Alaska Airlines will be flying into the Eagle County Regional Airport next winter

The Eagle County Regional Airport will have a new carrier for the coming winter.

Alaska Airlines announced Tuesday that from Dec. 20 through March 16 it will fly three times a week into Eagle County from San Diego and Seattle. The airline will use Embraer 175 aircraft for the flights. Those are 76-passenger “regional” jets.

Like many new routes, the Alaska Airlines flights required a “minimum revenue guarantee.” Those guarantees backstop airlines against losses if flights don’t have enough passengers to be profitable.

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This guarantee is for three years, thanks to the half-cent transportation tax passed by voters in 2022. A portion of that revenue is dedicated to improving air service.

Eagle County Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry said county officials are expecting those flights to turn a profit at the end of that period. That means the revenue guarantee funds can be used for other flights.

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Peter Dann is the chairman of the EGE Air Alliance board. That group works to build service to the airport. Dann said the certainty provided by the transportation tax has allowed county officials and the alliance to pledge multi-year revenue guarantees. That’s essential, he said, since new routes generally need a minimum of three years to prove themselves. Guarantees are also in place for this summer’s new flights from Houston and Chicago.

In the past, coming up with guarantees required county and alliance representatives to essentially pass the hat among local businesses and governments, rounding up money on a case-by-case basis.

The Eagle Valley Transportation Authority controls the revenue from the transportation tax, so requests have to be approved by that board, which consists of elected representatives of the local governments that approved the tax.

The certainty of the tax revenue provides county officials with significant negotiating power, Chandler-Henry said, noting that local officials have been negotiating with Alaska Airlines “for years.”

Dann said landing Alaska Airlines is a coup for locals who have long sought a low-cost carrier for the airport. He praised the entire county team, including Chandler-Henry, County Manager Jeff Shroll and Aviation Director David Reid.

While the attraction to locals of a winter flight to San Diego is obvious, Dann noted that Seattle is the hub for Alaska Airlines, meaning that someone can catch a flight from that airport to virtually anywhere the airline flies, including Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Along with this summer’s flights to Chicago and Houston, the coming winter’s Alaska Airlines flights should appeal to residents, Chandler-Henry said. Residents should keep a close eye out for attractive fares originating at the county airport when vacation planning she said.

Alaska Airlines’ Seattle hub provides “valuable connections,” Chandler-Henry said, adding that the local airport “is such a fun place to fly out of.”

It’s convenient, too, she added, noting that a resident can park, clear airport security and avoid the hassles of big-city airports while waiting out a connecting flight at a major hub.

“All of this is pretty huge,” Chandler-Henry said. “We’re very excited about it.”