The afternoon Alaska Airlines flight sits outside the Walla Walla Regional Airport on Friday, April 1, 2022. Walla Walla Regional Airport is getting a second daily flight to Seattle under an agreement approved by Port of Walla Walla Commissioners at a special meeting.

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Walla Walla Regional Airport is getting a second daily flight to Seattle under an agreement approved by Port of Walla Walla commissioners at a special meeting.

Starting in September, the new flight will be operated by Horizon Air, a regional carrier of Alaska Airlines that has provided commercial service to the Walla Walla airport. The contract lasts for one year, and the Port will be given monthly reports on airline revenue.

Patrick Reay, executive director of the Port of Walla Walla, said at the special Port Commission meeting on Tuesday, May 2, that reaching an agreement with Alaska Airlines has been a long time coming as it has been the center of discussion at many Port meetings.

“I think we agree that there’s a financial and economic benefit to the community by reestablishing the second flight,” Reay said. He commented that the second flight would benefit both business and leisure travelers and could lead to an “economic boom” with a projected increase in lodging and rental car revenue.

Reay said that in working with Alaska Airlines to bracket off flight times, the air service would be comfortable with a departure to Seattle before 8 a.m. and an arrival to Walla Walla Regional Airport would be after 8 p.m. Other communities such as Wenatchee have recently entered similar agreements with Alaska Airlines.

By offering the new service five days a week at two different times, travelers will have more opportunities to make connections in Seattle to and from their final destinations.

However, the Port Commissioners’ approval of the contract with Alaska Airlines is conditional upon the Port ensuring a minimum revenue guarantee of $500,000 for the carrier.

“Alaska wants us to be successful,” Reay said. “The revenue guarantee is a maximum amount of exposure.”

Reay said the maximum revenue guarantee works similarly to a community match, and the Port has been working with project partners such as the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visit Walla Walla, to verbally secure agreements to help pay the guarantee. Otherwise, the funding will come out of the Port’s budget, not the airport’s.

Either way, the Port will be cutting a $500,000 check to the airline service for the additional flight.

Port of Walla Walla Commissioner Mike Fredrickson said the second flight will benefit the owners and stakeholders of the Port, that being the taxpayers of Walla Walla County. “I think these two flights help the locals even more, and that feels good to me.”