Eastern Oregon’s Pendleton has the only federally subsidized air service in the Northwest. To ensure its economic and political future, city officials say they’ll need bigger planes.

The Pendleton City Council voted Feb. 3 to end its 10-year relationship with Boutique Air in favor of SkyWest Charter, which will continue service from Pendleton to Portland.

Should the federal government sign off on the change, SkyWest will get nearly $10 million in subsidies over the next two years as a part of the Essential Air Service program.

SkyWest plans to replace Boutique’s eight-passenger planes with 30-passenger aircraft, while offering fewer flights and slightly more expensive tickets compared to Boutique, according to the airline’s bid documents.

Despite some pushback from residents and Boutique, city officials argue that SkyWest’s potential to attract more customers with larger planes will benefit an airport that has struggled with sustainability in the past.

“This isn’t about dissatisfaction — it’s about matching Pendleton’s trajectory with the right level of air service,” Pendleton airport manager Dan Bandel wrote in an email.

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The city expects boardings to rise by 20-40% within the first two years of the proposed switch, a boon that would make the airport more economically viable in addition to protecting it from political pressure from Congress, which frequently considers cuts to federal subsidies.

“If an airport loses EAS status, re‑entry is highly unlikely, if not impossible,” a staff report states.

A U.S. Army air base during World War II, the city-owned Eastern Oregon Regional Airport has a long history of commercial flights. From the 1950s through the 1970s, large airlines offered direct flights from Pendleton to destinations like Portland, Chicago and Washington D.C., city documents show. That era ended in the 1980s, as federal airline deregulation and higher oil prices led to larger airlines leaving rural communities.

The federal government stepped in to fill the gap by creating the Essential Air Service program in 1978. It provides subsidies for regional airlines to serve rural communities. Since then, Pendleton has hosted regular flights to and from the Portland International Airport.

Over time, the planes provided by the contracted airlines got smaller and overall boardings went down. A staff report states that Boutique did “a very good, not great, job” but the city needed to aim for more than 10,000 boardings per year, something that was impossible with Boutique’s current capacity.

City staff wrote that Pendleton is currently within the bottom quarter of Essential Air Service communities in terms of boardings. Staff report that the airport needs up to $200 million in repairs and maintenance. Surpassing the 10,000 boarding threshold would allow the airport to apply for more substantial federal grants to address the backlog.

City officials also said bringing in SkyWest would bring some other advantages. It would allow Pendleton to compete with other nearby regional airports in southeastern Washington. And it would allow Pendleton airport customers to more easily connect to flights out of Portland because it would land at PDX’s main terminal rather than a separate hangar.

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Boutique objected to the city’s decision and they had some local backing. Pendleton City Council minutes from a January meeting show multiple residents questioning SkyWest’s capability to increase boardings and did not want to see a return of the Transportation Security Administration to the Pendleton airport. The TSA took down its checkpoint in 2008 after Pendleton switched to a provider that exclusively flew eight-passenger planes.

While the objections delayed the council’s decision, members ultimately sided with the staff’s SkyWest recommendation.

Boutique did not respond to a request for comment, but Boutique executives told the East Oregonian that they were disappointed in the results and wished they considered local’s objections.

The city’s recommendation will now head to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which will make the final decision. Bandel, the Pendleton airport manager, wrote that the community’s recommendation is usually weighted heavily by the DOT.

Bandel also wrote that the TSA could return to Pendleton if boardings go up as expected, but said it was still early to provide a firm timeline. Should the federal government accept the city’s recommendation, Bandel expects SkyWest to take over later this year.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/18/pendleton-air-service-change/