Northwest Washington residents have waited with bated breath for a major airline carrier announcement at Bellingham International Airport since the departure of Southwest Airlines in August.
And they will have to wait longer.
Port of Bellingham commissioners on Tuesday approved an incentive plan for new and existing carriers to establish different routes out of BLI. It’s one way port officials are working to expand air service at BLI, despite industry factors stalling their efforts.
“We understand people’s frustration as every airline grapples with route development,” Port of Bellingham Executive Director Rob Fix said in an interview. “Right now, they have a lack of planes and a lack of pilots, and no airline is doing significant expansion because of those reasons.”
Fix stepped into the role of director of aviation after the previous director, Kip Turner, was suddenly terminated in July for “financial reasons.” The deputy director, Emily Philippe, resigned a month later. Neither position has been filled amid budget challenges at BLI following the departure of Southwest. No future date has been set either to hire a permanent aviation director.
Fix said the top priority for BLI in 2025 is reestablishing air service development, especially looking at direct flights between BLI and popular passenger destinations such as Denver, Los Angeles and Portland.
That priority is challenged by the pilot and plane shortages smaller U.S. airports are facing.
Existing carriers at BLI have announced some additional flights to established destinations in the past few months. Alaska Airlines is adding a fourth daily flight between Bellingham and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in January. Next summer, Allegiant will add year-round flights between current destinations Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
When Southwest left BLI in August, citing aircraft shortages and revenue challenges, the Dallas-based carrier took millions of dollars of revenue with it. BLI reaped more than $5 million in direct revenue from Southwest between 2021 and 2023.
The loss of Southwest wasn’t the first time BLI has seen a popular airline carrier depart. Delta and Frontier once served the area. Even airlines that still serve the airport — Alaska Airlines and Allegiant — have had their offerings fluctuate in the past, including ending direct flights between Bellingham and Hawaii, Alaska, Las Vegas and Portland.
The pain of having an airline depart is not unique to BLI. Between January 2020 and January 2024, larger airline carriers have left more than 121 markets, according to the Regional Airline Association (RAA), a group that advocates for regional airlines. Twelve airports have lost all commercial airline service in that time.
Additionally, 65% of small community airports saw a reduction in air service in October this year compared to the same time in October 2019.
A spokesperson from RAA pointed to the pilot shortage, which was a growing problem in the early 2010s and was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That shortage arises from systemic barriers barring the pilot profession to those without wealth,” the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that major airlines have temporarily paused hiring pilots because of the aircraft delivery shortage.
“When aircraft deliveries resume, major airlines will resume hiring those needed pilots and the shortage will rebound just as a tsunami of pilot retirements approaches,” RAA said.
Fix said that while BLI may be at a low point at the moment, the airport is focused on working “extra hard” to get air service back. The airport and the port continue to work with an airline service consultant, Volaire Aviation Consulting.
“We know we need to get beyond Seattle in order to have full utility not only for Whatcom County but also for passengers who are coming from the other side of the border,” said Jack Penning, a managing partner for Volaire Aviation, during a May Port of Bellingham Commission meeting.
Community members who use BLI have aired their frustration about Southwest’s decision to leave, citing convenience and the lack of new airlines at the airport, through social media posts and an online petition’s long-shot attempt to bring the carrier back.
On top of Allegiant bringing back additional flights in the summer and an extra flight to Seattle, the low-cost carrier kept the same number of flights from Bellingham to Oakland during the winter rather than reducing flights like they did earlier this year.
Even when Southwest served BLI, Allegiant served more passengers, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Allegiant handled 43% of BLI passengers from August 2023 to July 2024. During that same period, Southwest served 40%.
Prior to Southwest’s arrival to BLI in 2021, Allegiant served 67% of passengers in 2019.
BLI continues to educate community members about available flights through posts on social media, as well as its website, Hogan said.
As part of an attempt to entice other airline carriers to establish routes out of BLI or even encourage Allegiant or one of the smaller aviation charter companies (such as Sun Country) currently operating at BLI to offer new routes, commissioners approved an airline incentive package on Tuesday.
Included in that package, for example, large carriers like Allegiant who operate twice a week out of BLI will have their terminal landing fees and aircraft parking fees waived for two years and the port would offer up to three years of marketing money. The package would be financed through airport revenue as required under Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
The package is different than offering minimum revenue guarantees (MRG), which allow airports to guarantee a specific amount of revenue from ticket sales from a new airline carrier service. However, that program cannot be financed with airport funds and requires wide community support.
“Typically, you have to go get community-type raised funds to put together a MRG package and that requires the support of local businesses that know they’re going to fly a lot and use that route,” Fix said.
An MRG package is also a tricky thing for BLI to offer because of the number of Canadian passengers using the airport, Fix said.
Aaron Collins, BLI’s Airport Operations Manager, said the incentive package allows BLI to act aggressively in finding new routes or new airlines.
“When we saw Southwest had left the market, we need something out there that we can take to our airline partners and say, ‘Hey, open up new routes here,'” he said. “We have to be aggressive. I’m optimistic, it’s a very robust program and it’s simple for [the airlines] as well.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
