[Vision2020] Horizon/Alaska Air Mystery?

[Scott Dredge]

It usually has to do with logistics of where they need the plane to be thus they'd rather have the plane in Seattle where they can use it vs Spokane or Lewiston where they can't unless they'd bother to plan things out more thoroughly.  For years, the late flight out of Seattle was routed to Pullman then on to Lewiston (same flight number).  If visibility was poor in Pullman (which was more often than not the case) that stop would be skipped and then flight would terminate as usual in Lewiston.  My brother-in-law finally just started booking his flights to Lewiston and if the plane luckily landed in Pullman, he would just deplane there.

Looking at the Alaska flight schedules, they've changed dramatically.  There are now 4 flights to Pullman daily from Seattle (3 on Saturday) and 2 to Lewiston (1 on Saturday).

-Scott


On Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 9:53:31 PM PST, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> wrote:



Visionaries,



I was recently caught up in a bizarre Horizon/Alaska Air Groundhog Day scenario & I’m wondering if anyone knows what the explanation is?



As some may have noticed, there was some fog in the area Friday evening and I was trying to get home.  Not just one but two different flights made it to Pullman but were unable to land due to reduced visibility.  Both times we were returned to Seattle in spite of great visibility in Lewiston (I don’t know for sure about Spokane but there seemed to be a couple of flights that left Seattle & didn’t return) – we made it back to Seattle the second time at 2 AM Saturday.  Ugh – I’m too old to be overnighting in airports, particularly when my day had started at 5 AM Friday.



In the past, rather than returning to Seattle, I’ve been on flights that were diverted to Lewiston (more than a few times) and even to Spokane a time or two in my memory.  And, in the past, I’ve certainly made more than a few mad dashes to Lewiston & Spokane when flights weren’t able to take off from Pullman due to weather.  The Alaska Air reps back in Seattle were unable to explain why we were returned rather than diverted.



Because I wasn’t the only person in that situation (the 5:30 PM flight was full – I never did find out how the Stanford women’s volleyball team made it to Pullman for their game Saturday), my husband chatted with others who showed up twice at the airport Friday night, and some of the same people were at the Lewiston airport Saturday.  One gentleman said he’d heard that Horizon/Alaska Air had run into trouble with the Lewiston airport such that they wouldn’t allow Alaska Air to divert there anymore even though they are still allowed to have regularly scheduled flights in & out.  Does anyone know anything about that?  Inquiring minds want to know.



I’ve been a loyal Moscow-Pullman airport customer since I moved here in 1988, but I may have to rethink that with the Horizon/Alaska Air insanity I experienced.  I completely understand weather issues; what I’m most unhappy about is being returned to Seattle – twice – rather than being diverted to Lewiston or even Spokane.





Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID



The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.

~ Edmund Burke







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