Horizon Air

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Horizon Air
IATA QX	ICAO QXE	Callsign HORIZON AIR
Founded		1981
Hubs		Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Portland International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Mileage Plan
Member lounge		Board Room
Fleet size		63
Destinations		47
Parent company		Alaska Air Group
Company slogan		Wings of the great northwest
Headquarters		SeaTac, Washington[1]
Key people		Jeff Pinneo (CEO)
Website: http://www.horizonair.com/

Horizon Air Industries, Inc. (d/b/a Horizon Air)^[2] is a regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States.^[3][4][5] 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 Northwest Airlines and American Airlines.

Contents 1 History 2 Management 3 Destinations 4 Fleet 4.1 Livery 4.2 Special liveries 4.3 Fleet plans 5 Services 5.1 Food and Beverages 5.2 Mileage Plan 5.3 Board Room 6 Incidents and accidents 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

Horizon Air was formed in May 1981 by Milt Kuolt, and started operations on September 1, 1981. Its first route was from Seattle to Yakima, Washington. The general offices were operated out of an old house behind Sea-Tac airport. Horizon acquired Air Oregon in 1982 and Transwestern Airlines in 1983 to become one of the largest regional airlines in the USA. It went public in 1984 to raise money for expansion. In 1984 Horizon carried well over half a million passengers. It acquired its first jet, a Fokker F28, in 1985 and began operating feeder flights on behalf of both Northwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines, bought Horizon in 1986 and continued to operate it as an independent carrier. The airline has since completely replaced the Fokker F28 with the Bombardier CRJ 700. The airline shares its activities, bookings, and connection services with Alaska Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, and KLM, and until December 2007, operated regional jet services for Frontier Airlines. The airline operates from its main hub in Seattle and has secondary hubs in Portland, Boise, and Spokane. 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.^{[citation needed]}It is wholly owned by the Alaska Air Group and has 4,040 employees (at March 2007).^[6]

Horizon Air has been featured in several films, including the 1983 motion picture WarGames.

[edit] 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.^[7]

[edit] 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 Air Lines,^[8] 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.^[9]

[edit] Fleet

Horizon Air's fleet includes the following aircraft (as of April 2009)^[10]:

Horizon Air Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Economy)	Routes	Notes
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400	37	74-76
Bombardier CRJ-700	20	70		To be phased out, two aircraft are leased to South African Express

Horizon Air Retired Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (Economy)	Notes	Reference
Fairchild Metroliner III	33	19		[11]
Fairchild F-27		40		[12]
Fokker F28	22	69		[13]
Dornier 328		33	First US customer	[14]

The average Horizon Air fleet age is 6 years old in April 2009.^[15] The CRJ-700 is a 70-seat, low-wing jet, while the Dash-8 is a 37 (Q200), 74 or 76 (Q400) 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.^[10]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.^[16] Two Q400's are also painted in special liveries: a 25th anniversary theme featuring bright colors and confetti painted along the entire plane (casually referred to, by passengers, with names such as 'The Party Plane', 'Skittles' and 'Hangar Queen'), and another in a college theme: the colors of University of Washington.^[17] As of December 2008, Horizon Announced a new livery of Boise State University on a Q400. ^[18]

[edit] Fleet plans

Horizon Air is phasing out their existing Q200 and CRJ-700 planes, and will only operate the Q400.^[19] The Q200s have been removed from Horizon Air service and are being dry leased to CommutAir.^[20] By April 2010 the CRJ-700s, including the 9 returned from Frontier JetExpress, will also be phased completely out of service.^[21]

[edit] Services

[edit] Food and Beverages

Since 1991, Starbucks coffee is served in-flight on all Horizon Air planes, and is brewed at the terminal and served in thermos containers onboard the aircraft.^[22] Horizon has set itself apart from its sister company and other airlines by offering, to passengers of age, free beer and wine.^[23] Other free beverages include Jones Soda, which is sweetened with pure cane sugar and not high fructose corn syrup.^[24]

[edit] Mileage Plan

Horizon uses Alaska Airlines' frequent flyer program, which is called Mileage Plan. Horizon Air is not a member of any of the three major airline alliances, but Mileage Plan airline partners include prominent members of SkyTeam, such as Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air, Northwest Airlines, KLM, and Air France, as well as members of Oneworld, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas.^[25] Bank of America offers an airline credit card for Mileage Plan members as another way to earn miles.^[26]

[edit] Board Room

Horizon Air shares the Alaska Airlines' airport lounge, called the Board Room. There are six clubs, all located on the west coast. Board Room members also have access to the Continental Airlines President's Club, Delta Air Lines Crown Room Club, and Northwest Airlines WorldClubs.^[27] There are Board Rooms in:

• Anchorage
• Calgary
• Los Angeles
• Portland
• San Francisco
• Seattle
• Vancouver

[edit] Incidents and accidents

Since the founding, no fatal accidents have occurred.

• On April 15, 1988, Flight 2658, a de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 crashed after making an emergency landing in Seattle, Washington when the number two (right side) engine lost power after take-off (due to a manufacturing defect). Loss of hydraulic pressure, due to the number two engine being shut down, caused the aircraft to roll into the B7 and B9 jetways and it was destroyed by fire. There were no fatal injuries, however all 41 crew and passengers were taken to local area hospitals.^[28][29]

• 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 continued as normal to Sea-Tac, and the one passenger next to the window was treated at a local area hospital.^[30]

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Horizon Air

• Horizon Air
• Horizon Air Magazine in flight magazine

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