climbing capability needed for taking off
in the mountains with full loads, he said. And, new "leading-edge
devices" that allow slower landing speeds, and a shorter runway,
might be available.
A renovation of the Hailey airport now in progress may
result in a 350-foot runway extension available for take-offs. However,
Breeze said, the added distance would have "very little" effect
on the ability of regional jets to take off.
"The real problem with [the Hailey airport] is we can
only land to the north and take off to the south," he said, due to
the mountains. The restrictions limit pilots’ options to cope with
different wind conditions. If planes could land and take off in both
directions, that might allow them to overcome the other problems.
Airlines’ focus on regional jets has affected other
mountain resort towns.
The Jackson Hole News recently reported similar
concerns about SkyWest’s switch to regional jets. Jackson Hole’s
airport presents the same problems for regional jets that Hailey’s
airport does.