Horizon Air (USA)

Horizon Air

IATA QX ICAO QXE Callsign HORIZON AIR
Founded	1981
Commenced operations	September 1, 1981
Hubs	Portland, Oregon SeaTac, Washington
Secondary hubs	Los Angeles, California
Frequent flyer program	Mileage Plan
Member lounge	Board Room
Fleet size	55
Destinations
Company slogan	Wings of the Great Northwest
Parent company	Alaska Air Group
Headquarters	SeaTac, Washington[1][2]
Key people	Jeff Pinneo (CEO)
Website	http://www.horizonair.com/

Horizon Air Industries, Inc. (d/b/a Horizon Air)^[3] is a regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States.^[4][5][6] It is the eighth largest regional airline in the USA, serving 52 cities in the United States and Canada.

Horizon Air is sister carrier to Alaska Airlines and both airlines are members of Alaska Air Group. It is also a substantial codeshare partner of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1980s 1.2 1990s 1.3 2000s 2 Management 3 Destinations 4 Fleet 4.1 Fleet history 4.2 Livery 4.3 Special liveries 4.4 Fleet plans 5 Services 5.1 Board Room 5.2 Mileage Plan 5.2.1 MVP and MVP Gold 5.2.1.1 MVP 5.2.1.2 MVP Gold 5.3 On board services 6 Incidents and accidents 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

History

1980s

Horizon Air was formed in May 1981 by Milt Kuolt, and started operations on September 1, 1981 with three Fairchild F-27 aircraft.^[7] The airline was formed as a merger of Horizon Airlines and Air Oregon. Its headquarters were in an area that is now within SeaTac, Washington.^[8]

Horizon Air's first route was from Yakima to Seattle, and one week later, Pasco to Seattle.^[9] The general offices of Horizon Air were operated out of an old house behind Sea-Tac airport. Horizon acquired Air Oregon on June 17, 1982, after both airlines were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly, in order to consolidate and reduce their operating deficit.^[10] Horizon agreed to purchase Transwestern Airlines of Utah in September 1983, once again to try to reduce operating deficit of the airline.^[11] A single Fokker F28 was the first jet owned by Horizon Air, purchased from a carrier in Africa, in July 1984, however their first jet was a wet leased Douglas DC-9.^[12][13]

An initial public offering occurred in 1984 to secure operating capital, which after only one profitable year since founding, was needed to keep the airline afloat.^[14] On September 8, 1985 Horizon signed an agreement with de Havilland Canada to begin purchasing the airline's first brand new aircraft, the de Haviland Dash 8.^[15][16] In the summer of 1985, Horizon entered into its first codeshare agreement with United Airlines,^[17] which attracted the attention of Alaska Airlines who finally purchased Horizon in 1986.^[18] Late in 1985 Horizon entered into an agreement to purchase their chief competitor in Washington, Cascade Airways,^[19] but by early 1986 were released from the agreement.^[20] In 1988 Horizon signed a codeshare agreement with Northwest Airlines. In 1989, Horizon became an international carrier when it began service to Vancouver, BC and Victoria, BC in May of that year using both Dash-8-100s and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner.

1990s

This section requires expansion.

Horizon was the launch customer for the Dornier 328 turboprop, intending to replace the Fairchild Metroliners with this new aircraft which promised jetliner speed and comfort. Prototype#2 was painted in Horizon colors. Twelve were delivered between November 1993 and November 1995, but they were quickly phased out in 1997 in favor of fleet standarization around the Dash-8.

2000s

This section requires expansion.

In the spring of 2007, Horizon launched service from Los Angeles and Seattle to Santa Rosa, California to take advantage of the burgeoning wine and tourism industry. This was a significant coup for the Sonoma County region which had not had regularly scheduled air service in almost six years. The new routes proved so popular that in the fall of 2007, Horizon commenced non stop service from Portland, OR to Santa Rosa, and expanded the schedule for non stop flights between Los Angeles and Santa Rosa. It is wholly owned by the Alaska Air Group and has 4,040 employees (at March 2007).^[21] Horizon Air has been featured in several films, including the 1983 motion picture WarGames and 1995 motion picture Georgia (film).

Management

Jeff Pinneo is the chief executive officer and former head of the Regional Airline Association. He has had 30 years of aviation experience and 25 of those with the Alaska Air Group. There are several senior vice presidents each in charge of specific divisions of the airline who round out the management staff.^[22]

Destinations

Horizon's 47 destinations are located in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Horizon also has service to Alberta and British Columbia, Canada as well as Baja California Sur, Mexico. Codesharing with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines,^[23] and Northwest Airlines allows Horizon Air customers to fly to cities not served by Horizon Air throughout the U.S. as well as the rest of the world.^[24]

Fleet

Horizon Air operates 55 narrow-body aircraft as of September 2009, with a single economy class service:^[25]

Horizon Air Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Orders[26]	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Bombardier Q400	37	11	74-76
Bombardier CRJ700	18	0	70		To be phased out, two aircraft are leased to South African Express

The average Horizon Air fleet age is 6.1 years old as of September 2009.^[27] The CRJ-700 is a 70-seat, low-wing jet, while the Dash-8 is a 74 or 76 seat, high-wing turboprop. Horizon Air recently converted its outstanding CRJ orders into Q400 orders. All Horizon Air aircraft are operated in a single class configuration. Each row has two seats on either side of the aisle. As such, there are no middle seats on Horizon, only window or aisle. Horizon Air features all leather seating.^[25]

Fleet history

Aircraft that have been in service with Horizon Air are (in alphabetical order):

• Bombardier Dash 8-100^[28]
• Bombardier Q200^[28]
• Dornier 328^[29]
• Douglas DC-9^[13]
• Fairchild F-27^[30]
• Fairchild Metroliner II (former Air Oregon)^[31]
• Fairchild Metroliner III (former Air Oregon)^[31][32]
• Fokker F28^[33]

Livery

At the start of the carrier, Horizon had a painted sunset with a small beach with capitalized words saying "Horizon". The current Horizon Air livery is very similar to its parent, Alaska Airlines, except for a dark red (rather than blue) cheatline, and the tail includes a stylized sun and sunset logo, rather than an Eskimo. Six special liveries are part of the Horizon fleet, four CRJ-700s and two Q400's. Some Dash 8's have names of Horizon destinations printed near the front left door.

Special liveries

Four CRJ-700s, formerly with Frontier JetExpress, have been painted in the colors of the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, and Washington State University.^[34] Four of the Q400s are also painted in special liveries: N425QX, a 25th anniversary theme featuring bright colors and confetti painted along the entire plane, and another (N435QX) in a college theme: the colors of University of Washington. The University of Washington Q400 was painted to replace the now retired CRJ in the same colors.^[25][35] The third Q400 (N437QX) was painted in the colors of Boise State University to celebrate over twenty-five years in Boise.^[36] The Fourth Aircraft, N439QX, was painted in the "Comfortably Greener" Scheme. The aircraft highlights the cost savings of the Q400 over regional jets. N438QX was also painted in the same Scheme as N439QX.^[37]

Fleet plans

Horizon Air is phasing out its existing CRJ-700 planes and will only operate the Q400.^[38] The Q200s have been removed from Horizon Air service and are being dry leased to CommutAir.^[39] By 2012 the CRJ-700s, including the 9 returned from Frontier JetExpress, will also be phased completely out of service.^[26]

Services

Board Room

Board Room is the Alaska Air Group airport lounge, and are located in seven west coast airports including: Anchorage, Calgary, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. Board Room Members also have access to Continental Airlines President's Club (until October 24, 2009), Delta Air Lines Crown Room Club, and Northwest Airlines WorldClubs at airports across the country.^[40] Memberships start at $30 for a single-day pass, up to $850 for a new three-year membership. ref name="mvpstatus" />^[41]

Mileage Plan

Mileage Plan is the travel rewards program of the Alaska Air Group, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. The program's airline partners also include Oneworld member airlines American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, LAN, and Qantas; SkyTeam member airlines Air France, Continental Airlines (until October 24, 2009), Delta Air Lines, and Northwest Airlines; as well as Air Pacific, Era Aviation, Frontier Alaska, Mokulele Airlines, and PenAir.^[42] MVP and MVP Gold are Mileage Plan's top tiers for experienced travelers.^[43]

The Mileage Plan program has no membership fee and any mileage will be valid to the last day of the 24th month following the month of the last flight or transaction date. In addition, if a Mileage Plan member does not accumulate mileage within nine months after becoming a member, or a Mileage Plan member's account remains inactive at zero mileage for a consecutive 24 month period, the Mileage Plan account will be canceled.^[44]

MVP and MVP Gold

The MVP and MVP Gold program is the frequent flyer service status program and is divided into two membership levels, MVP and MVP Gold based on the member's travel in the last calendar year. Higher-tiered members are provided with increased travel benefits such as bonus mileage, priority boarding and airport lounge access.^[45]

MVP

MVP level is achieved or retained when the member earns 20,000 miles on Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air, 25,000 miles on Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Air France, LAN, or Northwest Airlines, or 30 one-way segments on any combination of Mileage Plan members. Membership benefits include 50 percent bonus mileage, priority check-in at First Class counters, priority seating on board Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights, as well as a 50 percent discount on Board Room membership. Members booked in fare class Y and YAS can be upgraded to First Class at anytime, and all other rate categories with in 48 hours of flight.^[45]

MVP Gold

MVP level is achieved or retained when the member earns 40,000 miles on Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air, 50,000 miles on Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Air France, LAN, or Northwest Airlines, or 60 one-way segments on any combination of Mileage Plan members. Membership benefits include 100 percent bonus mileage, priority check-in at First Class counters, priority seating on board Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights, as well as complimentary Board Room membership. Members booked in fare class Y, S, B, M, H, or Value and Full Flex fares can be upgraded to First Class at anytime, and all other rate categories with in 72 hours of flight. Companions also receive this benefit, and members are given four complimentary upgrade certificates for guests annually. A 50,000 mile bonus is awarded to MVP Gold members who travel at least 75,000 miles on Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air, American Airlines, Air France, Delta Air Lines, LAN, KLM, or Northwest Airlines, or 100 total one-way segments.^[45]

On board services

Since 1991, Starbucks coffee is served in-flight on all Horizon Air planes, and is brewed at the terminal and served in thermos containers on board the aircraft.^[46] Horizon has set itself apart from its sister company and other airlines by offering, to passengers of age, free Northwest beer and wine.^[47] Other free beverages include Jones Soda, which is sweetened with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.^[48] Unlike Alaska Airlines, there are currently no plans to install in flight wireless internet on board Horizon Air planes.^[49]

Incidents and accidents

Since the founding, no fatal accidents have occurred.

• On May 2, 1986, a Fairchild Metroliner on a scheduled flight between Eugene, Oregon and Portland, was hijacked. The hijacker was convinced by the pilot to allow the plane to stop in Hillsboro to refuel and even let the pilot off the plane, who then called the FBI.^[50]

• On April 15, 1988, Flight 2658, a DeHavilland Dash 8 100 (N819PH-Great City of Sun Valley), enroute from Seattle to Spokane with 37 passenger and 3 crew members crashed after attempting an emergency landing in Seattle, Washington when the number two (right side) engine caught fire after take-off from Seattle (due to a manufacturing defect). Loss of hydraulic pressure, due to the number two engine fire, caused the aircraft to roll into the B7 and B9 jetways and it was destroyed. There were 4 serious injuries and no fatalities.^[51][52]

• On May 23, 1990, a Fairchild Metroliner III on a flight from Portland to Seattle had a window blow out at 14,000 feet (4,300 m) above Olympia. The flight made an emergency descent and landing to its planned destination of Sea-Tac Airport. The passenger seated next to the window, who was partially sucked out of the plane for a brief period, was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.^[53][54]

See also

• Alaska Air Group - Parent company
• Alaska Airlines - Mainline airline co-subsidiary of Horizon's regional operations

References

• Endicott, Bill (2001). Williams, Dayna Spear. ed. Remember the Magic The Story of Horizon Air. Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 156311725-8. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Horizon Air

• Horizon Air
• Horizon Air Magazine in flight magazine

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This article based on this article: Horizon_Air from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and work with the GNU Free Documentation License. In Wikipedia is this list of the authors.