American Airlines: RDM-LAX flights becoming seasonal

Two years ago, Central Oregon economic development officials used a $500,000 federal grant and nearly $400,000 in local business ticket purchases to convince American Airlines to add daily non-stop flights between Redmond and Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, the airline confirmed it has decided to cut back and drop those flights for three months this fall, then again during the winter and spring.

After a local resident learned in a Twitter exchange with an AA representative of the pending changes, American Airlines spokesman Alexis Aran Coello in Miami confirmed to NewsChannel 21 the “seasonal reduction.”

She said the daily 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 flights between RDM and LAX, operated by SkyWest Airlines, will stop on Sept. 8, then pick up again on Dec. 17 th .

Aran Coehlho said the mid-December return of flights is only for a month, before another hiatus until early June, when flights will resume for the summer. The airline spokeswoman said she could not speak to what the subsequent schedule would be.

However, business officials rely on daily non-stop flights year-round.

“It may well have more of an impact for business travelers,” said Alana Hughson, CEO of the Central Oregon Visitors Association. “Time is money, and any transition time in an airport adds to the length of a workday. “

When asked the reason why fall flights were dropped, Aran Coehlho said, “We continually evaluate our network to assure we’re maximizing our fleet and profitability while matching customer demand.”

However, Redmond Municipal Airport officials also had some good news to share Tuesday, saying, “American has indicated their continued commitment to Central Oregon with the planned introduction of the larger, 76-seat, two-class Embraer Regional Jet 175” next summer.

“The airport and the Central Oregon Air Service Team (COAST) will continue their efforts to reinstate daily Los Angeles International Airport service in the interim,” the announcement added.

Asked about the airport’s announcement, Aran Coello said the airline does “acknowledge that we’re taking delivery of 76-seat jets and deploying them throughout our network, but it’s unclear when those may be coming to RDM.”

COAST spokesman Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development of Central Oregon, expressed puzzlement over the planned shoulder-season hiatus for the American flights, as he said all indications are that they have been doing very well.

“I would say for us, it’s a little perplexing,” Lee said, “just given the fact that through our airline consultant, we keep up on load factors, and the service seemed to be performing very strong and increasing from one year to the next.”

The airlines’ trend to move to larger aircraft also makes the cutback something of a surprise.

Lee said, “We expect, over time, for Redmond to be served by larger aircraft because the airlines are incrementally shifting their fleets in that direction. Load factors have been trending positively for LAX such that it could have been expected to have an increase in seats, either through added frequency with the 50-seat RJ200 or via a larger aircraft like the 175.”

“We don’t know all the reasons why they are making this decision,” Lee said, but he noted “the interplay between aircraft availability, pilot availability – no airline is immune to these factors.”

Also, some logistical issues are out of the airlines’ control, he said, such as runway space and access. He noted how runway construction at San Francisco International reduced capacity there in the past.

“We are encouraged by what we’ve seen in American’s service ridership, people making that direct connection, even with an airline that didn’t have a presence in Redmond before, and not a huge one in the Northwest,” Lee said.

“It is curious to us” why the fall flights were canceled, Lee said. But he added, “We’re committed to making sure we have regularly scheduled, year-round service to Los Angeles, for the business and personal air traveler. We’re working towards that, and looking at all our options.”

Like air travelers, flights come and go at Redmond, some seasonally. Consultant Trina Froelich of Wisconsin-based aviation firm Mead and Hunt recently told city officials of several added flights, some for the busier summer tourist season.

SkyWest just added a third daily round-trip flight to San Francisco, and United reinstated a second daily round-trip to Denver, another seasonal route due to end in mid-August. Also, Alaska Airlines just added a fifth Portland round-trip flight, and a fourth between RDM and Seattle. The extra Portland flight also will stop in late August.

Meanwhile, COAST is trying to lure more air service, and members with several airlines, including former RDM-Las Vegas low-cost carrier Allegiant, at last week’s JumpStart Air Service Development Conference in Seattle. While he had no specifics to announce, Lee said those discussions went well.

“We are very optimistic” about more direct flights to LAX, Hughson said. “The (American) route has been successful. The flights have been full.”