On August 25, a consortium of Washington and Oregon communities was awarded a federal grant to help improve scheduled airline service. The consortium is led by the Washington and Oregon Aviation Divisions and the Washington and Oregon Airport Management Associations. Through these groups, several individual communities have committed to work together to improve air service options.

In a series of conversations between airport managers and state aviation leaders, the group recognized that small communities in Washington and Oregon all shared the same challenges in struggling to improve their air service. Northwest communities are limited to only a handful of airlines providing service in the region, and are all tied in to the airline hubs in Seattle and Portland.

The group, self-titled the Northwest Regional Air Service Initiative, submitted a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation. It requested more than $180,000 to fund a three-phase action plan. Phase one is the development of an air service enhancement “toolkit” that any community can use to identify reasonable air service expectations and recommendations on developing community support that would attract airlines. Phase two provides a community-specific analysis of air service markets, aircraft, and routes for the communities that complete the “toolkit”. Phase three develops strategies, based on the Phase two evaluation, of how to improve air service to the participating communities in the region. It is anticipated that this three-phase approach will identify regional strategies that would be more effective than individual community proposals.

The goals of the Initiative are to:

• Improve air service to smaller, underserved and overpriced communities in Washington and Oregon to reduce the driving distances to access commercial service.
• Provide better access from secondary markets in Washington and Oregon to the national air transportation system.
• Engage smaller communities in Washington and Oregon in finding solutions to regional air service issues.

The U.S. Department of Transportation Small Community Air Service Development Program was initiated in 2001 and provides up to $20 million per year in grants. The Order Awarding Grants issued on August 25 called the program “unique in that it encourages and affords communities the opportunity to develop their own solutions to their air service problems based on their particular needs and circumstances.”

Steering Committee Members

Mentor Program Information

Community Mentor Program

Additional Information

Phase II Application (pdf 20 kb)
Toolkit Cover Letter (pdf 24 kb)
Proposal under the Small Community Air Service Development Program (pdf 3.2 mb)
Order Awarding Grants (pdf 194 kb)
Grant Offer and Agreement (pdf 140 kb)
Project Schedule (pdf 48 kb)
Action Plan Schedule (pdf 58 kb)
Frequently Asked Questions