The bid are in for PDT EAS Service! Proposals can be found here on page 3. In a nutshell, the following carriers have submitted bids (including proposed plans):

Horizon Air
Proposes three distinct options:
A. Option A: 2 weekday/1 weekend flights to SEA via ALW (status quo)
B. Option B: 1 daily flight to SEA via ALW and 1 direct or nonstop weekday flight to PDX via PSC
C. Option C: 2 weekday nonstop flights to PDX with 1 on the weekend

Alaska Juneau Aeronautics d/b/a Seaport Air
Proposes 3x daily flights to their private PDX terminal with their 9 seater aircraft

Pacific Wings, L.C.C.
Proposes:
2x nonstop PDT-PDX flights daily
2x one-stop PDT-PDX filghts daily (Via PSC)
Aircraft: Cessna-208B seating 9 PAX.


What do my fellow FTers think about these proposals and which do you prefer? In my humble opinion, I prefer QX's Option C as it:
--> Provides 2 NONSTOP flights as opposed to intervening intermediate stops (which eliminates "dead" time sitting on the ramp at the intermediate airport)
--> Provides business travelers to PDX with a schedule amenable to same-day returns to PDT
--> Provides convenient connections to other AS/QX/Allied air-carrier flights. (Most allied airlines are closer to QX's operations in PDX than they are in SEA)
--> Allows people desiring to go to SEA for connections easy access to the shuttle flights (same number of stops between this and Option A with only a modest increase in travel time)
--> Connections in SEA for CA, AZ, NV destinations would require a PDT traveler to "fly north, to fly south" which makes little sense to me and seems counter-productive.

Pacific Wings and SeaPort's Proposal would require connectees to go from Flightcraft to the terminal (which doesn't sound all that appealing to the harried business traveler)


Your thoughts?

~FAI PDX Flyer