A new player has taken to North State skies. PenAir, or Peninsula Airways, is already something of a household name in Alaska, but is barely known in the Lower 48. That’s changing.
The airline commenced service between Redding, Arcata and Portland, Ore. last week, giving travelers an alternative to Sacramento, or SkyWest’s connector flights to San Francisco.
The new route uses planes and staff already assigned to a route connecting Portland and Crescent City. That run receives federal subsidies for rural air service. Missy Roberts, spokeswoman for PenAir, said officials from both Redding and Arcata courted the carrier.
“We looked at them and analyzed it and decided it was a good fit for our company,” she said.
Roberts said ticket sales have grown significantly on the Crescent City route. She anticipates similar trends on the Redding-Arcata-Portland run, advertised with cheeky “our way or the highway” billboards. She said company officials have already had one positive surprise: ticket sales between Redding and the Coast are exceeding expectations.
Roberts said Chico, which lost all commercial air service when SkyWest pulled out, also approached PenAir. While Chico didn’t make the cut, don’t rule it out.
“It’s certainly on the table,” she said. “But when that would happen, I can’t say — and I’m not even… it’s not in the real near future, but it’s not to say that it’s off the table, either.”