NORTH BEND — Coos County Airport District commissioners have paved the way for flights to San Francisco from North Bend.

Commissioners unanimously agreed at an emergency meeting this morning to add $250,000 to a $400,000 pledge to Sky West Airlines to convince the airline to provide service at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport.

The $650,000 would offset concerns the company has expressed over rising fuel costs, Airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier said.

“It just made enough of a difference in the margin,” LeTellier said.

He said he expects to hear from Sky West’s president, Russell "Chip" Childs, by late this afternoon, and hopes to make an announcement that they will provide flights by Wednesday afternoon.

He said he won’t know for sure when service to San Francisco will begin, or the flight schedule, until after a draft contract is signed.

Late Friday afternoon, LeTellier said he received a phone call from Childs about a deal that has been in negotiations for months to provide service to San Francisco in a partnership with Klamath Falls International Airport.

“The president said, ‘We’ll go with Klamath, but we’ll not include North Bend,” LeTellier said. “They were going to go ahead with Klamath without us.”

Sky West had estimated that Klamath Falls is closer enough to San Francisco to make the Southern Oregon city more profitable, according to LeTellier.

LeTellier called Airport District Chairman Mike Lehman and other commissioners over the weekend, to come up with a plan to help guarantee the airline’s interest in the airport.

Part of the plan is that the airline will calculate profits and losses on a month-to-month basis, with the $650,000 as a maximum backup, to be paid in monthly increments if there is no profit in a specific month. At the end of the year, any overpayments would be returned to the district.

“This $250,000 — is it a guarantee on seats? Is it a guarantee on fuel?” Commissioner Joe Benetti asked LeTellier.

“It’s a guarantee they break even,” LeTellier said.

The additional funds would be covered by pledges from local businesses, he added.

The original $400,000 was already covered through a Federal Aviation Administration grant.

“We ran the risk that they’ll pass us by here,” LeTellier said. “This is a chance for us to open this new market.”

Commissioner Helen Brunell Mineau acknowledged that the winter months could be lean, with not many passengers heading to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

But commissioners unanimously agreed that pledging the money is worth the risk.

Commissioner John Briggs said he wanted to add one comment: “To the people who say they want it, I hope they use this service even if it’s $30 more for the ticket (than at another airport),” he said.

Lehman asked LeTellier what happens if travelers don’t use the service.

“In a year, if they don’t (use it), it will turn into a pumpkin and go away,” LeTellier said.