I learned today that the Portland, Oregon-based commuter airline SeaPort Airlines has ceased operations effective today due to Chapter 7 bankruptcy and subsequent liquidation. Headquartered at Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon, SeaPort Airlines started operations on June 5, 2008 with a business model that targeted commuters between Seattle and Portland wishing to avoid congestion at the larger Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the main commercial terminal at Portland International Airport. SeaPort Airline's Pacific Northwest network saw limited expansion on October 21, 2008, when it was awarded a two-year government grant under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program to provide commercial service from Portland to Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton, Oregon; the services commenced on December 1, 2008, replacing subsidized service by Horizon Air when it converted to an all-Q400 fleet. Using the callsign 'Sasquatch' for radio communications, the airline played off this in early 2013 by introducing "Roger, The SeaPort Airlines Sasquatch" as the airline's official company mascot.
In early 2011, SeaPort Airlines attempted to expand its Pacific Northwest network yet again by starting up flights from Salem's McNary Field as well as Oregon coastal cities such as Astoria and Newport to Portland with connections to Boeing Field. However, these proved to be unprofitable from the start. And as a further consequence, SeaPort Airlines was left with a bad reputation among these communities, especially with the coastal cities of Astoria and Newport, both claiming that the airline only served these cities only for the monetary incentives offered, only to leave once those sources of cash dried up. On July 18, 2011, SeaPort Airlines expanded into Idaho via Pendleton, Oregon with service between Boise and Idaho Falls, restoring a void left by Horizon Air when it stopped flying this route on August 22, 2010. This turned out to be short-lived however, as the service was discontinued on December 31, 2011 due to issues and difficulties in getting maintenance on their PC-12s as well as the impending changes in the airline's fleet strategy.
In late 2011, the small Pacific Northwest airline began to reinvent its business model and the carrier ended its namesake route between Seattle (Boeing Field) and Portland on January 27, 2012. As part of its shifting business model, SeaPort Airlines began nonstop flights between Portland International Airport and North Bend/Coos Bay utilizing Cessna 208 Caravan single turboprop engine aircraft on January 15, 2012. The airline traded in all of their Pilatus PC-12/45s for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan during this time as well. The North Bend/Coos Bay service ended on March 20, 2016; PenAir subsequently began flying the Portland-North Bend/Coos Bay route with their Saab 340Bs a day after SeaPort stopped flying it.
The airline also became a bidder for Essential Air Service (EAS) contracts and expanded into several regions throughout the country, starting with its Mid-South network, all of which was federally subsidized under the Essential Air Service. Using Memphis International Airport as the central hub in its Mid-South network, SeaPort Airlines won a two-year EAS contract to provide three daily flights between Salina, Kansas and Kansas City International Airport; part of this growth included securing approval from the Department of Transportation to add daily flights between Kansas City International Airport and Harrison, Arkansas. In July 2011, SeaPort Airlines began serving Dallas Love Field with flights to South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field in El Dorado, Arkansas and Memorial Field Airport in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The extensive network of routes in the Mid-South region saw city pairs change and disappear often but SeaPort ceased most, if not all services in the region on January 16, 2016, citing a nationwide shortage of regional airline pilots as the reason for the cutback in routes.
SeaPort Airlines also expanded into the Southwest on May 1, 2013 by connecting Imperial/El Centro to San Diego and Burbank. The EAS contract, which was awarded to SeaPort in January 2013, replaced incumbent carrier SkyWest Airlines, which linked Imperial to Los Angeles. On October 1, 2014, the Southwest network expanded with the airline beginning flights to San Diego. Following the expansion into San Diego, SeaPort Airlines also added service to Sacramento and Visalia as well as its first international destination, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The airline shut down its entire Southwest network on January 15, 2016, citing a nationwide shortage of regional airline pilots.
On February 5, 2016, the airline filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being forced to reduce its route network apparently due to a shortage of pilots. When the airline filed for bankruptcy, it was planning on re-expanding its home network in the Pacific Northwest by connecting Portland with Seattle-Tacoma via Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, effectively returning (in a way) to the airline's original namesake. However those plans (which ultimately never came to fruition) were put on indefinite hold when the airline filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During this time, the airline was in the process of reorganizing until it converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation today, effectively ceasing operations after eight years of being in business.
In light of this news, here's a photo montage of all the SeaPort Airlines aircraft I've photographed in my planespotting career:
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| SeaPort Airlines started out with a fleet of Pilatus PC-12/45s serving routes primarily out of Portland International Airport to Seatte-Boeing Field as well as Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton (the latter under the Essential Air Service contract). Pictured here is N933SP on static display at the 2009 Oregon International Air Show. Photographed on August 29, 2009. |
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| SeaPort Airlines also leased PC-12/45s such as this one, N58VS. When this aircraft was photographed back in 2012, it was no longer part of the SeaPort fleet as the airline had just finalized transitioning to a fleet of Cessna 208B Caravans. Photographed on April 5, 2012. |
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| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N950PA) taxiing for departure at Portland International Airport. This was the first 208B to join the SeaPort fleet. Photographed on June 28, 2012. |
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| SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N1026V) getting ready for departure out of Portland. Photographed on November 29, 2014. |
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| SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N1154F) taxiing out for departure from Portland. Photographed on December 23, 2014. |
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| SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N803TH) airborne after departure out of Portland International Airport. Photographed on May 20, 2015. |
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| Double 208B sightings on the SeaPort ramp at Portland. N803TH is on the left while N1154F is on the right. Photographed on July 3, 2015. |
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| SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N208TW) pulling up to its parking spot at Portland. Photographed on November 29, 2015. |
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| SeaPort Airlines Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N932SP) taxiing up to parking in Portland. Photographed May 18, 2016. |
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| N932SP on static display at the 2016 Oregon International Air Show, just a month before the airline would shut down. Photographed August 6, 2016. |
I wish the very best of luck to all the pilots and staff who worked at the now-defunct SeaPort Airlines in securing new jobs in the wake of this airline shutting down.
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