Goodbye Horizon Air service

Just in. Raw press release:

11.03.2011 01:00
Alaska Airlines Discontinuing Eureka And Redding Service

SEATTLE, March 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Alaska Airlines today announced it is discontinuing all flights from Eureka and Redding, Calif., to Los Angeles, effective April 17, 2011. The Alaska flights are operated by Horizon Air.

“We tried a variety of alternatives over the past several years to improve the financial performance of these markets. Unfortunately, we saw no significant change,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska Air Group’s vice president of planning and revenue management. “It’s never possible to leave a city without a sense of disappointment. Many have invested considerable time and effort in trying to make these markets viable. In particular, I would like to thank our customers who supported us and the Horizon employees in Eureka and Redding who provided such great service.”

Customers with tickets on the affected flights will be reaccommodated on other airlines or offered a full refund. Passengers with questions can call 1-800-ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 800-392-0228).

Harrison said the number of passengers flying between Eureka and Redding and Los Angeles is insufficient for Alaska Airlines to operate the flights profitably and led to the decision to discontinue service. Eureka and Redding are among the smallest intra-California markets that Alaska Air Group serves.

Horizon Air has operated flights from Redding since 1992 and from Eureka since 1994.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group , together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. On Jan. 1, Horizon shifted to a capacity purchase agreement (CPA) business model, which is the regional airline industry standard. Under this arrangement, Horizon operates and maintains its aircraft while Alaska is responsible for scheduling, marketing and pricing all flights. The change also includes the eventual rebranding of all Horizon aircraft to feature the Alaska brand. For more news and information, visit the Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

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It’s going to be a dandy of a column!

Veteran newspaperman, pot-stirrer and former North Coast Journal Editor Hank Simms is hunched over his keyboard right now coming up with a doozy of a column for next week’s paper. Will he tell all? Reveal any secrets? Will his opinions and observations make you cheer? Or will subscribers cancel en masse?

Make sure you buy a copy of the March 16 edition. Or better yet, subscribe.

How many McKinleyville residents on Planning Commission? Answer: None

Some commentary from Jack:

Let’s face it – land use planning is the number one issue in McKinleyville right now. It’s an even bigger topic than Charlie Sheen.

Among the questions people are asking is how can McKinleyville take greater control of land use planning?

In this week’s edition, I wrote a column about creating an Area Planning Commission and a Municipal Advisory Committee. I also suggested that the McKinleyville Community Services District Board start serving as an unofficial MAC immediately.

Get a copy of this week’s issue to read the column.

Pat Higgins also wrote a column urging the creation of a MAC. Buy a copy to read it. Pat makes some excellent points.

One issue that both of us failed to mention was McKinleyville’s lack of representation on the Humboldt County Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission has a total of seven members – one from each of the five supervisorial districts, and two at-large members.

Of those seven members, none live in McKinleyville. Zero, nada, zilch.

So McKinleyville is the largest unincorporated community in Humboldt County. It’s ground zero for development. But it has no representation on the body that decides land use planning issues for McKinleyville.

Something is seriously wrong with that picture.

‘Significant Precipitation’

Raw discussion from the Weather Service in Eureka:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA
325 AM PST THU MAR 10 2011

.SYNOPSIS…AN APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BRING GUSTY WINDS AND
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL TO NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA TODAY. ADDITIONAL STORMS
WILL AFFECT THE AREA SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AS THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN
CONTINUES.

&&

.DISCUSSION…MAIN FCST CONCERNS THIS MORNING ARE RAINFALL TOTALS
FOR TODAY…THEN TIMING OF FRONTAL SYSTEMS SAT AND SUN.

AMSU TPW IMAGE EARLY THIS MORNING SHOWS A 1.0 INCH SWATH
EXTENDING FROM NORTH OF HAWAII ALONG A COLD FRONT THAT IS
CURRENTLY 150 MILES WEST OF EUREKA. WITH THIS GOOD MOISTURE TAP
AND FAIRLY GOOD DYNAMICS THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DELIVER A
SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION EVENT FOR PARTS OF THE AREA. RADAR
RETURNS ARE VERY IMPRESSIVE OVER DEL NORTE COUNTY WHERE 1.5 TO 2.5
INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED. DOWNSLOPE FLOW OFF THE KING RANGE WAS
LIMITING QPF VERY EARLY ON AROUND HUMBOLDT BAY…BUT THE FLOW HAS
SHIFTED MORE TO THE SW ALLOWING MODERATE RAIN TO FILL IN AROUND
THE EUREKA AREA. THE SPEED AT WHICH THE FRONT MOVES INLAND HAS
BEEN VERY CONSISTENT..WITH MOST OF THE PRECIP WINDING DOWN BY
MID/LATE AFTERNOON. BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS…I SEE NO REASON TO
DISCOUNT THE MODELS AND DEVIATE MUCH FROM THE PREVIOUS FCST. AREA
RIVERS SHOULD RESPOND QUICKLY TO THE RAIN TODAY…BUT CURRENT
FCSTS KEEP LEVELS BELOW ANY ACTION STAGES.

SNOW LEVELS WILL BEGIN FAIRLY HIGH WITH SNOW ABOVE 5500-6000 FT THIS
MORNING…BUT DROPPING QUICKLY TO 3000 FT BEHIND THE FRONT
TONIGHT. BY THE TIME THE COLDEST AIR ARRIVES… RESIDUAL QPF WILL
BE VERY LIGHT…LESS THAN 0.10 INCHES…SO THAT SNOWFALL HIGHLIGHTS
ARE NOT EXPECTED AS IMPACTS LOOK MINIMAL FOR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION.

A VERY BRIEF PERIOD OF FLAT RIDGING WILL AFFECT THE AREA LATE
TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING BEFORE SOUTH FLOW SETS UP ACROSS THE REGION
AHEAD OF THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM. THE FIRST LOW OF THE WEEKEND WILL
SPREAD RAIN INTO THE CWA DURING THE DAY SATURDAY…WITH
PRECIPITATION TOTALS GENERALLY UNDER 0.50 INCH. A STRONGER SYSTEM
IS FORECAST TO AFFECT THE AREA ON SUNDAY. THE MOISTURE SOURCE FROM
THIS SYSTEM MAY ALSO HAVE TROPICAL ORIGINS…SO QPF TOTALS HAVE
BEEN INCREASED…WITH SEVERAL INCHES NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. THE
ACTIVE PATTERN LOOKS TO EXTEND INTO NEXT WEEK UNDER CONTINUED
ZONAL FLOW. JCA/SMITH

Teaser for the movie ‘Flea’

Locally made: