PENDLETON — Boutique Air Inc. remains the airliner providing passenger service flights between Pendleton and Portland.

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued its order Friday, May 3, selecting Boutique.

“We are pleased to see that the U.S. Department of Transportation supported the recommendation of the officials in Pendleton,” Boutique Air Shawn Simpson said. “We have a good track record of providing reliable service in Pendleton and feel that both the committee and DOT saw the value it brings to the community. Many of our customers spoke up during the process as well, and we are grateful for their active participation in the process.”

According to the order, Boutique will provide 21 round trips per week between the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton and Portland International Airport from June 1 through May 31, 2026, using eight-nine seat Pilatus PC-12 aircraft at an annual federal subsidy of $4,275,121 in year one and $4,488,877 in year two.

Two other airlines submitted proposals for the contract. They were

Alaska Seaplanes and Southern Airways Express also submitted proposals. Boutique has provided flights to and from Pendleton using the federal subsidy since 2016

Dan Bandel, manager of the Pendleton airport, wrote DOT that a nine-member EAS selection committee considered multiple criteria regarding the selection of the provider and weighed each criterion on a 10-point scale. Upon completion of its evaluation, the selection committee and the Pendleton City Council unanimously recommended Boutique Air to be the EAS provider for the two-year term.

“This was the result we expected,” said Steve Chrisman, Pendleton airport director and economic development director. “Dan and his committee did a thorough job in evaluating the applicants. We felt confident because Boutique had already been serving for several years and would be the right choice to continue providing service to Pendleton.”

The competition this spring sometimes looked like an aerial combat with Alaska Seaplanes hurling textual missiles at Boutique and Southern Airways, with Boutique being the only party to respond.

Alaska Seaplanes co-owner and President Kent Craford wrote Pendleton city officials on March 6: “As of November 2023, Boutique Air owed Umatilla County $103,346,20. Only $20,246.28 was due for the current year. The remainder, $83,081.92, was for past tax years, with interest penalties, going back to 2019.”

Crawford also charged that Southern Air/Surf Air, “has a long history of unpaid taxes, in this case to the Internal Revenue Service, dating back several years. The company is deeply unprofitable and borrows heavily against essential air service subsidy payments.”

Bandel said the contentiousness was not an issue when it came to the selection.

“In other words, we didn’t ask, ‘Is this guy contentious? Is this other guy not contentious?’” he said. “We flew above the fray. The process worked. The cross section of individuals we had evaluating the situation from academia, medical business, tribal. We had a cross section of the entire catchment area. We had a very positive situation, and it turned out correctly.”

“The evaluation was strictly related to convenience, cost, safety, and the supply of aircraft that they have at their disposal,” Chrisman said. “Those are the things that mattered. Convenience and cost are a big deal for the rural community.”

“Incumbent airlines are difficult to displace,” Southern Airways Chief of Staff Keith Sisson said. “Some communities have been through five airlines in the last five bid cycles. That type of inconsistency makes growing enplanements difficult. We wish the best for Eastern Oregon Regional Airport.”

Alaska Seaplanes could not be reached for comment.

Chrisman said Pendleton is small, and a catchment area expands that outward where passengers could possibly come from.

“Our catchment area runs up to Baker City, Walla Walla, a little bit of Tri-Cities, Hermiston, Boardman, down to John Day,” he said. “There isn’t a massive number of people in our catchment area, but to ‘catch’ the broadest number of potential riders, you need a product offering that meets their expectations on time savings and cost savings.”

The DOT decision generated excitement at the level where the landing gear hits the runway. Boutique’s lead customer service agent Armando Penales said he was happy to be with a team that would stay on in Pendleton.

“I was a bit nervous who was going to get the service because Alaska Seaplanes is also a great carrier, but I was very excited once the DOT accepted Boutique,” he said.

Bandel said Boutique will be ramping up their marketing communications in response to local comments.

“More comprehensive marketing and looking at that marketing equation from not only getting people from Pendleton to ride to Portland, but we need to get folks from Portland interested in what’s happening in Pendleton, too,” he said.

 

Jumping on Boutique can come in handy for a travel weekend to the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest, Jackalope Jamboree or the Pendleton Round-Up, he said, so part of the marketin will be getting people from Portland to come to Pendleton.

 

Chrisman said he can see ways the air trips between Pendleton and Portland can help the city grow commercially. He said the air service, although not big and glamorous as a 737 or 777 passenger jet, is “incredibly important” to not make business people inconvenienced with a long highway drive.

He said one such business decision-maker used the Pendleton airport to visit a location in Pendleton where he plans to hire 20-30 more people.

“He lives in Beaverton and he has bought a business here,” Chrisman said, “and he rides Boutique fairly frequently to see how his business is doing, and he’s looking to expand. So people being able to get here more easily allows them to become more connected to the community and is extremely important to our economy to have good air service.”