Horizon Air’s President and CEO Jeffrey Pinneo says that even under different circumstances the airline won’t have enough aircraft to supply Southwest Oregon Regional Airport with Portland flights.

The airline went public in late June with its decision to leave the North Bend airport by Oct. 11. It was three days prior to a gala that celebrated the opening of a new $20 million terminal at the airport. At that time, Horizon stated due to high fuel costs combined with the introduction of larger planes it could no longer serve the North Bend and Klamath Falls airports.

South Coast business is seasonal. Since 1982, when the airline began offering service from North Bend, it has had a hard time making a profit here. That’s another reason for the airline’s decision.

Coos County Airport District Chairman Mike Lehman said, during a meeting with Pinneo at Horizon’s headquarters in Seattle on Friday, he even offered to guarantee filling Horizon’s larger aircraft, Q400s, so the airline could continue offering service at North Bend.

Pinneo said no.

He cited concerns over a volatile market created by competition with SkyWest Airlines and seasonal fluctuations in service. But over and above these factors there’s a lack of airplanes.

“He said, ‘Even if you can fill up the Q400s, it’s still not enough to guarantee flights, because of the risk,” Lehman said. “‘Even if we wanted to take the risk, we don’t have enough planes to do it.’”

Horizon spokeswoman Jen Boyer today reiterated Horizon’s stance that the airline doesn’t have enough of the larger aircraft to accommodate North Bend, but said it was not one factor alone that pushed Horizon to cut service.

“Everything contributed,” Boyer said. “The environment today is why. The fuel prices are really going through the roof.”

High fuel prices pushed Horizon Air to  buy more fuel-efficient aircraft that seat 76 passengers rather than the 37-seat airplanes that land at North Bend now. The smaller aircraft should be gone companywide by the end of October.

On Friday, Pinneo and executives with the Alaska Air Group, Inc., the holding company for Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines, met with Lehman, Airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier, Airport District Commissioner Helen Brunell-Mineau and two local businessmen, Dale Sause of Sause Bros. and Hank Hickox, general manager of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Their businesses would be affected by the loss of the Portland connection.

But their attempts to convince the airline to stay couldn’t sway Horizon’s president.

“In a nutshell, their first thing was that this market has always been marginal,” Lehman said. “The fuel was the nail in the coffin. When you add the fuel prices, that makes it virtually impossible.”

Pinneo told the North Bend officials the airline itself was struggling due to gas prices.

“He said, ‘We are in a survival mode,’” Lehman said.  “‘About 30 percent of our cost now is attributed to fuel.’”

Boyer confirmed that a significant portion of the airline’s expenses goes to fuel. For every $1 increase in the cost of a barrel of oil, it costs Horizon’s parent company, Alaska Air Group, an extra $10 million to operate, she said.

“We’re just digging in, trying to ensure Horizon will be around in the future,” Boyer said.

(Staff Writer Jo Rafferty covers business news for The World. She can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 236; or by e-mailing to jrafferty@theworldlink.com.)