Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Resort to ink deal for winter flights service

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley Co. has negotiated a tentative deal with Seattle-based Horizon Air to guarantee direct flights next winter between the Wood River Valley and California’s two largest urban areas.

Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley Co. director of marketing and public relations, said Horizon officials on Friday, April 9, "committed" fully to operating direct flights between Oakland and Los Angeles and Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey.

Sibbach said a contract to finalize the agreement is forthcoming.

The pending contract will only pertain to air service next winter. The exact term of the air service has not been established, Sibbach said, but would likely resemble the approximately three-month term included in a similar contract that expired in late March.

Meanwhile, Sibbach said Horizon officials are expected to determine next month whether the air carrier will operate flights between Hailey and Los Angeles in July and August, when demand is typically very high.

The summer flights would not be subsidized.

"I would say it’s a 50-50 chance they will provide those flights," Sibbach said.

Sun Valley Co. last fall agreed to subsidize winter flight services between Hailey and the two California cities, in exchange for a guarantee that the flights would be offered daily from mid-December 2003 through March 28, 2004.

The flight services next winter will also be linked to revenue guarantees that would require Sun Valley Co. to reimburse Horizon for any losses incurred in maintaining the daily routes.

During the term of the 2003-2004 contract, Horizon carried a total of 13,167 passengers between Hailey and the two California cities. Occupancy of seats on the two flight routes combined was approximately 50 percent.

Pursuant to last winter’s contract, Sun Valley Co. will be required to pay Horizon approximately $194,000 in subsides, Sibbach said. Just over $48,000 of the total costs to Sun Valley Co. are linked to expenses for busing passengers to Hailey from Twin Falls when inclement weather forced flight diversions.

Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, noted last week that a survey of nonresident passengers on the California flights last winter indicated that 19 percent were first-time visitors to the Sun Valley area. Some 48 percent of nonresident passengers said they would have chosen an alternate destination if a direct flight to the Wood River Valley was not available.

"This indicates that the new service is bringing in new visitors to our area," Waller said.

The Los Angeles flight service commenced in December 2002 and continued through last March. The first year of service was subsidized by a federal grant.

The Oakland service was offered for the first time last winter.

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